Does the organizational method leave Christ as the only head of the church?
Yes
No
No
Is the church who uses the method a spiritual entity only?
Yes. If the church understands what she is doing and does not act legally in any other way.
No. An incorporated church (includes corporation sole church) is a legal entity, an artificial person.
No. An Ecclesiastical Law Center church is a legal entity since she holds or can hold property through a pastor. Only a legal entity can hold property.
Is the church who uses the method a legal entity?
No. Nor is the Bible trust used by the church a legal entity.
Yes.
Yes, the use of the method by a church makes the church a legal entity. In addition, the type trust used by the ELC church is also a legal entity.
Does it give the state authority over God’s church?
No
Yes.
Yes.
Is the church who uses the method under the First Amendment (statement of a biblical principle) only?
Yes
No
No
Does the use of the method place a church under the Fourteenth Amendment?
No.
Yes (The church is an artificial person (a legal fiction)).
Yes (The church is an artificial person (a legal fiction)).
Is the church who uses the method under IRC § 501c3?
No (If the Bible Trust church claims 501c3 or 508 status, she is no longer a church organized according to the principles of the New Testament).
Depends: If the church so chooses, she is under 501c3. Since she has already compromised her New Testament status, she may as well get 501c3 or 508 status. -both place a church under the 501c3 rules
Depends: If the church so chooses, she is under 501c3. Since she has already compromised her New Testament status, she may as well get 501c3 or 508 status-both place a church under the 501c3 rules.
Is the church who uses the method under IRC § 508?
No (If the Bible Trust church claims 501c3 or 508 status, she is no longer a church organized according to the principles of the New Testament).
Depends: If the church so chooses, she can claim 508 status. Since she has already compromised her New Testament status, she may as well get 501c3 or 508 status.
Depends: If the church so chooses, she can claim 508. Since she has already compromised her New Testament status, she may as well get 501c3 or 508 status.
How is a bank account held?
The trust holds the bank account, not the church. For the church to open a bank account makes the church a legal entity.
The corporation holds the bank account. E.g., First Baptist Church, Inc.
The Ecclesiastical Law Center Trust does not believe in church bank accounts even though the ECL church is already a legal entity.
How is insurance held?
The trust holds the insurance, not the church. For a church to hold insurance makes a church a legal enity.
The corporate church holds the insurance.
?
Who signs the checks?
The pastor/trustee of the trust signs the trust account checks.
A corporate office signs the incorporated church checks.
NA
Who signs deeds to real property?
The pastor/trustee of the trust signs deeds.
A corporate officer signs deeds.
The pastor/trustee of the trust signs the deeds.
Who owns the real property?
The beneficiary of the trust (the Lord Jesus Christ) is the true owner of the property in the trust estate. The pastor/trustee is the legal owner.
The corporation (the church, inc.) is the legal and real owner of the property.
The church through the pastor is the legal owner and the Lord Jesus Christ is the true owner of real property in the trust estate.
Who holds title to personal property?
The pastor/trustee of the trust holds the title as the legal owner of the property. The Lord Jesus Christ is the real or true owner of the property.
The corporation (the church, inc.) holds the title as the legal and real owner of the property.
The pastor/trustee of the trust holds the title for the church who is the legal owner of the property. The Lord Jesus Christ is the real or true owner of the property.
[i] See, Spurious rationale for church incorporation: to hold property. This article compares the Bible Trust (not called that in the article) to church incorporation and explains how the use by a church of a Bible Trust comports with both New Testament and legal principles.
[iii] See Ecclesiastical Law Center Exposed for full explanation of the Ecclesiastical Law Center methods and obvious blatant misrepresentations of the ordinary (Bible) trust.
What is a corporation sole? Who creates the corporation sole? The creator of the corporation sole defines its creation, just as God defines that which He creates, ordains, or establishes. The corporation sole is a creation of state law.
