BusinessHABOpen Worship Centre: A church is a spiritual community that comes together in common fellowship.
If you’re dissatisfied with your local options and have a group of like-minded thinkers and believers.
You may be interested in branching out on your own to worship in your own way.
Where to start? You can learn to begin the early informal processes and plan for an incorporated community, apply for legal status, and expand your church in the community.
See Step 1 for more information.
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Open Worship Centre
1. Start a home spiritual discussion group.
Before you attempt to file for non-profit status and make your church official.
It’s best to establish a somewhat sizable and united fellowship of people with similar beliefs to undergo the process together. Start talking with like-minded people and getting together on a regular basis.
- The IRS requires you to have three founding members who are not related by blood or marriage.
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Open Worship Centre
2. Define the scope of the church.
You can establish a church at varying levels and the better you define your aims for the church.
The easier it will be to establish your tax-exempt status.
Establishing a ministry, for example, is somewhat different than forming a corporately structured church, housed in its own building. Consider:
- Your possible membership. How many do you reasonably expect?
- Your location. Where will you worship?
- Your commitment. Will this be a part-time job, or a full-time calling?
- Your financial aims. Will your church collect funds? How? How much will be necessary?
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Open Worship Centre
3. Draft church bylaws and a statement of belief.
Why are you starting a church?
What core beliefs will govern your ministry?
What distinguishes your church in terms of doctrine and creed?
These are questions to take up in a statement of belief.
Think of this as the “Declaration of Independence” for your church.
- To form a religious organization, you need to also establish a series of bylaws by which your organization will be governed. Think of this as the rule book for your church’s operations. Will you perform weddings and funerals? Under what protocol? What community outreach programs will your church participate in?
- Sample outlines of bylaws are available online that you can use and modify for your purposes.
Open Worship Centre
4. Assign corporate officers.
You’ll need corporate officers, a board of directors, and a membership to file for incorporation with the state.
Make sure ahead of time you’ve got willing participants to fulfill the various procedural and accounting roles necessary to make a church run smoothly.
- These roles will be different than church staff. You don’t necessarily need to think about janitorial and secretarial roles just yet, but make sure you’ve got some idea of the board of directors, visiting and youth ministry, music, and fundraising. The decision-making players need to be in place before you move forward.
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Open Worship Centre
5. Name your church.
A commonly overlooked step.
Give some thought to naming your church something distinctive.
Unique, and descriptive of your niche in the ministry.
Also make sure you’re not repeating a commonly-used name.
Open Worship Centre
6. What is a statement of belief?
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