A money-saving handbook for all who care for and maintain church buildings, this practical and comprehensive guide provides expert advice from a leading church architect and an experienced heritage buildings specialist. They also show how church buildings can be tools for contemporary mission, packed with potential for community engagement.

Church and state: a simple phrase that reflects one of the most famous and fraught relationships in the history of the United States. But what exactly is “the church,” and how is it understood in US law today? In Church State Corporation, religion and law scholar Winnifred Fallers Sullivan uncovers the deeply ambiguous and often unacknowledged ways in which Christian theology remains alive and at work in the American legal imagination. Through readings of the opinions of the US Supreme Court and other legal texts, Sullivan shows how “the church” as a religious collective is granted special privilege in US law. In-depth analyses of Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby reveal that the law tends to honor the religious rights of the group—whether in the form of a church, as in Hosanna-Tabor, or in corporate form, as in Hobby Lobby—over the rights of the individual, offering corporate religious entities an autonomy denied to their respective members. In discussing the various communities that construct the “church-shaped space” in American law, Sullivan also delves into disputes over church property, the legal exploitation of the black church in the criminal justice system, and the recent case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Brimming with insight, Church State Corporation provocatively challenges our most basic beliefs about the ties between religion and law in ostensibly secular democracies.

Churchwardens are required to compile and maintain a full terrier and inventory of all land and articles appertaining to their church. The Church Property Register is a clear and accessible pro-forma with sections dealing with all aspects of a church building and its contents to enable churchwardens to comply with the law.

Legal Opinions Concerning the Church of England contains the views of the Legal Advisory Commission of the General Synod, which gives legal advice to the General Synod, the Church Commissioners, diocesan registrars, chancellors, and other clerical and lay officers such as archdeacons and diocesan secretaries. It does not constitute a comprehensive volume on ecclesiastical law but is the jointly expressed views of the Commission on a wide range of legal matters of interest to the Church. This eighth edition contains many previously unpublished Opinions as well as a comprehensive updating and revision of the contents of previous editions. It is an indispensible reference work for all practitioners and students of ecclesiastical law. New or significantly revised Opinions include: The clergy and confidentiality Appointment of non-stipendiary ministers as incumbents Consecration of sites for 'green' burials Ownership of tombstones and monuments in churchyards Disturbances during services in cathedrals The right of a parishioner to be married in the parish church The legal responsibilities of PCC members

Designed for those who are not lawyers, accountants, or quasi-legal specialists, this book outlines the elements of risk management for congregations and church professionals. Divided into three parts, the guide provides an overview and history of the American legal system, details various areas of the law, and focuses on ways religious organizations can minimize their exposure to legal difficulties.