Just as human beings are creatures of God, so corporations sole are creatures of the state. The proof?—the Oregon corporation sole statutes (reproduced below) which allow churches to accept the state of Oregon’s offer to churches to place themselves under state law and become corporations sole. Those statutes make clear that the corporation sole is a non-profit corporation which is under the law which creates it. Keep in mind that a few other states also create corporations sole.
After studying this analysis, one who is heretofore unfamiliar with delving into this issue will be prepared to examine the corporation sole statutes of other states.
“(1) An individual may, in conformity with the constitution, canons, rules, regulations and disciplines of a church or religious denomination, form a corporation under this section to be a corporation sole. The corporation sole is a form of religious corporation and differs from other religious corporations organized under this chapter only in that the corporation sole does not have a board of directors, does not need to have officers and is managed by a single director who is the individual who constitutes the corporation and is the corporation sole’s incorporator or the successor of the incorporator.
“2) The name of the corporation sole is the same as the office within the church or religious denomination that the incorporator holds, followed by the words ‘and successors, a corporation sole.’
“(3) All of the provisions of ORS 65.044 to 65.067 apply to a corporation sole. If the corporation sole has no officers, the director may perform any act that an officer may perform with the same effect and in the same manner as though one or more officers of the corporation sole performed the act.
“(4) If a corporation sole or the individual that constitutes the corporation sole is the only member of a religious corporation, the religious corporation is not required to hold an annual membership meeting under ORS 65.201 if the religious corporation is: (a) Incorporated under the provisions of this chapter; and (b) Of the same church or religious denomination as the corporation sole.
“Approved by the Governor May 16, 2013 Filed in the office of Secretary of State May 17, 2013 Effective date January 1, 2014.”
Notice the first sentence of the above statute: “An individual may, in conformity with the constitution, canons, rules, regulations and disciplines of a church or religious denomination, form a corporation under this section to be a corporation sole.” A church may, as in the case of all non-profit corporation laws in America, form what? A corporation. The law says an individual “may form a corporation … under this section to be a corporation sole.” [Empahsis mine.] Under what? Under this section of the law, not under God. In conformity to what?–In comformity to the “constitution, canons, rules, regulations of a church or religious denomination;” not in conformity to Bible principle. A church corporation sole may be in conformity to the “constitution, canons, rules, regulations of a church or religious denomination” but it is not in conformity to New Testament church guidelines.
The next sentence says: “The corporation sole is a form of religious corporation and differs from other religious corporations organized under this chapter only in that the corporation sole does not have a board of directors, does not need to have officers and is managed by a single director who is the individual who constitutes the corporation and is the corporation sole’s incorporator or the successor of the incorporator.”
Because a church may form a corporation sole under the statute, the state is only extending an offer which a church may accept. If the church accepts the offer, she has entered into a contract with the state.
The basic components of a contract are offer, acceptance, and consideration. Consideration means that each party to the contract must receive a benefit. The state receives a benefit—control over the accepting church to the degree laid out in the statute. The accepting church believes that she receives a benefit—the contractual protections she perceives she gets from the law of contract. Never mind that she is no longer under the Lord Jesus Christ only—His power, principles, laws, judgment, and benefits are not enough for the corporate church. In fact, some of the laws of the state are deemed to be superior to the laws of God; this must be the case because the corporate church agrees to enter into a contract forbidden by the New Testament principles and many of whose conditions directly contradict those principles. Corporation sole churches and all other corporate churches should thank the Lord for his permissive will since they are no longer in His perfect will.
