Consider Incorporation

While clergy are full members of the Church, their ministries are independent entities. As such, they are not covered in any way by the personal ministry of the Patriarch of the Church. Therefore, clergy may elect to explore the benefits of incorporating their ministries and/or seeking nonprofit charitable or religious status.

The rules for incorporation vary by jurisdiction. It is up to you to determine the laws applicable to you. We do not have the information centrally to provide specific advice. This page is intended only to suggest some issues you might want to take into consideration.

Incorporation of the church in your state / province may be required in order for church clergy to perform legal marriages. Incorporation at this level normally should be undertaken by the Patriarch or Matriarch for the jurisdiction, then all ministers can register through that one office. In this case, it would be reasonable for the Patriarch to ask for all those registering to make a reasonable contribution to cover costs of incorporation.

Incorporation may be necessary to prove you are clergy in good standing with your church. This may also be achieved by becoming a member an organization which promotes apathetic agnosticism.

Incorporation may provide tax advantages in several ways.

If you have a significant income (such as from conducting ceremonies) it may be easier to have income and expenses all accrue to the corporation.

If you have significant expenses in the conduct of your ministry, incorporation may provide a means to deduct those expenses you incurred personally as charitable donations.

Also, some tax codes have special provisions for religious organizations that allow deductions such as portion of residential costs.

NOTE: The Church does not condone tax fraud and only those conducting a real ministry with real activity that can be demonstrated to the tax authorities should contemplate claiming special religious exemptions.

If you run an active ministry, you may incur a risk of nuisance lawsuits from those who find agnosticism in some way offensive. Incorporation may serve to shelter your personal assets as you may manage to deflect the lawsuit to your incorporated ministry's negligible assets.

WE STRESS NOTHING HERE CONSTITUTES LEGAL ADVICE. YOU MUST DETERMINE THE APPLICABLE LAWS OF YOUR JURISDICTION FOR YOURSELF. DO NOT TAKE ACTION BASED ON ASSUMPTIONS. FIND OUT FOR SURE.

We would appreciate any additional information and advice from those who have successfully incorporated. Let us know so we can update this page for the benefit of others.