On October 26 at the 2024 ERA Convention, Mr. Sam Whiting, an attorney for the Massachusetts Family Institute, presented a workshop entitled “Protecting Your Church: Dealing with Anti-Discrimination Laws.” Established in 1991, MFI is Massachusetts’ leading faith-based, pro-family advocacy organization providing legal support, research and education on critical issues affecting the sanctity of life, religious liberty and family values. The institute also partners with the Alliance Defending Freedom on a regular basis to defend religious freedom in the courts.

The primary purpose of the talk was to help churches recognize and mitigate vulnerabilities from legal action related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) laws they could face if they act in accordance with biblical beliefs on these issues. Of primary concern were potential issues related to employment policies and facilities use. Recognizing these laws do vary from state to state, Mr. Whiting outlined several foundational documents every church and Christian ministry should have in place to help protect themselves from discrimination lawsuits related to SOGI issues.

He stated every church should have a statement of faith that expresses the church’s core religious beliefs. This should include statements on marriage, sexuality, gender and life as this will help protect the church in the event of a lawsuit by providing evidence of the church’s belief.

A statement of final authority serves as a catch-all for issues not covered by statement of faith by identifying the source of religious authority for matters of faith and conduct and the final human interpreter of that source for the organization.

Every church and Christian ministry ought to have religious employment criteria. All employees should be regularly required to agree in writing with the statement of faith and any standards of conduct. These criteria should note that violation of statement of faith and/or standards of conduct constitutes good cause for termination. Churches and ministries should create written job descriptions for every employee and volunteer position that clearly ties the positions to the religious work of the organization.

A fourth foundational document is a facilities use policy that requires all groups using ministry facilities to certify that they have read and understood the statement of faith and agree not to do anything that would violate it. Churches are most protected when they allow use of facilities for free or below market rates. The more “commercial” a rental agreement looks, the less protected the church will be. 

Having a formal membership policy helps to protect churches when they have to impose church discipline by explaining requirements of membership and procedures for church discipline, noting particularly when information can be shared with the full congregation.

A marriage policy protects the right of churches to refuse to perform unbiblical marriages. This policy should clearly state the church’s position on marriage and the biblical basis for that position and it should require all marriages performed at the church to align with the church’s position.

A more detailed explanation of these policies along with samples and other vital legal information is available in a free guide that can be downloaded from the Massachusetts Family Institute at mafamily.org/protecting-your-ministry-4. The Alliance for Defending Freedom is an excellent resource for helping protect churches. You can learn more by visiting their website at adflegal.org.