A crucial part of the church’s training program should include the prevention of sexual harassment.  Many churches overlook this area of risk because they do not think that it will happen in a church context. Unfortunately, the church is not immune from episodes of sexual harassment from taking place within its walls.  It is crucial [...]

The Obama administration, trying to defuse one of the most contentious issues in its healthcare law, proposed a new way to shield religiously affiliated organizations, such as hospitals and universities, from having to provide contraceptive coverage directly to their employees. Instead, the employees would obtain coverage through a separate, private insurance policy at no cost. [...]

Allegheny County in Pennsylvania puts nonprofits on notice: Facing rising public pressure in a region dominated by tax-exempt giants, Allegheny County soon will require all nonprofits with property to prove they deserve their tax breaks. At Tuesday’s county council meeting, Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced plans to send letters to all 9,000 non-government tax-exempt properties in [...]

A female licensed marriage counselor in Texas was found guilty of sexual assault and sentenced to ten years’ probation for using her influence as a professional counselor to coerce a client husband into having sex with her.  A couple had come to her for counseling with hope of saving their marriage.  The counselor manipulated the [...]

Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Committee will hold a hearing to examine the itemized deduction for charitable contributions as part of the Committee’s work on comprehensive tax reform. The hearing will begin on Thursday, February 14, 2013, in Room 1100 of the Longworth House [...]

Nonprofit board members who think they don’t face any risks if they provide lax oversight should pay close heed to the $5.5-million price tag the New York attorney general just put on inattentiveness.  Every board member should understand the strong message government officials were sending about the level of diligence expected from them, especially when [...]

The Los Angeles Times reported that its analysis of Boy Scouts of America’s “perversion” files showed that the Boy Scouts of America fought the trend of adopting criminal background checks for volunteers and staff, unknowingly allowing convicted child sex offenders to join.  Amid reports of widespread sexual abuse of children in the late 1980s, several [...]

The Senior pastor of Victory Christian Center, a Tulsa megachurch, has been accused of not timely reporting the molestation of a twelve-year-old by a church employee, according to the AP .  The failure to report a suspected incident of child abuse by a “mandatory reporter” is a violation of the law.  Do you know what [...]

David Jimenez was so elated over his wife’s recovery from cancer that he offered to clean the large crucifix outside the Hudson Valley church where he spent many hours praying for her to beat the disease. On Memorial Day 2010, he was scrubbing grime off the cross when the 600-pound marble statuary toppled over, crushing [...]

Most members serving on your church’s board of directors do so because they want to serve their local church and feel as though they have valuable experience and/or insight that can help them serve the church well while finding satisfaction through their service.  This type of self-interest is not inherently bad—it can help directors feel [...]