There would NOT appear to be a legal requirement to charge a fee for the use of the facilities for the purpose of a funeral of a non-member. The problem arises when the church charges non-members a fee and then gives a discount or free use of the facilities to a member of the church. That is not permitted. In other words, it would appear that free use of the facilities may be offered to non-members for the purpose of outreach to the community even if members are normally charged for such use.
Joe Serge already responded that a discount given to a member can be accounted for by reducing the annual receipt for the member by the amount of the discount. However, it should be noted that the discount in such a case would appear to apply at the end of the year to the receipt of the member who passed away.
I see no problem with this arrangement. The purpose of the church is to promote prayer and for Christian ministries to meet and serve the neighbourhood would appear to fall within the purpose of promoting the Christian religion.
Victoria: It would appear that you are serving a church in Ontario. Feel free to check the Classis Hamilton Website at this link http://www.classishamilton.ca/-1/. You might find some helpful material there.
As to whether CCCC membership is valuable, I am of the view that it is.
Article 35 of the Church Order states that the council shall be "composed of the minister(s), the elders, and the deacons." Other than that I am not aware of synod having addressed this question. There would appear to be nothing against having someone who is not an officebearer be present to take minutes. Care should be taken about confidentiality and when sensitive matters are discussed, council would need to ask the clerk who is not an officebearer to leave the meeting.
This continues to be a vexing issue, both on the privacy front and the CRA's continuing insistence that the "Ebay case" doesn't apply to charities (i.e. books and records need to be on servers either "in-house" to the Canadian charity, or inside of Canada -- at a minimum).
This goes right back to some of the discussions we had when PIPEDA was introduced: Technology is galloping ahead way faster than any legislative updates can accommodate.
So, this becomes an issue of balancing risks. Does a charity make use of technological advancements & efficiencies (e.g. Google Drive/"the Cloud") or continue to rely on its own physical servers in its own bricks and mortar facilities? There is no definitive answer to this, so it becomes a decision of each church leadership on what it will do. However, that should be done consciously, with serious consideration. Some professional legal advice may be in order.
Sorry this is a bit of a "soft" answer, but until some court case comes along to cement things a bit, charity leaders just need to move forward with the usual proper caution.
With respect to receipts for meals, it is best practice of the church to require receipts to be submitted for any expense over say over $10.00 per occurrence. With respect to mileage reimbursement, there appear to be two possibilities:
1. The church could provide the pastor with a travel allowance which would be included as income on the pastor's T4 information slip. In that case the pastor would need to keep a detailed log of all expenses incurred for activities on behalf of the church to be able to claim a deduction from income at income tax filing time. This is complex and I would not advise using this method, or
2. The pastor keeps a log of all kilometers driven for the church and submits that log on a monthly basis to the church for reimbursement. In this case, the church is permitted to reimburse $0.54 per kilometer for 2017 to the pastor. The rate is adjusted annually.
Posted in: Church Order Article 73
You are making a statement of fact, but I do not see where you want to go with it. Can you clarify?
Posted in: Seeking Advice From Canadian Churches on Opening Our Doors Free of Charge
There would NOT appear to be a legal requirement to charge a fee for the use of the facilities for the purpose of a funeral of a non-member. The problem arises when the church charges non-members a fee and then gives a discount or free use of the facilities to a member of the church. That is not permitted. In other words, it would appear that free use of the facilities may be offered to non-members for the purpose of outreach to the community even if members are normally charged for such use.
Joe Serge already responded that a discount given to a member can be accounted for by reducing the annual receipt for the member by the amount of the discount. However, it should be noted that the discount in such a case would appear to apply at the end of the year to the receipt of the member who passed away.
Posted in: Church Rental Policy?
I don't know where your church is located, but if it is in Canada, you should consider the following article:
http://www.classishamilton.ca/files/ClassisHamilton/7_things_charities_should_know_before_creating_a_facility_rental_policy.pdf
I hope this helps somewhat even if your church is located in the USA.
Posted in: Permissible to Use Paid Church Employee to Provide Bookkeeping to Local Coalition?
Victoria,
I see no problem with this arrangement. The purpose of the church is to promote prayer and for Christian ministries to meet and serve the neighbourhood would appear to fall within the purpose of promoting the Christian religion.
Posted in: What Is the Best Way to Keep up to Date With Administration Requirements for Churches and Charities?
Victoria: It would appear that you are serving a church in Ontario. Feel free to check the Classis Hamilton Website at this link http://www.classishamilton.ca/-1/. You might find some helpful material there.
As to whether CCCC membership is valuable, I am of the view that it is.
Dick
Posted in: Does the Clerk of Council Have to Be an Elected Elder or Deacon?
Peter,
Article 35 of the Church Order states that the council shall be "composed of the minister(s), the elders, and the deacons." Other than that I am not aware of synod having addressed this question. There would appear to be nothing against having someone who is not an officebearer be present to take minutes. Care should be taken about confidentiality and when sensitive matters are discussed, council would need to ask the clerk who is not an officebearer to leave the meeting.
Posted in: Cloud Storage of Council Minutes and Correspondence?
This continues to be a vexing issue, both on the privacy front and the CRA's continuing insistence that the "Ebay case" doesn't apply to charities (i.e. books and records need to be on servers either "in-house" to the Canadian charity, or inside of Canada -- at a minimum).
This goes right back to some of the discussions we had when PIPEDA was introduced: Technology is galloping ahead way faster than any legislative updates can accommodate.
So, this becomes an issue of balancing risks. Does a charity make use of technological advancements & efficiencies (e.g. Google Drive/"the Cloud") or continue to rely on its own physical servers in its own bricks and mortar facilities? There is no definitive answer to this, so it becomes a decision of each church leadership on what it will do. However, that should be done consciously, with serious consideration. Some professional legal advice may be in order.
Sorry this is a bit of a "soft" answer, but until some court case comes along to cement things a bit, charity leaders just need to move forward with the usual proper caution.
Posted in: Pastor Reimbursement of meals-Should his portion be a taxable benefit? (Canadian)?
Jim,
With respect to receipts for meals, it is best practice of the church to require receipts to be submitted for any expense over say over $10.00 per occurrence. With respect to mileage reimbursement, there appear to be two possibilities:
1. The church could provide the pastor with a travel allowance which would be included as income on the pastor's T4 information slip. In that case the pastor would need to keep a detailed log of all expenses incurred for activities on behalf of the church to be able to claim a deduction from income at income tax filing time. This is complex and I would not advise using this method, or
2. The pastor keeps a log of all kilometers driven for the church and submits that log on a monthly basis to the church for reimbursement. In this case, the church is permitted to reimburse $0.54 per kilometer for 2017 to the pastor. The rate is adjusted annually.
Posted in: Pastor Reimbursement of meals-Should his portion be a taxable benefit? (Canadian)?
The above response would apply if the church is in Canada. The US likely will have different rules.
Posted in: Reformed Benefits: Insurance Coverage for Churches in the U.S.
Would it help in these types of posts that this insurance program applies only to churches in the USA?