This past week two pastors, that I know of, were arrested for holding worship services despite the ban in their states against gatherings that contained over 50 people. One pastor was in Florida; the other in Louisiana, both states hard hit with the coronavirus. Of course, they are claiming religious discrimination. The Louisiana pastor claimed that his church was being persecuted for its faith. While many churches have begun live streaming their services and finding other ways to lead services and minister to their members and community others have determined to remain open.
I must admit that when I first heard governors asking churches, among many other gatherings, to close I was resistant. My daughter called saying their church had decided to follow the recommendations to close, and I told her that if I was still pastoring I would not close our services. However, when we began hearing how rapidly the disease was spreading and the numbers of deaths I soon changed my mind.
For the past three weeks we have not left our house except for absolutely necessary trips to the supermarket, to the bank, or, very seldom, to patronage one of our restaurants. Other than the supermarket, we seldom leave our vehicle. When we are in a public place we maintain at least a six foot separation from everyone else. I am the only one who actually goes into the supermarket, and I wear gloves the entire time I'm in the store. Staying at home and social distancing when we are outside have both proven to slow the spread of the disease. Those who refuse to follow the instructions are putting people at risk. In the case of the two churches mentioned above, they are putting their parishioners at risk and everyone with whom they come in contact. They are also extending the time those of us who are trying to follow the rules will have to remain in place as well.
I've had auctions scheduled which I've canceled until this is over. There are a number of things I would like to do, especially now that the weather has improved, but I won't because I want to stay safe and keep my loved ones safe as well. The Golden Rule tells us to treat others as we would like to be treated. I wonder how these two pastors relate what they are doing with that mandate.
The projected numbers of deaths from coronavirus is staggering. Maybe by being willing to use the common sense God has given us, listening to those who are on the front lines fighting this battle, and following their instructions that number can be dramatically reduced. Is that not worth a little inconvenience?
This is not a matter of religious persecution; it is a matter of public health. It is also a matter of loving other people enough to do everything in our power to protect them from this horrible disease.
No one is preventing a church from broadcasting their services, and such services have been seen by millions of people over the past few weeks. I've watched services from several churches and have been encouraged and blessed by them.
As I write this, over 5,000 people have already died in the United States. The projected number of deaths is expected to be much higher. What will it take before we practice the habits that have been proven to slow the spread of the disease and prevent needless deaths from occurring? If we claim to be pro-life, then let's be pro-life for all people.
Showing posts with label Laws. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laws. Show all posts
Friday, April 3, 2020
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Is your church a safe place?
Small churches are often referred to as family churches. In many of them, the vast majority of people have attended church there for years, sometimes for generations. We all know everyone, sometimes too well! This makes this post that much difficult to write.
Churches are to be many things to people, but one of the most basic is that they must be a safe place for people to attend. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. One reads of pastors, church staff, and others in churches who become involved sexually with persons in the church. As a judicatory leader I occasionally have to work with churches dealing with this issue. When it becomes known that a person has been sexually involved with a minor it then becomes a legal matter that has major ramifications for the individuals involved and the church.
The Catholic church has paid millions of dollars in compensation to the victims of sexual abuse and has received a great deal of negative press about its previous efforts to cover up this abuse. Even worse than this is the impact this abuse has had on the victims. What they believed would be a safe place turned out not to be, and someone that people thought should be trusted turned out to abuse that trust. Unfortunately, such abuse is not limited to the Catholic church but occurs in Protestant churches as well.
The church must take steps to ensure that such abuse does not happen. Churches should adopt sexual misconduct and sexual harassment policies that clearly state the behaviors expected of both staff and lay persons in the church. Such policies should state how complaints of this nature should be addressed and guarantee to the one making the complaint that there will be no retaliation taken against anyone making such a complaint. You can find numerous examples of such policies on the Internet that you can use as a template. Church Mutual Insurance Company has a very good booklet that addresses child sexual abuse specifically that would be a good resource for many churches.
Many larger churches require background checks on anyone working with children and youth, but I have found few smaller churches that require such checks. The mindset in these churches is that since everyone knows everybody such checks are unnecessary and demeaning. That mindset needs to change. Sexual predators know that smaller churches tend to be quite happy to have new volunteers and often don't do background checks. Some long-time members might be initially offended if the church sets a policy of doing background checks on everyone serving in the church, but it should be explained that the church wants to protect children not only now but in the future as well. Such concern for the well-being of children should alleviate any concerns these long-time members might have.
Any allegation must be taken seriously and investigated immediately. The policies your church established should describe how such investigations will happen and who will lead them. It is critical that confidentially be maintained as much as possible. However, when behavior falls within the legal abuse-reporting guidelines such reports must be made.
