The question of liability comes up from time to time when talking about men’s team ministry to the widowed and single parents. Men working in the homes of vulnerable people conjures up images of lawsuits over personal injury, damage to homes and even physical abuse. I know of instances where churches become so concerned over liability that they don’t do men’s team ministry at all.
But while concern over liability is warranted, liability can be managed so that irrational fear does not paralyze church leadership and keep their widowed and single parents from receiving the help they need.
Let me begin by saying that I have no expertise in law or insurance and anything I say here should not be construed as implying that I do. All legal and insurance issues should be discussed with a lawyer or insurance agent respectively. But I do have some general insight on how to think about this issue and that is what I’m going to share with you now.
Understand that all ministry involves risk and liability.
If you don’t want liability in ministry, then don’t do ministry. There is no way to do any ministry without some degree of risk. For example, within just a few miles of my home, various churches have recently experienced the following tragedies: two people were shot and killed in a church parking lot before the morning worship service, multiple children were killed in a church van traffic accident on the way to camp, and a youth pastor was arrested for sexually molesting teen girls in his youth group.
Make sure you have liability insurance for offsite ministry events.
Your church leadership should check with their insurance agent to make sure the church is covered for offsite activities, such as church mission trips, transporting children to camp and men working in the homes of care receivers.
Mitigate risk by stressing safety.
Teach your men that homes can be dangerous places to work in. Cover issues about ladders, cars, roofs, electricity, gas, underground lines, etc. Our orientation workbook has an entire page devoted to safety. I’m really quite surprised that over the past twenty years I have had no reports of any injuries. I think one reason is that the Lord’s hand of protection has been on us. But we have also stressed safety, and that has paid off.
Walk toward liability, not away from it.
As Christians, our mentality about liability and risk is different from that of the world. The world sees liability as always a negative thing and to be avoided at all cost. But as Christians, we understand that liability can be a positive thing: an opportunity to see God provide for a pressing need. We accept the risk of liability because we know that facing up to it is what love is all about. We endanger our well being for the benefit of another.
Don’t let concern over liability keep you from obeying the Word of God.
Scripture clearly teaches that we are to “serve one another in love.” While it’s possible for believers to serve each other in a limited way in a church building, the most logical application of this verse and others like it is in the home. A physical house is where most needs exist and where most needs can be met. Refusing to allow church members to serve each other in their homes unnecessarily restricts them from obeying God’s Word.
Has your church had a problem with the issue of liability relating to your men’s team ministry? How did it deal with it?
This post originally appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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