What is the purpose of a religious corporation?

 

Religious corporation means a domestic nonprofit corporation that is a church or an integrated auxiliary of a church, as defined under the federal Internal Revenue Code or regulations promulgated thereunder, or any other such nonprofit corporation whose principal purpose is the advancement of religion.

 

A religious corporation is a type of religious non-profit organization, which has been incorporated under the law. Often these types of corporations are recognized under the law on a subnational level, for instance by a state or province government. The government agency responsible for regulating such corporations is usually the official holder of records, for instance the Secretary of State. In the United States, religious corporations are formed like all other nonprofit corporations by filing articles of incorporation with the state. The requirements for forming a religious corporation vary from state to state, but all religious corporation articles need to have the standard tax exempt language the IRS requires.

 

Religious corporation law is the set of rules that govern the formation and operation of religious corporations. For instance, religious corporations are not allowed to do the following without the permission of the court or the attorney general:

   * Sell their real property

   * Mortgage their real property

   * Lease their real property for more than five years

 

A religious organization can also create its own bylaws to govern its affairs in addition to the religious corporation law. The bylaws can define the following:

   * Who qualifies to be a member of the board of trustees

   * How many members the board should be made of

   * How to resolve disputes

   * How to generally govern the religious organization

.