District Resources for Board on Church Location and Building

Sharing or Leasing Property

Guidelines

One of the tasks of the District Board is to ensure that the local church complies with The Book of Discipline when sharing or leasing property. The Board is also responsible to help the local church consider its own health and vitality as well as the most effective deployment of its resources to make disciples for the transformation of the world. The following guidelines must be met for the Board to approve sharing or leasing of local church property:

• Approval of the Board of Trustees, Church Council and Church Conference.
• Signed Consent Form of the pastor and district superintendent
• A written lease or agreement signed by two trustees of the local church and two representatives of the leasing party.
• Compliance with the established Safe Sanctuary policy of the local church. If you don’t have a Safe Sanctuary Policy the church will need to put a policy in place. Please email your regional administrator.
• A lease agreement must be renewed yearly on the anniversary date.
• Certification of adequate insurance on the part of the lessee or a signed hold harmless agreement.

Approval Procedure

In order to have a sharing or leasing agreement approved by the Board, the local church must submit a completed Annual Shared or Leasing Property Checklist along with the materials specified in the checklist. The submission to the Board must be made at least 30 days in advance of the Board meeting.Unfortunately, the Board is unable to consider incomplete submissions. Submit completed checklists and supporting documents electronically to your DB liaison representative.

Annual Renewal Procedure

The Board requires local churches that lease or share properties to submit an Annual Shared or Leased Property Checklist each year. The checklist must identify and include all leases or agreements that the local church intends to renew. The checklist and all supporting documents must be submitted at least 30 days in advance of the Spring board meeting.

Since all leases expire on the anniversary date, the local church is not required to go through the entire process of gaining approval from the Board for a lease renewal so long as the renewed lease remains unchanged. (Obviously, the effective dates of the lease will change by one year. The rate of rent or donation may also be adjusted without seeking new approval.) Submit completed checklists and supporting documents electronically to DB liaison representative.