church events - the legal requirements

Churches up and down the UK run many thousands of events every year. If you're an event organiser, did you realise that there are legal considerations to take into account?

The Churches Legislation Advisory Service (CLAS) has just produced a very helpful free 9-page checklist,  covering various legal requirements and matters that need to considered when a church plans an event. It includes considerations such as Safeguarding, Health and Safety, Insurance, Food Safety, Alcohol Licenses, and more.

Stewardship works closely with the Churches Legislation Advisory Service. They are an ecumenical membership organisation that seeks to communicate with and influence Government on legislation  and other matters which directly affect churches, and to act as a channel through which Government can consult the churches as a whole. They also comment on the impact of proposed legislation, as well as acting on churches/church ministers’ behalves to seek to cure anomalies and bring about a regime that is as fair as possible. To find out more about membership of CLAS, click here.

To obtain your copy of the Occasional Events checklist, visit the CLAS website and select the ‘Publications’ tab. From there, you can download the document.

Churches: The role of trustees and spiritual leaders

One of the frequent questions that we are asked at Stewardship is about trustees in churches, and how that role interacts with those of the spiritual leaders; ministers, pastors, elders etc. This issue can create confusion and even at times tensions between people. As a result it is an important issue for those involved in church leadership to understand.

The confusion and tension comes out of what the church is; not only a community of Christians working together to evangelise, love and disciple principally governed by the teaching in the Bible but also, very often, a charity governed by UK law. The Charity Commission has guidance for trustees and the Bible has principles for good leadership. These need to work together if the church is to be well governed in both aspects.

It is important in each church setting to work out how these leadership principles are best achieved. This will depend on the type of structure a church has, and who the individuals are in the team. We find that when these are understood and there are good relationships between the people on the team, the different roles work well to support each other and achieve good spiritual direction and good legal governance. Where there is misunderstanding or poor relationships (and one tends to lead to the other), there can be gaps or frictions leading to problems in either or both of the spiritual and legal leadership of the church.

If you want to read more on this area, please refer to our free briefing paper entitled 'Guide to churches on spiritual leadership and trustees'. If you think your own church could improve in this area we do recommend you humbly ask God for help, seek to understand the others in your team and work to see this resolved in line with the teaching of Ephesians chapter 4. If you would think it may help to speak to one of Stewardship’s Consultants, who have practical experience of being involved in both spiritual leadership and trustee roles, please contact enquiries@stewardship.org.uk

VAT for churches - an updated guide

Our popular Guide to VAT especially written for churches has been completely re-written and expanded to provide a useful, readable reference guide for various interactions that churches have with the VAT system. There have been a number of major changes to the VAT system which affect churches and this Guide is up to date as at 31 October 2011. Whether the church is VAT registered or not, there are tips on how to avoid paying VAT unnecessarily which, in the case of building projects and property rents, has saved some readers many thousands of pounds.

Whilst this 38 page Guide is detailed, it seeks to distil the complexities of VAT whilst avoiding being overly technical. Rather than cover VAT as a topic, it covers only those areas that will typically be faced by churches (and Christian charities).

Separate sections cover: Introduction and General Principles, VAT Planning, VAT Registration, Property Acquisition, Use and Maintenance, VAT Reliefs for Charities, Churches Registered for VAT and Frequently Asked Questions, plus a useful contacts and addresses section. Six Appendices provide copies of the Pro Forma VAT Certificates that your church may be asked for, or may be required to provide (for example in order to gain VAT Zero rating).

We are grateful to the senior VAT Consultants at Crowe Clark Whitehill for their help in producing this Guide and ensuring that it remains an authoritative text for Churches and Christian charities.Click the link below to order the new guide.

VAT for Churches – a detailed guide