Scammers 'Phishing' for Your Money

Editor's Note (August 15, 2011): Naomi Martin, a reporter with The New Orleans Times-Picayune wrote this article for the newspaper on Sunday. It provides additional details on how some of these scams approach church leaders.

In July, the IRS urged its Twitter followers to be leery of tax scams convincing taxpayers to apply for rebates or credits. And Forbes reported that there’s been a recent “flurry of schemes in the South and Midwest” targeting local churches. Scammers convince churches that free money is available from the IRS through large tax credits or rebates, requiring minimal paperwork—a substantial reward for little effort and an offer truly too good to be true.

Unfortunately, churches are falling for it.

In 2008, Richard Hammar cautioned churches about several scams included in the IRS’s annual “Dirty Dozen,” a list of common tax scams all taxpayers should be aware of. Out of the twelve, Hammar focused on five that were relevant to churches. These five are still relevant, according to the IRS’s 2011 Dirty Dozen. Read about the five below, and view the complete list at irs.gov.

Five To Watch

Phishing. Identity thieves use this technique to acquire personal information in order to gain access to the financial accounts of unsuspecting consumers, run up charges on their credit cards, or apply for loans in their names.

These Internet-based criminals pose as representatives of a financial institution—or sometimes the IRS itself—and send out fictitious e-mail correspondence in an attempt to trick consumers into disclosing private information. A typical e-mail notifies a taxpayer of an outstanding refund and urges the taxpayer to click on a hyperlink and visit an official-looking website. The website then solicits a Social Security and credit card number. Scam artists are also using social media and spyware (usually loaded on to a computer by opening an e-mail attachment or clicking on a link) to gain access to personal financial information. Use caution when opening e-mail from unknown senders and giving out too much information through your social media accounts.

The IRS encourages anyone who believes personal information has been stolen to contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490. A suspicious e-mail or an “IRS” web address that does not begin with http://www.irs.gov should be forwarded to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

Zero wages. In this scam, which first appeared in the Dirty Dozen in 2006, “a Form 4852 (Substitute Form W-2) or a ‘corrected’ Form 1099 is used as a way to improperly reduce taxable income to zero.” The taxpayer may include a statement rebutting wages and taxes reported by the payer to the IRS. An explanation on the Form 4852 may cite statutory language behind Internal Revenue Code sections 3401 and 3121 or may include some reference to the paying company refusing to issue a corrected Form W-2 for fear of IRS retaliation. According to the IRS, filing this kind of return can cost you up to $5,000.

Return preparer fraud. Dishonest return preparers can cause problems for taxpayers who fall victim to their schemes. Such preparers make their money by skimming a portion of their clients' refunds and charging inflated fees for return preparation services. They attract new clients by promising large refunds. Some preparers promote filing fraudulent claims for refunds on items such as fuel tax credits to recover taxes paid in prior years. The IRS urges taxpayers to choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer: "As the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember that no matter who prepares the return, the taxpayer is ultimately responsible for its accuracy."

To crack down on this kind of dishonest business work, and increase confidence in the tax system and improve compliance with the tax law, the IRS is implementing a number of requirements for paid tax preparers, including new regulations that “require paid tax preparers (including attorneys, CPAs, and enrolled agents) to apply for a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) before preparing any federal tax returns in 2011.”

Abuse of charitable deductions. The IRS notes that contributions of noncash assets continue to be an area of abuse, especially with regard to overvaluation of contributed property. In some schemes, organizations are claiming the full value for a receipt and distribution of the same non-cash contribution.

Frivolous arguments. The IRS considers several arguments to be frivolous, including the following: (1) the Sixteenth Amendment, which authorizes Congress to collect income taxes, was never properly ratified; (2) wages are not income; (3) filing a return and paying taxes are voluntary; and (4) being required to file Form 1040 violates the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination or the Fourth Amendment right to privacy. The IRS urges taxpayers "not to believe these or similar claims. These arguments are false and have been thrown out of court. While taxpayers have the right to contest their tax liabilities in court, no one has the right to disobey the law or else they may subject themselves to increased penalties." The IRS also noted that Congress amended the tax code in 2006 to increase the amount of the penalty for frivolous tax returns from $500 to $5,000.

