Author: Alyssa Lofggren

Finding and hiring the right employees is an important and difficult task. Once you have identified personnel that will work well with your ministry, be careful that you don’t miss these important requirements.

• Complete an I-9 form with each new employee. Form I-9 is available from the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The form shows evidence of an employer’s efforts to inspect and verify documentation demonstrating that the new employee is legally permitted to work in the United States. The form does not have to be filed with the government, but the employer is required to keep the form and be able to produce it for inspection at any time. The form must be kept for three years after the date of hire or one year after termination of employment, whichever is later. The USCIS does make unannounced visits to inspect I-9 forms. Employers may be fined up to $1,000 for each employee whose I-9 form is not in order. 

• Have each employee subject to income tax withholding complete Form W-4. The employer retains the W-4 and does not submit it to the Internal Revenue Service unless an employee claims 10 or more withholding allowances or if the employee claims exemption from all withholding even though he is paid $200 or more per week. 

• Report the name, address, and social security number of all newly hired employees, and the name, address, and Federal Employer Identification Number of the employer to the State Directory of New Hires in the state where the employee works. This reporting requirement applies to any employee who is required to receive a W-2 form from the employer. There is no required form that must be completed. The employer may simply send a letter or create a form. The report must be made within twenty (20) days of the date of hire, unless a shorter time frame has been mandated by the State to which the report must be made. The “date of hire” is considered the first day services are performed for wages. The State may impose civil monetary and non-monetary penalties for an employer’s failure to report. Fines generally may not exceed $25 per newly hired employee, but if there is a conspiracy between the employer and the employee not to report, the penalty may be increased to $500 per newly-hired employee. 

There are, indeed, many other requirements for a payroll program to be set up in a legally appropriate way. The items listed above, however, are commonly overlooked. In order to ensure full legal compliance, many Christian ministries hire outside companies to help handle the details of the payroll.

If you have questions about ensuring that your payroll is legally compliant, please contact the Christian Law Association right away.

Most people understand that ordained members of the clergy may opt out of Social Security, and if they do so, they simply don’t have to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. For many ministers, frankly, that is a significant savings. If a minister is considered self-employed, the Social Security tax alone would be 12.4% on up to $168,600 of net earnings.

Many ordained ministers think, “Great! I’ll opt out, and I’ll save lots of money.” And while opting out is an excellent choice in some situations, this is a decision that deserves careful attention before making that change.

To opt out of Social Security, ordained ministers must sign Form 4361 “Application for Exemption from Self-Employment Tax for Use by Ministers, Members of Religious Orders and Christian Science Practitioners.” The form does not say, “If you are a minister and prefer not to pay these taxes, sign here.” If you read the form carefully, it says that you are conscientiously opposed or opposed because of your religious principles to “the acceptance…of any public insurance that makes payments in the event of death, disability, old age, or retirement; or that makes payments toward the cost of, or provides services for, medicare” in exchange for services you perform as a minister. In other words, signing Form 4361 means that, as a minister, you oppose receiving Social Security or Medicare benefits for your ministerial work.

Of course, there are different beliefs among ordained ministers. Some truly do believe that serving as a pastor should not allow them to receive any Social Security benefits when they retire. Others believe differently. Whatever the case, we definitely recommend that ministers should understand the full legal picture before they make their decision.

In many cases, ministers make decisions like this when they are quite young, when they have a hard time even imagining retirement. And though the government has, on certain occasions, allowed ministers to opt back in to Social Security, you cannot count on this being allowed should you change your mind.

Because of the complexity of this issue, we highly recommend that you contact the Christian Law Association before finalizing any such decision. Our experienced legal team is extremely familiar with all of the issues pertaining to this, and we have seen firsthand how this works for ministers through the years. It would be our privilege to assist you.

In recent days, our attorneys have fielded several questions about IRS Publication 78. Many churches wonder if there is a legal requirement for their organization to appear on that list. Publication 78 is a formal list of organizations that have formally filed with the IRS and have received a determination letter which states they are, indeed, tax-exempt organizations.

There is no legal requirement for churches to formally register for 501(c)(3) status. If they never do so, they have not broken any law or missed any mandatory requirement. On the other hand, there are sometimes advantages to appearing in Publication 78. Some donors feel more comfortable financially supporting a church that has received a determination letter. And if your church has any interest in seeking foundation grants or participating in some kind of matching fund program offered by some corporations, these organizations almost always limit their scope of activity to churches that appear on Publication 78.

