Church Release Forms—Worth or Worthless

​There has been much online chatter from Church organizations and “management firms” concerning an old Kentucky court case where a Church member sued his Church and won the case in spite of the Family signing a release form for their child to attend camp.
 
I want to use this blog to clarify some areas of concern for Churches. Forget everything you have heard or think you know about release forms. They are usually worthless. About the only thing they may be good for is to cause Parents to think twice before filing a lawsuit against their Church.

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The Facts
 

​Courts have decided in Parents’ favor on many occasions over the years regardless of a “release form” signed by Parents absolving the Church of any responsibility for any damage or injuries occurred while Children (or the adults) were on Church sanctioned events.
 
In the early 1980s a Church in Missouri sponsored a youth hayride on the night prior to Halloween. All Parents were required to sign a release form prior to the Child’s participation in the event. When the tractor and wagon was returning to the Church one of the Children (he had been a problem all night for the Chaperones) climbed over the railing of the wagon. Before an adult could stop him, he fell to the concrete in the Church drive way and died. The Parents sued their Church and won a multi-million dollar lawsuit and it held up on appeal. Their “release form” proved worthless.
 
Regardless of your release form, a good attorney will look for wording or lack of it, find a loophole, and you will probably lose.

 
How Can a Release Form Be Worthless?
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​When courts decide in areas where “release forms” exist they use Contract Law to render their decisions. While a “release form” could be helpful, it would only be so in the event it was prepared by an actual Contract Law Attorney who would record every possible scenario which could be encountered by those to whom it applied.
 
If this were done, the completed document would probably be many pages and how many Church members would read the fine print? If the Parents signed the document with or without reading the fine print and an incident should occur, imagine how the reputation of the Church would be damaged in the community. It would be so damaging that ministry from that Church in the community would be invalid.

What Can a Church Do?
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​For any events, especially those involving minor Children, the Church should ensure there is MORE than adequate staff and volunteers to oversee all actions of the Children. Murphy’s Law (coined by Capt. Edward Muphy, USAF-1949) stated: “If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it.” This has mutated over the years to: “If anything can go wrong it will.” According to Murphy he was basically stating: “Things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance.”
 
As Christians we should live by faith and be upbeat and positive, but we shouldn’t be stupid or negligent. You can faith, be upbeat and have a good attitude, but if you go fishing in the Dead Sea the only thing you will catch is sunburn. When many Churches are confronted with the proper manner in which things should be done, they will cut corners and bring out the “we live by faith” excuse.
 
Church Leaders should look for every possible scenario that could result in harm and head it off before it can cause physical, emotional, or spiritual damage—including any Church outings or Church-sanctioned events.

Why You Need Us!
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As the Ultimate and oldest Church Management Firm in the nation we know exactly what you should do to protect your Church and Ministry. This and other Compliance issues are taught in our Church Management Conferences across the nation. To register for one of these one-day conferences please call 800-344-0076. Don’t gamble on your Church property and assets. Know the truth and enforce it. Contact us with your e-mail address for a brand new, Contract Attorney written, Release Form.
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By Dr. Michael Chitwood
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