For more tax information, check out Richard Hammar’s 2011 Church & Clergy Tax Guide to stay up-to-date through the year.

Lindsey Learn is assistant editor to the Church Management Team at Christianity Today International.

Keeping Kids Safe at Camp

Sometimes our best ministry activities attract the wrong people. Church summer camp, for instance, is often the highlight of a church’s summer ministry. Sadly, sex offenders know this too. According to John McLaughlin, an officer with the police department of Keene, New Hampshire, offenders may target and use activities common to children and youth ministries to find their next victims. For churches during the summer months, this can mean camps, Vacation Bible School, and other children’s programs.

In a recent webinar by Safe Hiring Solutions, McLaughlin described how child sex offenders select, seduce, maintain, and dump their victims. Here are tips that every church leader (and parent) should know for keeping kids safe from sexual abuse.

When offenders are selecting victims, they look for opportunities where children will be wearing limited clothing, changing clothes (such as in swimming), available for one-on-one contact with adults, and staying overnight, said McLaughlin. Offenders also try to identify who the most vulnerable children are, such as children with bad home lives or who aren’t fitting in at school, and they seek to build trust and respect through a courting-like seduction phase.

Many churches take their children and youth to camps in the summer and may or may not know the counselors and other camp workers well. Summer camp could, unfortunately, be a perfect opportunity for offenders: children wear skimpier summer clothes, swim, change, and sleep over with adult chaperones. Additionally, adults spend lots of time with small groups of children and may even have one-on-one time with them. Counselors at camp also become privy to information identifying vulnerable children as they have in-depth conversations with children over the time at camp.

While offenders often seek out long-term relationships with children, according to McLaughlin, another type of offender lurks: the Seducer. Seducers focus on short-term manipulation strategies. For example, McLaughlin told about a man who walked into the locker room at a local pool and convinced the children in the locker room that he worked there and needed to give them each a physical exam. Other Seducers will find ways to “accidentally” brush up against children inappropriately. Summer camp may provide many opportunities for these manipulation strategies.

Is your church screening volunteers before sending kids off to camp and in your children’s ministry at church? Do you spell out clear rules and policies for relationships between adults and children? Post a comment and tell us what your church does so we can learn from each other.

• Creating Child Protection Policies
• Child Sexual Abuse Response Plan
• Prevent Child Sexual Abuse in the Church
• Creating a Safe Camp Experience
• Vacation Bible School Safety
• Planning Safe Mission Trips

The Proposed Charitable Deduction Change

The president has proposed a 2012 budget that will decrease the value of itemized tax deductions, including deductions for charitable contributions, for individuals making $200,000 or more and families making $250,000 or more per year. Also in the proposed budget is a tax increase for those in that income level.

Some say both of these changes could mean a decrease in the amount of charitable contributions to churches. Others suggest the affects may not amount to much.

In the 2011 State of the Plate, a survey of more than 1,500 church leaders, 91 percent say that this type of change would affect future giving at their church. Of the 91 percent, 31 percent characterize the potential damage as “significant.”

Robert Sharpe Jr., writing a guest piece for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, challenged whether this is the right time to decrease itemized tax deductions when “the losses wealthy people suffered in the recession have already reduced the amount they can afford to give to charity.”

A report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), though, gives a little hope that the effects on churches won’t be significant: “[The CBO report shows that] most of the donations from the rich go to large institutions,” writes Tobin Grant of the CT Politics blog. “This pattern stands in stark contrast to those with incomes less than $100,000. These individuals give two-thirds of their donations to religious groups.”

The CBO also examined another possible change in the tax code that would allow all taxpayers to deduct contributions without itemizing. According to Grant, the CBO concludes that this would increase contributions to charities.

It’s difficult to tell if the proposed tax changes will be passed (a recent Non Profit Quarterly editorial explains the difficulty of recent budget negotiations) and—if they do pass—how much it will influence the amount of charitable contributions to churches. In the meantime, churches should share their stories with their local communities to underscore the value of charitable contributions and the tax deductions designed to support them.

The "Whole Life Offering"

Just as a major error in discipleship is focusing discipling conversations on the needs and interests of the student, an especially common—and major—error in discipleship related to financial giving involves focusing conversations on the giving interest and passions of the student rather than on the curriculum of Christ embodied in the lived experience of the teacher—that is, if discipleship conversations on financial giving happen in the first place.

