The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released new COVID-19 guidelines. As active community organizations, it’s important for churches to understand these updates. New guidelines can lead to confusion among church leaders and congregants alike, and it’s easy to get confused. For example, your church requiring attendees to stand at least six feet apart in gatherings is no longer following an official CDC guideline. Your church’s policy requiring people not up-to-date on vaccinations to self-quarantine if they have been in close contact with someone COVID-positive is also no longer among the guidelines.
Here’s the problem: much like the COVID-19 virus mutates and changes, so it seems do the CDC guidelines. When a church’s policies are stricter than the government’s, that church may be at risk of a lawsuit. Even worse, that church can also be at risk of a potential discrimination lawsuit from its own employees and staff. A sensible preventative measure is for churches to both review and update their insurance policies. A policy review should be built into a church’s annual plan, regardless of current health or other crises.
“A discrimination lawsuit can cost a church thousands of dollars,” says Jerry Sparks, SVP, President, AGFinancial Insurance. “It’s important to protect your church and keep up to date on changing policies.”
AGFinancial Insurance has partnered with churches, helping them through discrimination lawsuits. Your church can be proactive, reviewing and selecting updated insurance policies to better protect its congregants, staff, facilities, and reputation. For more ways to protect your church, visit https://www.agfinancial.org/church-insurance.
