Legal group to help inform pastors, church leaders of constitutional rights

Legal group to help inform pastors, church leaders of constitutional rights

A Christian law firm is helping pastors know their legal rights when it comes to impacting their community for Christ.

The Pacific Justice Institute is hosting free, half-day seminars for pastors and lay church leaders that will cover issues such as: overcoming obstacles to securing building permits for church facilities, access to the public square, and navigating moral issues regarding staff, volunteers and attendees. PJI president Brad Dacus says the seminars are designed to be both educational and motivational.

"These seminars instruct pastors on their rights on the defensive mode, in order to [learn] how to protect themselves from being sued, how to deal with employees and attendee issues, and things that are coming up today they need to be aware of," says Dacus.

The attorney says the seminars also instruct pastors how to take advantage of opportunities they have under the law to evangelize in the community and public schools. Dacus said many pastors do not realize the freedoms they have to proclaim the gospel in the public square.

"But even more importantly they are discovering [that] there are incredible opportunities to evangelize and reach out and fill their pews [using] methods and ways in the past they had no idea they could do. So it's a very, very powerful seminar," he says.

Dacus feels it is vital that pastors and church leaders be equipped to deal with legal challenges facing Christians in America.