Of all the Works of Mercy and Piety, discipleship conversations related to financial giving are, regrettably, the most rare. Western Christians in particular consider it a kind of virtue or personal courtesy not to talk about money. Some cite Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 6:3, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” as reason enough to stay quiet about the specific nature of their generosity. But this overlooks the fact that the passage in question is indeed a sterling example of Jesus having a discipleship conversation about giving practices with his students.

Giving, like every other Work of Piety or Mercy, is learned through explicit teaching and guided practice, especially in reflection on the body of lived experience of Christian teachers who are growing to full maturity in Christ in their financial generosity.

The discomfort related to conversations about money typically stems from a reluctance to name actual numbers, amounts, and percentages. But discipleship conversations on financial giving should emphasize the point stressed repeatedly throughout this book, namely, that the Scripture itself dwells surprisingly little on questions related to specific numbers, amounts, and percentages. Instead, it dwells on the hows and whys of giving. The focus is on the presentation of the Christian’s whole life as an offering. God is less concerned about the total dollar amount of one’s donations and more about who one is becoming as one makes them.

Christianity-as-philanthropy contends that comprehensive discipleship is the Scriptural framework for talking about giving. It recognizes that the financial giving of Christians parallels their overall maturity in Christ. If teachers seek to aid students in growing their financial giving in a particular Work of Mercy, teachers must equip the students to grow to overall maturity in Christ in that area. Christians’ financial donations will be roughly the same size as their heads, their hearts, and their hands in relation to a particular Work of Mercy.

The principle is amply demonstrated in Scripture and in current statistical research. Households containing individuals who volunteer for charitable service give twice as much to charity as households where no one volunteers, according to a 2001 Independent Sector study.

Similar results were obtained in a 2008 Stanford Graduate School of Business Center for Social Innovation study. The research, conducted by Jennifer Aaker and Wendy Liu, consisted of three laboratory experiments demonstrating that when test subjects were asked to volunteer for a nonprofit and then only subsequently solicited for a financial donation, they gave twice as much money as those asked for a donation in their first contact. Aaker and Liu concluded that connecting people to the “deep mission” of a charitable organization through voluntarism made them “more inspired to be involved in that endeavor in every way”—including financially. Adds Aaker:

What’s particularly interesting is that participants who were asked first about their time not only gave the money of all, but also they donated the most time to the organization. This affirms for the researchers that what motivates people to give dollars when they are asked first for their time is not simply guilt; that is, they are not donating more generously as a way of “buying out” of having to give up precious hours. If guilt had been operating, then those who were asked for time first may have given more money, but they would have given less time than any of the other groups. In fact, the reverse was true.

Research, Scripture, and common sense coincide at this point: one gives to what one cares about, and one cares about those things in which one is deeply involved. Because Christ is a generalist and not a specialist with regard to the Works of Mercy, he calls Christians to comprehensive involvement in the means of grace that mirror his Father’s friendship-love and reliable care to the world. Such comprehensive involvement is about more than giving, but the Work of Mercy of discipleship rooted in the Work of Piety of giving ensures that it is not less.

Excerpted from The Whole Life Offering (.W Publishing, © 2011)

The Pluses of Google+ for Church Leaders

Google+ is the latest entry in the ocean of social media. As a church leader, you need to know the potential this has for your leadership and church.

The interface has drawn a number of comparisons to Facebook, and while they look like they’re from the same family, you’d never mistake them for twins.

Sure, you’ll find a profile page where you can add photos, a bio, links and videos. And you can share your whims and thoughts just like Facebook. But the most unique aspect of Google+ is its Circles, which enable you to review updates from different groups, such as “Work,” “Friends,” “Family,” “Foodies,” “Fans of America’s Got Talent,” or whatever categories you’d like to develop for the people you know.

The amazing thing is that you develop Circles like, “Loves Rob Bell” or, “Would Vote for Palin in 2012,” and keep those people as close or as far away from you depending on your preferences. But the whole concept of Circles becomes more helpful (and less tongue-in-cheek) when you think about the natural circles of involvement in your life, whether it’s “Church Staff,” “Small Group,” or “Outreach Event.”