We know that churches want every child to have a good time at church and, hopefully, hear the Gospel and be saved. However, it is vitally important that churches never tolerate consistently excessive problematic behavior from any child, particularly if the behavior is violent.

  A Louisiana appellate court recently ruled that a lawsuit against a church could go forward. The charge? That the Christian school should be held responsible for a child’s injuries caused by another child with a history of violent behavior, such as hitting and kicking other students.

  This case moving forward is monumental. Churches and Christian schools need to understand that the potential exists for them to be held liable if they don’t observe and adequately address violent behavior in their minor attendees. This is just one more reason why we here at CLA strongly recommend that every church require adequate adult supervision in every child’s class. If staffing is inadequate, don’t offer the class. 

Every church should also routinely create documentation of every incident of bad behavior. Additionally, churches definitely have the option to ask parents to keep children with them in the adult services if problematic behavior continues. 

Please don’t neglect these simple preventive measures to protect your ministry. 

In modern times, there is a considerable amount of confusion about the idea that America has a “wall of separation between the church and the state.” Some people erroneously believe that the separation of church and state means that Christians should essentially never express their views in public, that only secular ideas have a place in the public square. Though modern secularists may prefer this interpretation, it has no foundation in American history.

More than 200 years ago, the Danbury Baptist Convention was concerned that the newly formed federal government might attempt to interfere with their freedom of worship, and they expressed their concerns to President Thomas Jefferson. After all, in the colonists’ home nation of England, the government often forced churches to reflect the religious preferences of the monarch. Jefferson wrote a letter to assure the Convention that the Constitution did not allow the federal government to intervene in church affairs, saying that a “wall of separation” had been erected between church and state.

Jefferson’s letter was written to say that the federal government could not force certain religious views on citizens, not to say that religious expression in the public sphere was prohibited. Any other interpretation of “separation of church and state” is erroneous.

In many cases, Christian ministries receive bad advice. They are sometimes told that their IT guy knows how to purchase a single copy of a program, but install it ministry-wide, thereby saving thousands of dollars. However, purchasing one copy of a software license does not give the ministry the legal right to install that software on multiple devices. 

It can be helpful to think of software as a twenty-dollar bill. If you have a bill, you can spend it on anything you like; but you may not photocopy it and spend it over and over! That, of course, would be counterfeiting.

If you own a software license for a single device, you can install it on any device you wish; but you cannot install it on multiple devices. If you want the software on multiple devices, you need a license that specifically allows that.

At this point, private trade organizations like the Business Software Alliance (BSA) use the courts to strictly enforce software licensing and to crack down on software piracy. If a ministry is audited by the BSA, fines are likely to range in the tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention any legal fees that may be associated with the action.

In order to protect your ministry, the Christian Law Association recommends the adoption of this software policy:

[Ministry Name] purchases and licenses the use of various computer software for ministry purposes and does not own the copyright to this software or its related documentation. Unless authorized by the software developer, [Ministry Name] does not have the right to reproduce such software for use on more than one device. Staff members may use software only on local area networks or on multiple devices according to the software license agreement. [Ministry Name] prohibits the illegal duplication of software and its related documentation. Staff members are not permitted to install any program, business or personal, onto ministry equipment without prior ministry approval.

Christian school administrators understandably have concerns about the safety of their students when they use the school computers, but the first step in ensuring this safety is to secure the school’s own computer systems. During the summer break is a good time to review school systems and make any needed changes. As these changes are being made, attention should be given to keeping students safe online. The Christian Law Association encourages Christian schools to consider these important protocols.

1. Identify computers that have sensitive information and make sure they are not connected to the Internet. There are, to be sure, certain advantages to having computers networked together; but these very advantages also increase the potential for security breaches. CLA recommends that ministries maintain student record information on an isolated network that is not connected to the Internet. Academic, disciplinary, and financial information about students should be offline.

2. Hire an outside systems expert to design or audit the ministry’s computer security. In today’s society, many teens have profound computer knowledge that is impressive. However, when a teen who “knows a lot about computers” volunteers to set up the Christian school’s network free of charge, this is one offer that you must refuse! Remember, the person who designs the computer system knows dozens of ways to get into the system’s back doors. Allowing a student to design—and thereby have access to—such a system is not wise!

3. Make sure your computer system is constantly updated. A qualified IT professional can help make sure that your system has the latest security releases and technology upgrades. Because of the constantly changing nature of the computer world, systems that were safe in the past may be unsafe now.