All law has a hierarchy (a line of authority). The authority of a given law depends upon its place in the hierarchy. For example, God’s law is the highest law. In America, the next highest law is the United States Constitution. Below that are state, county, and city, constitutions and laws, in that order. Oregon Revised Statutes,Oregon Non-profit Corporation Law, Volume 2 Business Organizations, Commercial Code§ 65.067, 2013 is not the highest law of the State of Oregon. It falls below the Oregon Constitution, United States Constitution, all of which are under God’s law. One can challenge a lower law in the United States Federal or in the Oregon courts should he believe it is unconstitutional. Of course, as applied to churches, Oregon Revised Statutes,Oregon Non-profit Corporation Law, Volume 2 Business Organizations, Commercial Code§ 65.067, 2013 violates God’s law. It also violates man’s law, the First Amendment, which is a statement of the Bible principle of separation of church and state. (See Is Separation of Church and State Found in the Constitution? and the resources cited in that article.). Instead of not accepting the state’s offer and perhaps challenging the statute on First Amendment grounds, many churches choose to accept the offer the state’s offer.
What about appealing the lawfulness of this Oregon law to the Judge of the Universe? That judge, since He knows all things, created all things, and ordained all lawful powers, does not hold court in a secular manner. He operates outside of time and outside man’s temporal procedures. He weighs all the facts and judges from His throne. In some ways, churches suffer the natural, God-ordained consequences for violation of His laws. Sometimes, God decides to judge in the here and now through temporal means. Sometimes He reserves judgment for the final judgment day.
Although the Oregon Corporation Sole church is a non-profit corporation, she is distinct from in some ways and the same as in some ways to other Oregon non-profit corporations. The law explains how she is distinct and how she is the same. The law says in Section (1):
“… The corporation sole … differs from other religious corporations organized under this chapter only in that the corporation sole does not have a board of directors, does not need to have officers and is managed by a single director who is the individual who constitutes the corporation and is the corporation sole’s incorporator or the successor of the incorporator.” [Emphasis mine.]
That is the only difference which is repeated here for emphasis—the Oregon corporation sole “does not have a board of directors, does not need to have officers and managed by a single director who is the individual who constitutes the corporation and is the corporation sole’s incorporator or the successor of the incorporator.< Section (2) applies to the name of the corporation sole.
Section (3) tells how the corporation sole is the same as other Oregon non-profit corporations: “(3) All of the provisions of ORS 65.044 to 65.067 apply to a corporation sole.” This shows that the Oregon corporation sole is a non-profit corporation and that “All of the provisions of ORS 65.044 to 65.067” apply to her.
What are those provisions? The titles are as follows:
65.044 Incorporators
65.047 Articles of incorporation
65.051 Incorporation
65.054 Liability for preincorporation transactions
65.057 Organization of corporation
65.061 Bylaws
65.064 Emergency bylaws and powers
65.067 Corporation sole
Section (3) also explains the function of the director of the corporation sole:
“If the corporation sole has no officers, the director may perform any act that an officer may perform with the same effect and in the same manner as though one or more officers of the corporation sole performed the act.””
Obviously, to one who studies these matters and as will be shown in the following chapters, the conclusion, and Appendix A and Appendix B, the Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website does not understand the implications of the fact that the corporation sole is a legal entity and the fact that by organizing as a legal entity, a church becomes subject to all the legal requirements and law regarding legal entities.
Before one can understand the implications of corporation sole status (legal entity status), he must first understand the meaning of “legal entity.” BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY 893-894 (6th ed. 1990) defines “legal entity” as: “Legal existence. An entity, other than a natural person, who has sufficient existence in legal contemplation that it can function legally, be sued or sue and make decisions through agents as in the case of corporations.” Black’s definition is not totally accurate in that every citizen of America in his right mind is also a legal entity. A citizen may sue, be sued, be charged with a crime, make decisions himself, and function legally (enter into contracts, obtain insurance, get a bank account, etc.). A legal entity such as a non-profit corporation (includes corporation sole) is obviously subject to the laws of the civil government which create the legal entity.
Thus, a church who is a legal entity may enter into contracts, open a bank account, obtain insurance in her name, go into debt, and act legally in other ways. Since a church is not a natural person, she must utilize specific law in order to become a legal entity and obtain “sufficient existence in legal contemplation that it can function legally, be sued or sue and make decisions.” She may do this by the use of state non-incorporation (includes corporation sole), charitable trust, business trust, unincorporated association, etc. law. Of course, the pastor of a corporation sole church acts legally on behalf of the church he represents.
The Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website and corporation sole law make clear that a church who uses corporation sole law as a means of organization is a legal entity who is not under God only. The website clearly states the corporation sole is a legal entity and that the corporation sole church is a legal entity.
The statute that establishes the corporation sole church as a legal entity: ORS § 65.067(1), 2013.
“(1) An individual may, in conformity with the constitution, canons, rules, regulations and disciplines of a church or religious denomination, form a corporation under this section to be a corporation sole. The corporation sole is a form of religious corporation and differs from other religious corporations organized under this chapter only in that the corporation sole does not have a board of directors, does not need to have officers and is managed by a single director who is the individual who constitutes the corporation and is the corporation sole’s incorporator or the successor of the incorporator….
“(3) All of the provisions of ORS 65.044 to 65.067 apply to a corporation sole. If the corporation sole has no officers, the director may perform any act that an officer may perform with the same effect and in the same manner as though one or more officers of the corporation sole performed the act.
“(4) If a corporation sole or the individual that constitutes the corporation sole is the only member of a religious corporation, the religious corporation is not required to hold an annual membership meeting under ORS 65.201 if the religious corporation is: (a) Incorporated under the provisions of this chapter; and (b) Of the same church or religious denomination as the corporation sole.
“Approved by the Governor May 16, 2013 Filed in the office of Secretary of State May 17, 2013 Effective date January 1, 2014.”
Thus, according to Oregon Corporation Sole law, the corporation sole is controlled by the state law which creates it (not by God’s law) except “that the corporation sole does not have a board of directors, does not need to have officers, and is managed by a single director who is the individual who constitutes the corporation and is the corporation sole’s incorporator or the successor of the incorporator.” So what is a Corporation Sole subject to? The rest of the non-profit corporation law, which can be accessed by clicking Oregon Revised Statutes, Oregon Non-profit Corporation Law, Volume 2 Business Organizations, Commercial Code § 65.067(1), 2013, (left click to go directly to the law) explains what law the Corporation Sole, a non-profit corporation and legal entity, is subject to. This author was going to copy and paste the above law below, but it is too voluminous. The concerned student will find that browsing the above linked to law is very enlightening in his examination of what the Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website teaches.
The Bible doctrines of government, the church, and separation of church and state
American separation of church and state law
How may a church in the United States proceed under God and the First Amendment only?
Warning to churches: Do not organize as a corporation sole! Read this booklet for proof that Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website is a sham! This booklet will give you all the references which you can examine for yourself to evaluate the Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website, other websites which promote church corporation sole organization, and this booklet. Do not give to Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole or anyone else who promotes the corporation sole form of organization for churches; and if you are already doing so, cut off your donation.
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness” (2 Timothy 2:15-16).
Is corporation sole an acceptable method for New Testament church organization? Some enterprises are helping churches to organize under corporation sole law. Are they and the believers and churches who utilize their methods pleasing the Lord, according to the Bible? This booklet will analyze, from a Bible and legal perspective, assertions on the website Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole. This systematic examination begins with this Introduction. This booklet will examine the validity of the teachings on the Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website.
The purpose of this booklet is to glorify God by shining the light of truth on the teachings on the Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website. A believer should understand what he is doing before organizing a church. Some readers, in order to understand the issues, will need to study the principles involved while others will already have enough knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to evaluate the assertions of this booklet and also those of the Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website.
This Introduction will present some basic principles that will be of immediate help to the believer who is studying these matters in an attempt to understand whether corporation sole law provides a manner of church organization which pleases God and which accomplishes what the Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website claims.
One can do the many years of independent study needed to understand these matters. A suggested better method for more quickly studying the issues is to go to the Course Outline page of the Separation of Church and State Law website and begin a systematic study. Complement your study by thinking. Do not automatically believe what you are being taught. With the standard of the Bible, evaluate all truth claims. Honor the God-given pattern for studying and determining truth.