This is a very complex subject and certainly cannot be covered with a blog post. My concern today is only that too many smaller churches assume nothing like this will occur in their churches, and they have not developed any kind of policies or plans for how to prevent such abuse or how to address it if it does occur. There are many resources out there to help your church develop such policies, and any final document you draft should be looked at by your attorney and insurance agent. They can be of great assistance in developing these policies.
Unfortunately, your church can do everything right and still not guarantee that abuse will not happen. Nevertheless, it's critical that every church make the effort to prevent such abuse and harassment from occurring. Our churches must be safe places for people to gather and worship God together. Let's do everything we can do to make that happen.
Churches are to be many things to people, but one of the most basic is that they must be a safe place for people to attend. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. One reads of pastors, church staff, and others in churches who become involved sexually with persons in the church. As a judicatory leader I occasionally have to work with churches dealing with this issue. When it becomes known that a person has been sexually involved with a minor it then becomes a legal matter that has major ramifications for the individuals involved and the church.
The Catholic church has paid millions of dollars in compensation to the victims of sexual abuse and has received a great deal of negative press about its previous efforts to cover up this abuse. Even worse than this is the impact this abuse has had on the victims. What they believed would be a safe place turned out not to be, and someone that people thought should be trusted turned out to abuse that trust. Unfortunately, such abuse is not limited to the Catholic church but occurs in Protestant churches as well.
The church must take steps to ensure that such abuse does not happen. Churches should adopt sexual misconduct and sexual harassment policies that clearly state the behaviors expected of both staff and lay persons in the church. Such policies should state how complaints of this nature should be addressed and guarantee to the one making the complaint that there will be no retaliation taken against anyone making such a complaint. You can find numerous examples of such policies on the Internet that you can use as a template. Church Mutual Insurance Company has a very good booklet that addresses child sexual abuse specifically that would be a good resource for many churches.
Many larger churches require background checks on anyone working with children and youth, but I have found few smaller churches that require such checks. The mindset in these churches is that since everyone knows everybody such checks are unnecessary and demeaning. That mindset needs to change. Sexual predators know that smaller churches tend to be quite happy to have new volunteers and often don't do background checks. Some long-time members might be initially offended if the church sets a policy of doing background checks on everyone serving in the church, but it should be explained that the church wants to protect children not only now but in the future as well. Such concern for the well-being of children should alleviate any concerns these long-time members might have.
Any allegation must be taken seriously and investigated immediately. The policies your church established should describe how such investigations will happen and who will lead them. It is critical that confidentially be maintained as much as possible. However, when behavior falls within the legal abuse-reporting guidelines such reports must be made.
This is a very complex subject and certainly cannot be covered with a blog post. My concern today is only that too many smaller churches assume nothing like this will occur in their churches, and they have not developed any kind of policies or plans for how to prevent such abuse or how to address it if it does occur. There are many resources out there to help your church develop such policies, and any final document you draft should be looked at by your attorney and insurance agent. They can be of great assistance in developing these policies.
Unfortunately, your church can do everything right and still not guarantee that abuse will not happen. Nevertheless, it's critical that every church make the effort to prevent such abuse and harassment from occurring. Our churches must be safe places for people to gather and worship God together. Let's do everything we can do to make that happen.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Ministers and taxes
A pastor called asking a question about his 1099. I let him finish his question and then asked if the church had given him a 1099. They had, and I had the unfortunate responsibility to explain to him that it is my understanding of the law that he must be given a W-2 to submit to the IRS. This is a conversation I have just about every year about this time. I am not a tax attorney nor am I an accountant, but it is my understanding that the IRS requires that ministers be given a W-2 and not a 1099. Some churches still have not got that message.
Our conversation worsened when he began asking about his housing allowance. I asked if his housing allowance was written down anywhere. He responded that it was just a verbal agreement that so much of his salary would be considered housing allowance. Sadly, I had to explain to him that a housing allowance must be designated in advance and recorded either in the clerk's report or by being a line item in the budget. Since neither had been done I told this pastor that in all likelihood he would not receive a housing allowance for 2013 and would have to pay income tax on his entire salary.
These are laws that have been on the books for decades, but many churches and pastors still are not aware of how they work. It is critical that both churches and clergy learn these laws because the last thing anyone wants is the IRS investigating possible misconduct in how the pastors were paid and how those earnings were reported.
Many years ago the church I pastored became aware of the requirement that their pastor be given a W-2. Our treasurer was a kind farmer who had kept the financial records of the church for several years, but when we began to discuss the importance of following the IRS regulations, he resigned because he did not feel he could learn those regulations. Fortunately, a very efficient individual accepted the position and went to a local CPA to ask about how to fill out a W-2 and what laws we needed to be especially careful about. She never had any problem after that first year of getting me a very complete W-2. If your financial person is squeamish about issuing a W-2 and other reporting requirements I would highly recommend he or she talk with an accountant who is knowledgeable about church and clergy taxes.
