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There was a time when the most significant lawsuit a church had to fear was from someone who slipped on the sidewalk in front of the entrance. Even then, the church might have escaped liability because of a statutory or judicial grant of immunity. Those days are now gone, as it seems that new causes for action against religious institutions are being invented daily.

Ten of the most common lawsuits faced by churches today are described in this article. By familiarizing yourself with these possible pitfalls you can help protect your church against them.

People still slip and fall in front of churches, but charitable institutions no longer enjoy the immunity privileges they once did. Your church can be held liable for accidents caused by dangers you knew existed on your property but the general public did not. It does not matter whether the person was invited onto the property or not. A warning sign, prominently posted and disclosing the danger, is often sufficient to avoid needless injury and absolve church liability.

You owe a greater duty to church members and visitors. You must not only warn them of dangers that you know about but also exercise reasonable care and take necessary precautions to ensure their safety at all times. This means you must vigilantly look for things on your property that could cause harm, and, when you find a hazard, either fix it or warn members.

Property owners have a special duty to prevent hazards that can cause injuries to children, even if they are trespassing. Your church has a duty to keep children safe from conditions against which you might expect them to be unable to protect themselves. On the other hand, your duty to trespassing children does not extend to conditions that are obvious or not inherently dangerous. As one court noted, in concluding that a church was not liable for the injuries suffered by a Sunday school student who fell into a well, "there is almost no condition which an adventurous child cannot turn into an injury-producer: tree swings, slides, stairs, hard-surfaced playgrounds, and soft-surfaced playgrounds can all be a source of harm to the young."

Nonetheless, it is prudent to keep gates locked and restrict access to such potential dangers as piles of debris and construction material, which can attract young people's attention.

After you have hired an employee you have an ongoing duty to protect the public and members of your own congregation against any violent or criminal propensities of the employee that come to your attention. If you hear of disturbing conduct from another member of your staff via complaint or report, you should investigate the charges unless the person bringing the complaint specifically requests that you not. If you proceed with an investigation you should thoroughly document it—noting the specific charges alleged, the people you spoke with and what they said, any documents involved, and all else pertinent to your determination as to whether the charges warranted action. Failure to take action after hearing of a complaint or turning a blind eye to misconduct a later investigation reveals practically guarantees that your church will be sued along with the employee if he or she harms someone.

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