Steven Moe of ParryField Lawyers has published an article with the above title. It came out of a presentation he made at a “Religion and the Law” event last year.

The article starts:

In a gentle way, you can shake the world.Mahatma Ghandi

Governance for faith based organisations is not the same as for other entities. We have dealt with both types of structures for many decades and wanted to set out some key thoughts in this article. This was originally prepared as a paper presented at the Legalwise “Religion and the Law” conference held on 30 October 2021. The paper was written and presented by Steven Moe, a Partner at Parry Field Lawyers.

Faith based organisations have their own unique dynamic that can be distinguished from other Not for Profits. Albeit this being an important issue, there has not been much written about it in Aotearoa New Zealand to support leaders of faith based organisations. This article stipulates the unique nature of faith based organisations and provides practical recommendations for their governance.

This article addresses the following issues faced by faith based organisations:

  • What are the usual legal structures where these boards operate?
  • What are the key functions of boards of faith based non-profits?
  • How does the legal framework affect these boards?
  • What added dimensions shape governance?

The full article is available on the ParryField website here