Lawyers who represent traditional not-for-profit entities typically are familiar with the wide range of rules, regulations and statutes applicable to their clients. The knowledge base is substantially more complex and sophisticated, however, when the nonprofit client is a religious organization.

Religious entities face a significantly different legal environment than faced by secular nonprofit organizations in a variety of areas, including when it comes to their governance, employment practices and federal tax requirements. As discussed below, many of these differences stem from the laws specifically applicable only to religious organizations as well as the special protections under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution that extend to churches and other religious entities when they interact with civil authorities.

Autonomy and Governance

As this column previously has observed, see, e.g., Barry Black, "Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Religious Liberty in Two School Cases," NYLJ (August 25, 2022), the First Amendment limits the role that government—including courts and legislatures—may play with respect to religious organizations as compared to the ability of the authorities to govern purely secular entities.