Why is the Circles feature so important to you as a church leader? Because it streamlines who you communicate with and the way you do it. Instead of choosing between an e-mail, a blog post, or a tweet, you now have one place to communicate and an easy way to get the word out. The following has been observed:

• If you address something to a single person, it’s like you’ve written an e-mail or note;
• If you address something to a Circle, such as church members, it’s like you’ve written an open letter or newsletter;
• If you address something to a group of selected Circles, it’s like you’ve tweeted;
• If you address something to Public, it’s like a blog post everyone can enjoy.

It’s important to note that Google+ isn’t open to businesses or organizations like churches—at least not yet. But even through individual accounts, the Circles can be helpful as a staff or leadership tool, allowing you to communicate to your elders, staff, or volunteers in real time. The tool can be used to share everything from vision and goals to last-minute changes for an event.

Another plus of Google+ is the Hangout. This allows both chat and video features that give you instant access to up to ten people who also want to Hangout with you. Just make sure you’re not in your pajamas or birthday suit when you click the video Hangout button or everyone will be in for a surprise.

Like the Circles, the tool allows instant connection with whoever else is on. I expect the Hangout to catch on among youth leaders as they build relationships with kids. Instead of Skype, Hangout provides the opportunity to allow a congregation to hear from up to ten different missionaries around the world during a service. Or a person can still be at work but pop in during the lunch hour virtually for a Bible study. For larger churches, it opens up a door for hangout times with leaders. The possibilities are endless.

Another big plus is the Sparks, which allows you to search for web content that catches your fancy. You can find news updates, management tips, leadership ideas—anything really—and then search and share what you find with any or all of your circles. This allows conversations to simmer throughout the day. Though still cumbersome to use, Sparks has the potential to allow you to keep up with ministry topics of interest throughout the day.

But the biggest plus of Google+ right now is the high level of engagement (last week, Google said more than 10 million people joined during its first three weeks). The new site is addictive, so people are scanning, reading, sharing, commenting, and creating a sense of energy and excitement. And those engaging are still largely primarily real people, not companies trying to sell you their latest flavor of product.

That means that if you can ask questions about anything on your mind—from a sermon topic to how to improve the scheduling of VBS volunteers—then you can watch answers, links, and feedback from around the world roll in.

For all its pluses, Google+ still has some minuses.

First, it doesn’t play well with other social networks, like Twitter, Facebook, and Blog Feeds. Extensions are limited or non-existent. If you want to auto update your Google+ from Facebook or Twitter, you can’t because it’s not available. Modifications are on the way, but most of us wish they arrived yesterday.

Second, oopsies abound as we’re all still figuring out the limits of Google+. Just the other day I received an inbox full of updates from a newbie who didn’t realize that when he clicked the little box next to "Share" he was e-mailing everyone his updates. The day before that, we added photos and video to our profile page not realizing the entries would push through updates and appear like spam.

Third, the terrain is still so new it feels like a lot of people are missing from the conversation—especially women since nearly 75 percent of the users are male. In addition, a lot of Sparks are overused so the same content appears repeatedly. While some celebrate what they deem a viral success, the rest of us are just annoyed.

Lastly, I think the greatest strength of Google+ so far is the Circles, yet it could turn out to be its greatest weakness. Why? Circles have the potential to streamline conversations among like-minded people. That has tremendous potential to organize people around a common idea or cause. But it also has the potential to filter out the people who are different from us—those who would challenge us to be better than we could on our own.

Want an invite to Google+? We’d love to add you. Simply e-mail us at info(at)margaretfeinberg(dot)com and we’ll send you one.

Get $1,000 for Your Church's Communications Campaign

Our friends over at ChurchJuice.com are offering three $1,000 grants to churches planning--or already doing--unique, interesting, and effective communications work.

The deadline to apply for "The Juicys" is August 5, 2011.

As ChurchJuice.com puts it:

We want to recognize and reward those churches who’ve worked to improve their church communications in some way during the last year. It’s about looking back but also looking forward. In addition to giving Juicys to churches who have done something great during the last year--and are ready to start their next project--we also want to help a church who has a great idea but hasn’t found a way to make it happen.

Tell us what you did, or wanted to do, over the last year and you could receive $1,000 towards your next communications project. (Cue The Price is Right music.) That’s right, we want to give you $1,000 to jump-start your next project.