One other area I find a lot of smaller churches make mistakes in their pastoral compensation is in their reimbursement policy. Too many churches still want to have an agreement with the pastor that a certain amount of his or her salary is considered as reimbursement for such things as mileage. Any reimbursement policy that does not actually reimburse the minister for out-of-pocket expenses will result in that money being considered income by the IRS. For instance, a church cannot state that the pastor's salary includes $500.00 for gasoline each month to reimburse the pastor for travel on behalf of the church. No! No! No! The pastor must actually turn in a mileage report and be reimbursed for the miles driven or that $500.00 is considered to be taxable income by the IRS.
I will repeat what I said earlier. I am not an attorney nor an accountant, but these are the rules as I understand them. Please check with one if you have any doubts or questions about what I'm posting in this article. If anyone knows where I am wrong, please let us all know because it is important that churches understand and follow the tax laws. It just prevents so many problems down the road.
Our conversation worsened when he began asking about his housing allowance. I asked if his housing allowance was written down anywhere. He responded that it was just a verbal agreement that so much of his salary would be considered housing allowance. Sadly, I had to explain to him that a housing allowance must be designated in advance and recorded either in the clerk's report or by being a line item in the budget. Since neither had been done I told this pastor that in all likelihood he would not receive a housing allowance for 2013 and would have to pay income tax on his entire salary.
These are laws that have been on the books for decades, but many churches and pastors still are not aware of how they work. It is critical that both churches and clergy learn these laws because the last thing anyone wants is the IRS investigating possible misconduct in how the pastors were paid and how those earnings were reported.
Many years ago the church I pastored became aware of the requirement that their pastor be given a W-2. Our treasurer was a kind farmer who had kept the financial records of the church for several years, but when we began to discuss the importance of following the IRS regulations, he resigned because he did not feel he could learn those regulations. Fortunately, a very efficient individual accepted the position and went to a local CPA to ask about how to fill out a W-2 and what laws we needed to be especially careful about. She never had any problem after that first year of getting me a very complete W-2. If your financial person is squeamish about issuing a W-2 and other reporting requirements I would highly recommend he or she talk with an accountant who is knowledgeable about church and clergy taxes.
One other area I find a lot of smaller churches make mistakes in their pastoral compensation is in their reimbursement policy. Too many churches still want to have an agreement with the pastor that a certain amount of his or her salary is considered as reimbursement for such things as mileage. Any reimbursement policy that does not actually reimburse the minister for out-of-pocket expenses will result in that money being considered income by the IRS. For instance, a church cannot state that the pastor's salary includes $500.00 for gasoline each month to reimburse the pastor for travel on behalf of the church. No! No! No! The pastor must actually turn in a mileage report and be reimbursed for the miles driven or that $500.00 is considered to be taxable income by the IRS.
I will repeat what I said earlier. I am not an attorney nor an accountant, but these are the rules as I understand them. Please check with one if you have any doubts or questions about what I'm posting in this article. If anyone knows where I am wrong, please let us all know because it is important that churches understand and follow the tax laws. It just prevents so many problems down the road.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
More than ever we need to remember the reason for Christmas
For the past few days my wife and I have been visiting our son and his family near Philadelphia. It was our Christmas with them. We exhanged presents, ate some great meals, and really enjoyed being with each other. In view of the horrible tragedy in Connecticut, my time with our grandchildren was even more special than usual. As I looked each one in the face I could not imagine the pain I would feel if for some reason they were not here. Like most Americans I have prayed for the families and close friends who have been impacted by this horrible event. I listened as President Obama spoke to the nation, and then to the people in Newtown, Connecticut and felt that he has never spoken more eloquently. I pray that the people most impacted by this event received the comfort and encouragement his words were intended to convey.
Like so many, I can't make any sense out of this tragedy. The killer evidently left no note so we don't know what motivated him to commit such a horrible crime against so many innocent people. Perhaps as the investigation continues we'll learn more about his reasons for his actions, if there are any reasons.
A second challenge is determining what we as a nation needs to do to prevent this from happening in the future. Of course, there are renewed calls for stricter gun laws, and even some lawmakers who have opposed such laws in the past are announcing they are rethinking their position. That is understandable in light of the events of the past weekend, but my fear is that stricter gun laws really won't do anything to make people safer. They may give people the appearance that they are safer, but the fact is such laws will do little to make our lives safer. The problem with gun laws is that the people who promote them forget that evil people don't care about such laws. Such laws penalize law-abiding people and do nothing to to deter those people bent on harming others. Do I believe the average American needs an automatic weapon? No, but how many hundreds of thousands of these weapons already exist, and how difficult will it be for a criminal to obtain one? Will the passing of any law change that? Very doubtful. Therefore, how will such laws make our lives any more secure?
