BECOMING LEGAL AND OPERATING A CHURCH OR COVEN

(BENEFITS)

 

GENERAL BENEFITS OF ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP
When your coven/church joins the Association, it gaines additional legal status. This legal status is based on constitutional law:

Code ~501 (c)(3) of the U.S. Code, provides that an organization may be exempt from federal income tax under Code ~501(a), if it is organized and operated exclusively for a religious purpose. The government and the courts have been quite cautious in attempting to define, for tax purposes, what is or is not a "religious" activity or organization - for obvious policy and constitutional reasons. The income tax regulations under Code ~501 (c)(3) do not contain any definitions of the term "religious".

The First Amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." As respects exempt organizations, of course, first amendment considerations must be taken into account. While the First Amendment does not provide the exemption, it is the primary legal basis for it.

A church has been defined by tax law as follows: a Church includes a religious order or a religious organization if such order or organization (a) is an integral part of a church, and (b) is engaged in carrying out the functions of a church, whether as a civil law corporation or otherwise.

In determining whether a religious order is an integral part of a church, consideration will be given to the degree to which it is connected with and controlled by such church. A religious order or organization shall be considered to be engaged in carrying out the functions of a church if its duties include the ministration of Sacerdotal functions and the conduct of religious worship. If a religious order or organization is not an integral part of a church, or if such an order or organization is not authorized to carry out the functions of a church, then it is subject to the tax imposed by section 511 whether or not it is engaged in religious educational or charitable activities approved by the church..."

As defined above, a "church" is ...an organization, the duties of which include the ministration of Sacerdotal [i.e. priestly] functions and the conduct of religious worship. The existence of these elements depends upon the "Religious Tenets and Practices of your particular religious body." Being certified as a church by the state and or federal government, gives your group several benefits:

The first is that your organization becomes organized as a tax exempt organization. It should not be required to pay taxes on income derived as a result of religious activities. i.e donations, etc.

Second, any land owned by the church, and used for non-profit purposes, is not taxable.

Third, as a true legal church, your organization can help dispel the misinformation that most people in your community have about Witchcraft.

But what may be a "church" to some may not be a church to others. In the past, the IRS has not been inclined to grant exemptions to unorthodox churches. In a technical advice memorandum, the national IRS office set forth its views of church characteristics. Below are a list of them and how you can satisfy the criteria:

1.) A distinct legal existence; [Accomplished through incorporating your church]

2.) A recognized creed and form of worship; [Prepare a booklet describing your beliefs]

3.) A definite and distinct ecclesiastical government; [Describe in your controlling document]

4.) A formal code of doctrine and discipline [Describe in your church constitution]

5.) A distinct religious history;  [Describe in your church constitution]

6.) A membership not associated with any other church or denomination; [Statement of belief in church constitution]

7.) Having a complete organization of ordained ministers ministering to their congregations and selected after completing a prescribed course of study. [Describe in church bylaws or Articles of Incorporation.]

8.) Having a literature of its own; [Describe in church constitution]

9.) Having established places of worship; [Describe in Bylaws]

10.) Having regular congregations; [Describe your coven or grove membership requirements]

11.) Having regular religious services; [Describe in your coven or grove membership manual]

12.) Having church schools for the religious instruction of the young. [Describe in the church controlling documents]

13.) Having schools for the preparation of ministers; [Describe in church controlling documents]

In addition, several court rulings have established that in addition to providing a "religious type function", a church must:

1.) hold services or meetings on a regular basis;

2.) have ministers or other "representatives";

3.) have a record of performing marriages, and other ceremonies or sacraments;

4.) have a place of worship;

5.) ordain ministers;

6.) require some financial support by its members;

7.) have a formal existence and operation;

8.) satisfy all other requirements of code 501 (c) (3) and

9.) have a body of believers or communicants who assemble regularly in order to worship.

Given the above federal legal requirements, how can your coven or grove become a legally recognized church? There are an awfully lot of people running around ordaining people (usually by mail) and giving out church charters.  Such charters are usually worthless in the eyes of the law, at least on a local level.  How do you tell the difference?   Simple; did you take any kind of training? Were there any meaningful requirements?  Does the certificate show all the following: Name, Address, and Legal Status of the chartering organization; Serial number of the particular certificate and the date; embossed (not printed) seal of the organization; the name of the recipient on the document; and lastly the signatures of the officers of the organization.

Furthermore, some states require that the chartering organization maintain a list of all churches chartered, with their addresses, up to date and accessible by the state.  To sum it up, is your charter traceable?  Could someone follow it back to some sort of documentation?  If not, it is no good.  One of the least obvious questions is whether or not the originating organization has requested an out-of-state or "foreign corporation status" with the Secretary of State's office of the state you are going to operate in.  If not, it is no good.