Corporation sole law is a part of non-profit corporation law and establishes the church as a non-profit corporation, a corporation sole. Although admitting the obvious—that the corporation sole is a legal entity and that the church organized under Oregon corporation sole law is a legal entity—Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole denies the obvious ramifications of legal entity status by arguing that the church and the corporation sole are not subject to the rules regarding legal entities and that the church is nonetheless “free” from all government interference including the rules of 501(c)(3). They do this by taking portions of laws out of context, and by conclusory statements, claims, and hyperbole which are backed up by nothing and which are directly opposed to the truth and/or which are backed up by outright falsehoods. A “Church Establishment Affidavit” is a flawed manner of organizing a church and does not counteract any legal entity status of the corporation sole church. This booklet will prove all these assertions.
Click the above to go to online version of God Betrayed.
Click the image above to go to the online version of the book.
2. The Bible doctrines of government, church, and separation of church and state
According to the Bible, there are various governments: self-government, family government, civil government, and church government. Each has a God-given purpose and jurisdiction. God desires that each government remain within the bounds of its jurisdiction. For example, God desires that civil government and church not to work together, one over the other, or hand in hand. God desires that every nation proceed under Him according to his rules for civil government. The New Testament teaches that, in order to be in God’s perfect will, a church is to be a spiritual organism only; that a church is to be under God only; that Jesus Christ is to be her only head; that God is the highest power; and that we are to obey God rather than man when man’s law contradicts God’s law. All this is covered in some detail in The biblical doctrine of government,The biblical doctrine of the church, andThe biblical doctrine of separation of church and state.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Because of the First Amendment, churches in America may choose to be totally under God without being persecuted. A church who chooses to become a legal entity through either non-profit corporation law (which includes corporation sole law), charitable trust or business trust law, unincorporated association law, or by any other means places herself to some extent under another head other than the Lord Jesus Christ. She both grieves our Lord by disobeying His law and dishonors the First Amendment, the Bible truths it establishes in the law of the land, and the millions of martyrs who gave their all to stand for the truths of the Bible, including the Bible principle of separation of church and state.
4. How may a church in the United States proceed under God and the First Amendment only?
A church may proceed under God only as long as she is careful to abide by New Testament church doctrine. The New Testament makes clear that a church who subjects herself to an authority other than the Lord Jesus Christ is not proceeding under Him only. The online study course mentioned above covers the relevant Bible principles and their applications. One way for an American church to remain under God only is by placing all tithes, offerings, and gifts into a Bible trust (an ordinary trust). Spurious rationale for church incorporation: to hold property (Section VI, Chapter 7 of God Betrayed; Chapter 7 of Separation of Church and State) compares such a trust with incorporation and explains how such a trust conforms to Bible principles which are recognized by the legal system.
Obviously, a church in the United States who resorts to non-profit corporation law (included within that law in Oregon, for example, is corporation sole law), charitable trust law, business trust law, unincorporated association law, etc., is not proceeding under God and the First Amendment only. The Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole website makes this clear as to the corporation sole. Therefore, the name of the organization Church Freedom and the Corporation Soleis a misnomer since a corporation sole church, by definition, is not free under God. The chapters that will follow will examine the Church Freedom and the Corporation Solewebsite pages and many of the assertions thereon.
Churches under Christ Ministry Website: Understanding and Applying God's Principles for Church Headship "Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:1-3). ————————————This Ministry is under the authority of Charity Baptist Tabernacle of Amarillo, Texas. Jerald Finney, a Christian Lawyer and member of Charity Baptist Tabernacle, having received this ministry in the Lord, explains how a church in America can remain under the Lord Jesus Christ and Him only. "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:10-11; See also, Ephesians 4::1-16 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-25). "Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it" (Colossians 4:17). "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church" (Ephesians 1.22; See also, e.g. Colossians 1:18).
Simply Church: God's Prescribed Relationship Between Church and State 