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to Christian Legal Chronicles
THE
VITAL IMPORTANCE OF BYLAWS FOR CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS
NONPROFITS Most California churches and Christian
religious organizations organize as
a “California
religious nonprofit corporation.” This process
requires, among many other
things, filing Articles of Incorporation with the California Secretary
of
State. Vital
Importance of Bylaws But, probably the most
important foundational legal
document for a church or religious nonprofit organization
are the Bylaws.
The bylaws (also called a Constitution) detail specifically
how the
Church or nonprofit will be governed. Christian church bylaws
contain an
integrated mixture of doctrine, Bible-based Church government
provisions, and
California
nonprofit
corporation law. Inadequate
Bylaws Many existing Christian churches have
no bylaws, outdated
bylaws, or bylaws that no longer accurately reflect
their beliefs,
church government structure, or present needs. Worse, many
churches have
boilerplate bylaws that not only do not accurately reflect the actual
governing structure
of the church, and,
further, are not utilized and referred to!
Many of these
existing churches ought to amend or replace their bylaws and have an
attorney
prepare or at least review the bylaws for usefulness, integrity and
legal compliance.
Then, they need to abide by such bylaws and follow corporate
formalities
which will help shield them from liability and guard against certain
types of internal church conflicts. Attorney
Preparation of Bylaws I carefully and strategically prepare
detailed bylaws that
provide flexibility for a growing church. Such bylaws can be
tailored to
your theology and governing structure while helping to ensure that your
Christian church or nonprofit corporation bylaws comply with California
nonprofit religious laws. Feel free to contact
me for a free
initial consultation.
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