Is Your Ministry Insured?
Posted on September 16, 2022 Posted by John Scalzi 21 Comments
One of the interesting side effects of owning a church building is the volume of unsolicited mail that one gets from companies that specialize in church-and-ministry-oriented businesses; for example, see the above closeup of a postcard sent to us from a company that specializes in insuring ministries. It’s not a surprise that there are church/ministry-oriented businesses, of course; our building contractor is one of those and we went with them specifically because they understood the quirky needs of church buildings. There’s definitely a place for them. But one does not, I think, truly grasp the depth and breadth of the field until one is in possession of a church itself. Insurance is, shall we say, the tip of the iceberg.
That said, we’re unlikely to follow up on this insurer because as it happens, we are not intending a ministry to be housed in our church. We do have insurance on the building, of course, and as we develop our further plans for it, we’ll tweak our coverage to fit our needs. Those need probably won’t coincide with the needs of an actual ministry. I could be wrong, though. Maybe I’ll keep the postcard just in case.
— JS
What about the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Fear, and the Ministry of Love? Are they insured?
Alas, the Scalzi Church of Kaiju is not to be… *sigh
Yeah, I’d hang onto the card. After all, if this writing thing doesn’t pan out, you can always follow in the footsteps of L.Ron and become rich and famous that way. :-)
Don’t forget the Ministry of Silly Walks.
I was just thinking of that classic Redshirts line the other day “Let us violate cakes together” and happily imagined that to be the congregational greeting in the Church of Scalzi.
I await the revelations of the Prophet Scalzi, whichever of you takes up that responsibility. The Blessed Kaiju shall be revealed.
You’re probably also receiving catalogs for ministerial garb. A custom kaiju-themed stole would suit you.
(Or maybe Kiva Lagos, if it wouldn’t cause the embroidery machine to spontaneously combust.)
I want to know if the policy has an exemption for acts of God.
I worked in a church for a while. There are so many predatory businesses trying to make churches feel afraid, and thus in need of their particular scheme (generally a get-rich-quick scheme, sometimes a be-relevant-to-people-under-the-age-of-40 scheme; consistently scammy and bad, though). The magazines of vestments can be pretty entertaining/interesting, though?
Personally, I feel like ministry insurance, like the type of malpractice insurance that aims to cover doctors who do wrong, is immoral, unless it’s intended not to keep the ministry above water if they truly screw up, but to adequately compensate victims if they truly screw up. (I’d be fine with possibly some insurance to fund legal fees if they don’t screw up but have accusations, but it’d have to be very limited to “no, you really have to not have screwed up.”)
You’ll definitely need building insurance. If you have events you’ll need insurance for the events. I’m sure your friends who run other events/conventions are up to date on that as I’ve retired and permanently deleted that file from my brain. If I’m not going to use information it gets deleted.
You just can’t get good comprehensive sacramental wine and communion wafers coverage anymore. Everything’s a rider.
Do you ever get tempted to minister though, just a little? If only to your dog, or a kid perhaps…I can totally see myself speaking from the pulpit if I had one.
Look, starting a religion worked out for that other LRH …or did it?
Have you seen the Discovery+ show “Where we call home” ?
https://www.discoveryplus.com/show/where-we-call-home-us
Several of the eps relate to purchasing and then renovating an old beat-up church/synagogue into a house. What those owners did was truly amazing!
(Hoping what you do with your church is equally impressive….)
I think I read a version of that ad in a religious magazine about thirty+ years ago!
And not a single mention of Ministry, the industrial/metal./pop band with a couple of 80s hits? I admire your restraint, sir! (I, on the other hand, have no such qualms)
https://youtu.be/1VFqVRepm6U
DoeS the Scatzi Chourch have a plAce to DOODOO????
Can you take da po0pie in that beooooatch mah negora???AA
I dunno. You have a deity in-house (Athena), miraculous objects (six neck guitar) and a reputation for vanquishing trolls and other mythical creatures. That qualifies you more than most churches I can think of. =)
Like K C , I worked in a church and was alsl a Preacher’s Kid. I’ve seen a lot of scams trying to prey on church’s and ministers. Almost every church I’ve known has had a call, Pastor X used to use us, because it helps ———-. Hoping that the new guy will fall for the scam.
Insurance needs can be done through a licensed insurance agency.
My dad became the pastor of a church in a small town in the late 80s when I was in junior high. He was immediately deluged with mail from church-related businesses. The most interesting brochure he received was trying to get people to invest in a “Christian” satellite information service. They even tried to tie the satellite to a vision of an angel in the book of Revelation. Thinking back to it now as an adult, it was at best a poor investment if not a total scam.
I think you will probably end up doing ministry in the building because you will use it to help others and make the world a better place, even if that ministry is not religious.