Church Law And Political Speech

[James Griffin]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Most of the ones I know are not incorporated or ask for tax breaks. They are just a simple community of believers who assist each other as a spiritual family. Now, if incorporated as a religious body entitled to tax exemptions... yes.

First of all as stated previously it is NOT necessary to incorporate much less obtain 501 c 3 status to be tax exempt. A bona fide church is automatically tax exempt.

As far as "House Church", if they are indeed deemed to be a church as opposed to a home Bible study group etc, then they can be liable for several things whether claiming tax exempt status or not. For example zoning laws. Or they could be liable for things like retro-fitting the house to be ADA compliant, which can cost thousands.

On the other hand, if it is a home Bible study group and something happens there it is possible in some cases for the main church to be liable.

Generally speaking factors to determine home church- what they call themselves, what the nature of the meeting is, are any funds collected whatsoever etc.

To determine whether the "Main" church is liable for its "home Bible studies" it is a sliding scale determined by exactly how much control the Main church exerts. Does it mandate lessons, train the leaders, advertise the home meetings during service etc.

Not an easy issue, it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and is generally case specific.

However, bottom line, there can be consequences and liabilities running an actual home church out of your home whether or not you incorporate OR claim tax exempt status