4. Require students to register online activities with the school. CLA recommends that schools require all students to register any Internet blog or website they create. Because most online activity is done under a screen name, the administration may not be able to verify the author’s identity unless accounts are registered.

Have a policy for student websites. The following policy, based on our case experience, is recommended by CLA:

5. Any student who decides to operate a personal online website or contributes to a blog must register the website/blog with the school staff. (Ex.: facebook.com, tumblr.com, twitter.com, etc.) The website must be registered immediately upon its creation. Any student who creates a website or blog prior to attending the school must register the website/blog as soon as he/she is accepted as a student. All website/blog content will be monitored on a regular basis. Any student, including homeschooled students, found with an unregistered website/blog or website/blog material that is deemed inappropriate to the purpose and mission of the school will be in direct disobedience to this ruling and will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including immediate ineligibility to attend the school.

6. Educate parents on the dangers of the Internet. While it is true that many parents are comfortable with modern technology, we have found that many parents are simply not aware of some of the dangers that their children are facing. As an educational institution, it is appropriate to provide information to parents, giving them tools that can keep their children as safe as possible.

One crucial aspect of this education is to stress that children are never to set up meetings, even group meetings, with people they have only met online! 

Parents have a duty to protect their children, and this is never more needful than during the summer months when children and teens are out of school and often spend hours alone at home while parents are at work. Although there is no fail-safe method, CLA recommends that parents carefully consider these tips:

1. Children should use computers only in common areas of the home where they can be monitored—never behind closed doors in their bedrooms. It is extremely unwise to allow children and teenagers unmonitored computer access when they are home alone.

2. Talk with your child often about how to remain safe on the Internet. Let your child know you regularly check computer history as well as email and chat messages.

3. Require your child to use nicknames on social media and networking sites and never to share identifying information about themselves or the family in social networking profiles. Your child should be told to keep passwords secret from everyone but you.

4. Remind your child that millions of people can potentially see anything they post online and these messages and photos will never go away. Teach your child to think before posting.

5. Remind your child of the dangers associated with arranging an in-person meeting with anyone they have met only in cyberspace.

6. Monitor any social networking sites your child uses. Make sure your child “friends” you and makes their personal settings “private.”

7. Watch for signs of cyberbullying and tell your child to report such activity to you immediately, whether it involves them or a friend. Encourage them to help others who are being subjected to cyberbullying by alerting an adult.

8. Make sure to retain all evidence of cyberbullying, including emails and text messages.

The Internet is a powerful tool, much like a loaded gun. If parents allow their children to go online, they must make certain that careful safety guidelines are in place. It takes only one incident for tragedy to result.

The power of social networking is hard to imagine. Facebook, currently the largest online social network in the world, has roughly three billion active users per month. Social media can be dangerous enough for adults, but children are particularly susceptible to being harmed. While no set of guidelines can provide complete security, CLA recommends these guidelines for students.

  1. Do not allow a child under the age of 13 to create a Facebook account. The social media giant prohibits anyone under the age of 13 to create an account. If a person under the age of 13 creates an account, it will likely result in Facebook terminating the account.

2. If your teenager does not personally know someone who is requesting to be “friends,” they should not accept the request. This policy also applies to adults.

3. Create the strongest password possible to protect your account from being hacked. If you have any suspicion that your account may be hacked, it is best to change your password. If your account is hacked, it is important to immediately report this to Facebook. 

4. Only post photos or ideas that you want to make public. Never post anything personal or embarrassing, because it could affect your testimony or work situation. Recently, a woman was fired after calling in sick then posting something that made it apparent she wasn’t ill.

5. Manage your privacy settings. The default choice makes all of your information, photos, and posts available to anyone who wishes to look at it. It is very wise to set your profile to “private.” By adjusting privacy settings, most of your content is not accessible by people who are not your friends.

6. Be careful when responding to friends or loved ones who request any type of monetary help on Facebook. Be sure to verify in person or by calling that the message is legitimate and their account was not hacked or cloned.

7. Only post broad information about your geographical location. Listing a state or very large city is fine, but never post an address or the name of a small town. This could jeopardize your personal safety. Additionally, never post that you are home alone. This is especially true for teenagers. Criminals and child predators could use this information to their advantage. 

8. Block anyone who sends you inappropriate messages or wall posts. If anyone posts content that is suggestive, pornographic, or threatening in any way, report them to Facebook.

9. You should never post your personal address, email, telephone number or any other personal contact information on your profile. 

10. Report to Facebook anything else that seems suspicious.