What are independent ministries and is it OK for our churches to work with them?
There are several ministries that operate outside of the official Seventh-day Adventist organizational structure. These are referred to as independent ministries.
Many independent ministries are well organized and fully aligned with the mission and ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. However, this isn’t the case with all independent ministries, and unfortunately there have been times when our churches have worked with independent ministries that were poorly managed or not fully aligned with our church mission. These interactions have exposed our churches to liability and worse, have at times harmed our church’s goodwill and ministry effectiveness.
Thankfully, Adventist Risk Management has created a resource to help churches in working with independent ministries.
Some best practices for churches to consider when working with independent ministries include:
- Exercising due diligence before becoming involved with an independent ministry. Part of conducting due diligence includes looking at an independent ministry’s governing documents and policies and researching the leadership of the organization to make sure they are qualified to do the work they are engaging in.
- Verifying that the independent ministry has appropriate liability insurance to protect both the church and independent ministry for the work the ministry provides. The level of liability insurance necessary will depend on what types of activities the independent ministry is engaged in.
- Clarifying in writing about the roles and responsibilities of the independent ministry and the church before entering any joint programming. This is often best accomplished through an agreement.
- Complying with working policy before pastors or other individuals who are employed by the church serve on the board of an independent ministry.
- Being careful not to endorse the work of an independent ministry. This includes making sure that the independent ministry isn’t implying that it has formal relationship or sponsorship by the church. We want to avoid causing any confusion regarding the relationship between an independent ministry and the church. It can be confusing for individuals when they think a ministry is officially connected to our church. When our church and independent ministries work too closely without proper guardrails in place, it can lead to our church being legally liable for the actions of the independent ministry.
None of these recommendations are meant to stop individual church members from working with or volunteering for independent ministries. Instead, the goal is to make sure that our churches are not exposed to unnecessary risks and liability when working with outside ministries. We shouldn’t fear working with independent ministries, but we should follow best practices so that both our church and independent ministries can more effectively focus on mission.
- For additional information, see Structuring Relationships Between Seventh-day Adventist Church Organizations and Supporting Ministries, available at: https://adventistrisk.org/getmedia/001dc00c-dadf-44ce-9d80-1999b28eeac7/WP-SupportingRelationships-Final-NADEN-04272023.pdf
Jennifer Woods is the Lake Union public affairs and religious liberty director, as well as its legal counsel.