Quote:
Originally Posted by RU OX Alum
I voted no on all three proposed ammendents to the VA constitution. Churches should not be run for profit.
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What were the proposed amendments?
ETA: Never mind. I found them online.
FWIW, the amendment about churches had nothing to do with being run for profit -- it was whether churches can be incorporated. (To be more clear, it was whether the language in the Va Constitution prohibiting incorporation of churches should be removed since the courts have already declared it unconstitutional under the federal Constitution. It's a clean-up amendment.)
All that incorporation means is that a church is considered a legal entity in and of itself -- able to buy or sell property in its own name, for example -- rather than as an association of people. One major difference has to do with legal liability. A corporation can be sued, but the shareholders in a corporation (or members of a non-profit corporation) cannot be forced to use their own assets to satisfy a judgment in a lawsuit. If the church is an unincorporated association, all members of the association
might be held individually liable for any judgment against the association, unless Va law has some other protection for them.
Incorporation of churches is no different from incorporation of any other non-profits, including fraternities. In fact, church "law" in the Presbyterian Church
requires congregations to be incorporated unless state law forbids incorporation of religious societies. I imagine the case is similar in some other denominations.
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