When one is called by God into the full-time, paid ministry, it's a wondrous and inspirational time of life. This, despite the knowledge that they are called not to a life on "easy street" and "rugged independence." But rather, to a life of relying faithfully and unfailingly on the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ, and suffering the ups and downs of their life and those of their flock. Nevertheless, in their single-minded efforts to start a church, some may forget all that is involved in a Christian church plant. The most important thing to keep in mind when starting a new church is that pastoral ministry and outreach to the "lost" are of paramount importance. But those cannot occur successfully without the foundation of excellence in all that must be done.

Among the many things that must be done in a new church plant are the legal and business tasks that are hard to understand and not at all easy to implement. Despite their essential "legal" and/or "business" nature, one should not be fooled as to their indispensable nature for the ministry. In fact, many such tasks are more of an "ecclesiastical" (uniquely church-related) nature than they may appear. In truth, legal/business matters and ecclesiastical goals are not only interdependent, but also influence and inform one another other. In other words, in certain instances, it is possible that an ecclesiastical goal may only be solidified through what are normally legal or business avenues.

Let us consider some examples. First, the establishment of appropriate ordination procedures in the church plant and the ordination of ministry personnel. This is obviously a deeply spiritual aspect of starting a church, but not as obvious is the fact that numerous legal and business consequences flow from the process. For example, under the tax law, the Internal Revenue Service utilizes a test for who qualifies as a "minister," but solely for the purpose of extending to them the special tax benefits available only to properly ordained clergy. Also, should a new church elect to file Form 1023--the Application for IRS Recognition of Tax Exempt Status--(which is not required), the IRS has the opportunity to evaluate the adequacy of the church's ordination procedures. This makes it more likely that the church's ministry personnel will qualify for the special tax benefits and not be subject to independent audits.

Let's take one more example. If the church plant that one is called to start is to be an autonomous, or independent church, the issue of "Authority" becomes highly important. In other words, should more authority reside with the ministry leadership, or with the church membership? It stands to reason that if an individual has been inspired to start either a church or a group-affiliated fellowship (or, denomination), it's more likely that a greater level of authority will reside with the church leadership. On the other hand, should a group of laypersons be starting a church, with plans to hire a minister at some point, it's likely they'll decide that authority will likely tilt more toward the church membership, by majority rule. 

The issue of the structure of authority in an independent church plant is extremely important because the failure to define it and establish the parameters you believe in may subject the church to a structure of authority by "default." What does this mean? Basically, it means that in the event of a dispute and the existence of vague lines of authority, a secular court may step in to decide certain issues that impact the church under the "neutral principles of law" doctrine. And the deeper meaning of this is that unless church leaders take the time from the outset to not only define a structure of authority they believe is right, but also to document it in the same manner than any legal or business matter must be documented, they take the risk that a court will it do for them at some point in the future. And it may end up being a structure of authority that one never contemplated, or believes is right.

Don't be left out in the dark. You owe it to yourself and your ministry to take a closer look at Building On Faith: Everything You Need To Know About Starting Your Own Church. It's the gold standard in use today among American church start-ups. And it's written by a devoted Christian and church law expert... Abe Hernandez, Esq.