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The Church Attorney Consulting Services, LLC

Mid-Year Legal Readiness: 3 Questions Every Church Should Ask

Published 20 days ago • 1 min read

Hello Reader ,

As summer moves quickly and churches begin preparing for an increase in activities, this is the time to pause and ask a some important questions.

Churches that are committed to growth and long term impact know that they benefit from regularly reviewing the systems, documents, and practices that support ministry.

So, here are three questions every church should ask regularly:

1.Do our bylaws match how we actually operate?

Many churches haven’t reviewed their bylaws in years. Sometimes decades. We've found that this is a critical misstep that churches know is a problem, but aren't always prepared to know how to fix it. Leadership structures evolve, responsibilities shift, and practices change. If your bylaws no longer reflect reality, confusion can arise when important decisions need to be made.

2. Are our policies current and accessible?

Policies should help leaders, staff, and volunteers operate consistently. Child protection, facility use, volunteer screening, financial controls, and emergency procedures are just a few areas worth reviewing before ministry activity increases in the fall.

3. Does our board understand its responsibilities?

Board members, trustees, and other church leaders often carry significant responsibilities. Regular training around governance, fiduciary duty, documentation, and oversight can help leadership teams make decisions with clarity and confidence.

Most churches don’t discover gaps when everything is calm.

They discover them when a staffing question, facility issue, financial decision, donor concern, or leadership transition forces the conversation.

Mid-year is the perfect time to assess how the year is going compared to how you had it planned.

It’s about stewardship.

That’s exactly why I’m hosting a free training on June 25:

Mid-Year Church Legal Checkup: 5 Areas Every Church Should Review

During this practical session, we’ll walk through the key governance, HR, policy, documentation, and risk-management areas churches should evaluate before fall ministry planning accelerates.

If you’re a pastor, administrator, board member, trustee, deacon, finance leader, or ministry operations leader, plan to join us.

I can't wait to see you there.

Blessings!

This email is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, accounting, or tax advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. The information provided here was based on certain federal and/or state statutes and does not encompass all applicable requirements or other regulations that may exist, such as local ordinances or case law.

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The Church Attorney Consulting Services, LLC

The Church Attorney®

As The Church Attorney®, denominations and churches select my proprietary Legal Audit System to position themselves to operate in integrity, avoid IRS audits, and position themselves for growth. Every church leader should take advantage of my free Church Law podcast and subscribe to my free newsletter.

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