So what do you do?  Dynion Mwyn is only incorporated in the state of Georgia.  Therefore, if you are a member of the Y Dynion Mwyn religion, you must Incorporate in your state as a Foreign Corporation. If you are a member of any other Earth Religion organization, you must Incorporate as a Resident non-profit religious organization.  A Church Charter, as a member of The Association of Cymmry Wicca, only says that we recognize that you have fulfilled our requirements, but does not guarantee that you have fulfilled state or local requirements.  This can be made much easier by Legally Incorporating your coven/grove as a church.

Once you have Incorporated, you will need several certified copies. One for your records in case the IRS comes calling, one for the ACW, one for the state tax authority, one with which to be registered with the county, one to show your bank, one for the city, and a copy for yourself.

If you wish to open a bank account in the name of the church, some states require a fictitious name statement. But if you are legally incorporated, this is not needed.

In some states, ministers do not register with the county but their church does. Having done so, the church is now "of record" and may issue ordinations if called out in the Articles of Incorporation and/or the Bylaws. A point to remember: if you haven't given yourself the authority to do something in your Articles of Incorporation, or Bylaws, you could lose your corporate and tax exempt status for exceeding your corporate authority.  Another point: you can not incorporate a group of people to do an illegal act.  Attempting to incorporate the "First Pothead Church of Anywhere, Georgia" is not only going to fail, but is going to get you investigated and your name flagged by the state, so that if you later try to do something legitimate, you will have a rough time of it.  You must operate within and with the intent of the law.

Using a corporate structure to shield you from prosecution for illegal acts or intent is EXACTLY what the state is looking for.  In fact, submitting Articles of Incorporation to do this, could be construed as criminal conspiracy, you could be prosecuted.  Why?  Because you got together with others and agreed on the wording and you signed the documents!!  You would also be playing right into the hands of the yellow media, the sensationalist journalists who consistently publish detrimental stories regarding Witchcraft and the Occult.

The formal creation of a Wiccan church is no small feat.  It can be a monstrous task or a pleasant duty, depending on your outlook and the degree to which you are prepared for, and anticipate the various problems which can and probably will arise.

At the outset, you must decide if the church is going to be Incorporated and public, or unincorporated and semi-public.  There are no halfway measures.

We recommend that each Coven or Grove that wishes to take advantage of the federal tax exempt status offered by the Association, should become legally Incorporated by the state in which you reside.  By Incorporating your coven and or grove, the State certifies that the Coven or Grove is a legal entity.  They also, by accepting your group as a non-profit religious corporation, help you to improve your legal standing.

If you are going to incorporate your coven/grove as a church, it would be wise to retain the services of an attorney who has experience incorporating non-profit organizations.  Even if you want to do most of the work yourself, hire one anyway to double check what you are doing.

When you join the Association, we are going to assume that you are going to Incorporate your coven/grove as a church.  Your high priest and/or high priestess must examine everything that your group does from several viewpoints.  The most readily apparent is of course criminal Law.  Other areas which should be examined are Civil and Tax Law.  At the onset, all areas of church activity should be compared to Federal, State, County and City ordinances, in order to ascertain if any church activity can be considered as even bordering on criminal activity.  A check list or rough outline of the different areas of activity will be helpful when it comes time to create your controlling document.

Lets get something straight right now. The Association of Cymmry Wicca will not continue to charter your organization if you are going to just be a gang, operating out of your hip pocket, and always in some kind of trouble, either with your own membership or with the authorities.  You must have some sort of controlling document, which sets the ground rules of your organization.  This document can take several forms: Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, Statement of Purpose, Church Constitution, or Standards of Conduct.  In any case you are required to file a copy with us as well as with some level of government.  Hence be very careful what you state in writing "for the record".  You will have to live up to it and UNDER it.

If you are going to form a branch of Y Dynion Mwyn, your work is already half done.  The mother church will have the paperwork outlined for you.   If a group of members wish to form a branch of Y Dynion Mwyn within the State of Georgia, they only need a church charter.  If they wish to form a branch in another state, they will wish to form a foreign corporation in that state.

If you or your group was initiated or chartered by a different Coven/Grove than Y Dynion Mwyn and the initiatory body does not have any organizational documents, or will not let you see them, watch out, there is something wrong.  It would be very unwise to incorporate a bogus church.

The following steps must be taken by your Grove and/or Coven if you wish to obtain full legal status: Establish the precedence which will legally justify the formation of your church,  hold an organizational meeting, create a Church Constitution, create your Articles of Incorporation, create your Church Bylaws, open up a Church bank account, and apply for and receive a Third Class Mailing Permit from the U.S. Post Office.