It could be argued that stricter gun laws would at least be a deterrant to someone who wanted to harm others. Timothy McVeigh killed and injured hundreds of people with a bomb made out of fertilizer. On 9/11 terrorists killed thousands of people with planes they secured by the use of box cutters. Guns are not needed by someone determined to inflict pain and death on others.
The fact is that the one thing that so many do not want to recognize is that evil exists in the world. We live in a time when people want to argue that there is no absolute right and wrong, but such people are hard pressed to defend that position when something happens such as the killing of innocent children. Evil does exist, and there are evil people in the world today who seek to harm others, and they will do their best to carry out their plans by whatever way they can find whether that is with a gun, a knife, a ball bat, a box cutter, or bags of fertilizer. No law can address evil no matter how much we might wish otherwise.
Only one thing can conquer evil, and that brings us to the message of Christmas. Jesus Christ came to overcome the evil that exists in the world and in the hearts of mankind. Born in a simple manger he was eventually crucified on a cross to offer all mankind the transformation that we all need. No law can transform the heart and soul of a human being. Laws can only attempt to regulate the sinful nature that we are all born with, and as we see all too often they fail at such regulation. Only Christ can change a person's heart and transform evil into good.
This is a message that has been removed from the public square in the past few years. We've eliminated Christmas programs in our school or at least replaced them with holiday programs. Companies order their employees to say "Happy holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" so as not to offend their customers. Nativity scenes have been removed from government grounds. Christian values and teachings are ridiculed and mocked in much of the media today. I could go on listing the assault on Christianity, but all we are left with now is the hope that more laws will somehow address evil when we all know they can't. Today, more than ever we need to remember the reason for Christmas. Christ came to offer the things we need more than ever: hope, peace, love, forgiveness, and transformation. If we can help even one person receive these this Christmas season we will have given him or her the greatest gift they will ever receive.
Like so many, I can't make any sense out of this tragedy. The killer evidently left no note so we don't know what motivated him to commit such a horrible crime against so many innocent people. Perhaps as the investigation continues we'll learn more about his reasons for his actions, if there are any reasons.
A second challenge is determining what we as a nation needs to do to prevent this from happening in the future. Of course, there are renewed calls for stricter gun laws, and even some lawmakers who have opposed such laws in the past are announcing they are rethinking their position. That is understandable in light of the events of the past weekend, but my fear is that stricter gun laws really won't do anything to make people safer. They may give people the appearance that they are safer, but the fact is such laws will do little to make our lives safer. The problem with gun laws is that the people who promote them forget that evil people don't care about such laws. Such laws penalize law-abiding people and do nothing to to deter those people bent on harming others. Do I believe the average American needs an automatic weapon? No, but how many hundreds of thousands of these weapons already exist, and how difficult will it be for a criminal to obtain one? Will the passing of any law change that? Very doubtful. Therefore, how will such laws make our lives any more secure?
It could be argued that stricter gun laws would at least be a deterrant to someone who wanted to harm others. Timothy McVeigh killed and injured hundreds of people with a bomb made out of fertilizer. On 9/11 terrorists killed thousands of people with planes they secured by the use of box cutters. Guns are not needed by someone determined to inflict pain and death on others.
The fact is that the one thing that so many do not want to recognize is that evil exists in the world. We live in a time when people want to argue that there is no absolute right and wrong, but such people are hard pressed to defend that position when something happens such as the killing of innocent children. Evil does exist, and there are evil people in the world today who seek to harm others, and they will do their best to carry out their plans by whatever way they can find whether that is with a gun, a knife, a ball bat, a box cutter, or bags of fertilizer. No law can address evil no matter how much we might wish otherwise.
Only one thing can conquer evil, and that brings us to the message of Christmas. Jesus Christ came to overcome the evil that exists in the world and in the hearts of mankind. Born in a simple manger he was eventually crucified on a cross to offer all mankind the transformation that we all need. No law can transform the heart and soul of a human being. Laws can only attempt to regulate the sinful nature that we are all born with, and as we see all too often they fail at such regulation. Only Christ can change a person's heart and transform evil into good.
This is a message that has been removed from the public square in the past few years. We've eliminated Christmas programs in our school or at least replaced them with holiday programs. Companies order their employees to say "Happy holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" so as not to offend their customers. Nativity scenes have been removed from government grounds. Christian values and teachings are ridiculed and mocked in much of the media today. I could go on listing the assault on Christianity, but all we are left with now is the hope that more laws will somehow address evil when we all know they can't. Today, more than ever we need to remember the reason for Christmas. Christ came to offer the things we need more than ever: hope, peace, love, forgiveness, and transformation. If we can help even one person receive these this Christmas season we will have given him or her the greatest gift they will ever receive.
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