ChurchJuice.com will select three churches--one small, one big, and one "making it happen." More details, and an application, are available here.

Letters to Potential Donors of Mission Trips

In the excitement of planning a mission trip, it’s possible to overlook the importance of carefully worded support letters that meet IRS guidance. The IRS indicates what would be helpful to include in letters requesting charitable contributions, according to Dan Busby, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

Busby co-hosted a webinar late last month that included a discussion on the importance of the wording in these letters. The IRS says the following elements, clearly stated in fundraising letters, meet its guidance:

1. The trip is church-sponsored;
2. Ministry will be performed on the trip;
3. Gifts are preferenced for the individual’s trip expenses. (Leadership Journal further examines the question of designated gifts for short-term missions trips in the article “Tripped Up”);
4. The church will exercise discretion and control over the funds (which implies that there are no refunds to donors if the individual doesn’t go).

Although unlikely, church mission trips may be canceled; therefore, it is good to mention in the letter what will happen to the donated money in that situation.

Churches also should say that extra donations will go to the church’s overall mission fund, says Samantha Cave, who also participated in the ECFA webinar and manages the financial and logistical aspects of her church’s short-term mission ministry. This extra money then can be used for a contingency.

For instance, a team from Cave’s church was serving in Haiti when disaster struck. She was able to use money from that fund to help mission trip participants during that time.

For more information on properly handling mission finances, you can purchase a recording of the webinar mentioned in this article. ChurchSafety.com also offers information on safe and legal fundraising.

'Most Significant Religious Case in 20 Years'

A news article from the July edition of Christianity Today covers the U.S. Supreme Court's April decision to accept a teacher's appeal regarding an unfair firing claim against a Michigan elementary school run by a church.

At stake: How far a rule known as "ministerial exception" will go in matters of employment within churches and religious groups. Lower courts have stayed out of employment disputes between clergy and churches based upon this exception. What's unclear is how widely the rule can apply to nonordained staff members. The Supreme Court's decision to intervene likely will answer that question.

Richard Hammar again highlighted this case last week during his annual law and tax presentation to the National Association of Church Business Administration (he also explained the importance of this development in this short video update).

Hammar told Christianity Today he doesn't expect the Supreme Court to limit the exception to "ordained pastors performing pastoral duties." Other observers are wary. Rick Garnett, associate dean of the University of Notre Dame Law School, says the case is the country's most significant one to religious freedom in 20 years, giving church leaders nationwide good reason to monitor its progress throughout the next year.

Cyber Crime: Coming to a Church Near You?

The St. Ambrose Cathedral in Des Moines, Iowa, became victim to an apparent cyber crime last month when unidentified hackers stole $680,000 by luring away critical electronic information.

CBS News, reporting on the incident, quotes law enforcement and cyber security experts about how the hackers did it:

The heist begins with a technique known as spear phishing. In it, hackers lure an organization's financial officer with an email--a note that appears to be from a friend or the IRS-- enticing them to click on a link.

That click opens the door to a malicious software infection that allows vital information, like bank passwords, to be captured.

Criminal groups can then wipe out the account--ultimately transferring the cash to their own accounts, in places like Russia or the Ukraine--leaving victims high and dry.

CBS News also highlights other recent victims from around the country, including one public library in Florida, and two local governments in New York and New Jersey.

That makes these types of crimes all the more troublesome, said Verne Hargrave, who presented "Fraud in the Church: High-Tech Style," last week at the National Association of Church Business Administration's annual conference in Washington, D.C.

It means hackers are aware of financial sources big and small all over the country, including churches, he said.

“These guys in Eastern Europe know about you guys," said Hargrave, a certified public accountant and author of Weeds in the Garden. "They know about what’s going on, and know it may be an easy target.”

Hargrave offered these six tips for avoiding an attack like the one in Iowa:

• Dual controls. Have at least two people involved in every account, every cash collection, and every cash payment system. With electronic funds transfers, separate the three processes (bill approval, bill preparation, and bill transfer).
• Dedicate a stand-alone computer. Use it only for electronic funds activity. It shouldn't be tied to an individual and it shouldn't have access to other financial databases. Limit its online activity. Keep its antivirus and firewall protection updated.
• Limit administrative rights. Only those with specific needs for accessing electronic financial activity should have access to the computer used to do it.
• Reconcile daily. Reconcile your church's bank accounts daily.
• Change passwords. These need to be changed regularly, and preferably with a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, and one numeral and one symbol included.
• Don’t e-mail files. Use secure connections for any electronic file transfers.

