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God has charged each of us with
guarding The Church and protecting the people under our
care. (I Peter 5:2; Numbers 1:50). My eldest daughter,
Sharonrose Cannistraci, is a business and litigation
attorney with seventeen years of legal experience
representing and counseling churches and ministries in a
wide range of business, property and liability issues. I
have encouraged her to create a website and publication that
would educate clergy on the laws that govern religious
institutions.
Weekly I receive calls from ministers across the country who
are beset with legal problems. The pastors I counsel are
being faced with a myriad of issues such as: land use
restrictions on their place of worship, injuries on church
property, embezzlement of funds by officers and employees,
abuse of power and sexual misconduct claims, accusations of
negligent hiring of supervision, damages for revealing to
the congregation unrepented sin that was disclosed during
counseling sessions, criminal charges for failing to report
child abuse, and even sexual battery allegations for laying
on of hands during a religious service.
During the course of your ministry, each of you will be
faced with legal issues that must be dealt with responsibly.
How you respond to these issues will be the determinative
factor as to how well you protect your church or whether you
expose your ministry to liability. Our lives and ministries
are under a public microscope of media scrutiny. Pastors and
churches are being sued at an unprecedented rate. How can we
protect our church and ourselves from civil and criminal
liability?
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"Protect The Church."
-Dr. Emanuele Cannistraci |
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