Creating a Disaster Relief Ministry

Few will argue that 2011 has been a tragic season for natural disasters. The U.S. has been hit hard by tornadoes, fires, and floods. States like Missouri, Arizona, and North Dakota are recovering from (and still facing) the worst natural threats to their land in decades. Local churches have been quick on their feet to care for their overwhelmed communities during this time.

In June, Mike Johnson, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Minot, North Dakota, quickly responded to his community by helping townspeople evacuate their homes in the flood zone, according to FoxNews.com. And the Baptist Press reported that in Arizona, where a forest fire rages, the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention developed a disaster relief station, which included showers and a kitchen crew, for evacuees.

While some churches are forced to pull a disaster relief team together at the last minute, others have teams in place, ready to help at a moment’s notice. For churches looking to update existing strategies, or for ones starting a disaster-relief ministry from scratch, here are a few helpful tips to keep volunteers safe:

Buddy up. Always work through an organization that has experience with disaster relief, such as the American Red Cross or a denominational program. This prevents overlapping assistance, gets to people who might be missed, and increases efficiency.

Be safe, not sorry. Thoroughly train volunteers about safety measures they should follow in a disaster relief situation. This could include everything from using a chainsaw properly to purifying drinking water. The American Red Cross and many other relief organizations offer training courses for volunteers.

Dress for success. You'll need sturdy work shoes—not sneakers—to avoid puncture wounds and twisted ankles when walking over debris. Take a couple of pairs of work gloves, plus disposable facemasks. Bandanas can serve as facemasks or as cooling headbands when dipped in water.

Take the right tools. For floods, you'll need flat shovels, buckets, mops, and rags. After tornadoes or hurricanes, you'll need chain saws, rakes, and brooms. Following earthquakes you'll need shovels, crowbars, and picks. For all disasters, take a basic tool set with hammer, pliers, socket set, and screwdrivers. Also take an electrical tester and a fire extinguisher. If you have room, take a wheelbarrow or containers to carry debris.

Identify yourself. Before leaving home, contact the organization you plan to assist. Ask for a vehicle decal and personal identification that identifies you as a part of the relief effort. Often, only authorized personnel are allowed to enter disaster areas.

These tips first appeared on ChurchSafety.com. For more information on developing a disaster relief strategy, download the training resource Serving as a Disaster Relief Team.

Social Media Agreements—A New Normal?

The Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church has an interesting rule for the clergy in its member churches: We see something questionable on your social media pages, we retain the right to affect your ordination process.

Not only does the KAC’s social media disclosure statement require staff to befriend the denomination on Facebook, but it also secures accountability and monitoring rights.

Social media and online use policies are becoming a common staple in church employee handbooks. Potential liabilities concerning copyright law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), discrimination, privacy, and defamation have forced churches to consider the potential problems caused by their staffs interacting with others online.

As denominations and churches search for ways to use social media effectively and safely, the following terms and conditions for a social media policy should be considered, according to Frank Sommerville, a Texas-based attorney and Editorial Advisor for Church Law & Tax Report:

• You agree to write under your own name.
• You may write about the church, your job, or some aspect of our business on a regular basis.
• You agree not to attack fellow employees, agents, members, or vendors. You may disagree with the church and its officers, provided your tone is respectful and you do not resort to personal attacks.
• You agree not to disclose any sensitive, proprietary, confidential, or financial information about the church, other than what is publicly available.
• You agree not to post any material that is obscene, defamatory, profane, libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful, or embarrassing to another person or any other entity.
• You agree not to post any material that violates the privacy or publicity rights of another.
• You agree to conform to the rules of the Church Employee Handbook, especially as it relates to rules regarding conduct outside of your employment.

A complete sample form and additional information on how your church should handle social media and posting content online is available in Using Social Media Safely, a training resource from ChurchSafety.com.

Wondering how your church is doing in this area? Take the assessment “Is Our Church's Use of Social Media Safe?” to find out.

Lindsey Learn is assistant editor to the Church Management Team at Christianity Today International.