Should a church seek for incorporation?

[Trapped]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Does scripture prohibit registering a local church at the SEC (Security Exchange Commission) or the 501(c)(3) incorporation in the United States?

It seems to me that one of the major reason of divison among the Local Churches in the Philippines was over church incorporation. Isn't this quite a minor disagreement?

There are several reasons from the negative side to disregard church incorporation:

1. It becomes a religion.
2. The government becomes the head of the church.
3. The church is registered in heaven, not on earth (Hebrews 12:23).
4. Matthew 22:21 and Mark 12:17
5. The church marries the world.
6. Article 2 Sec. 6 "The separation of Church and State.

Does registering a Church in the SEC negate its authenticity?

They are worst than I thought than those of the members of the LCM. They considered those registered churches worldly and therefore are told by their elders to refrain from fellowshipping with other Christians. Extreme exclusivism from these former LCers.

I may be wrong, but to open a bank account, you need an EIN, and to get an EIN you need to be incorporated with your state's authorities so you can provide the "legal name" of that incorporation when you apply for the EIN. So....if you want to properly handle the saints' offerings, you need to be incorporated so you can get an EIN so you can get a bank account to handle them. Otherwise the account has to be in a person's name, which isn't good when dealing with the church's money. All this is necessary in acquiring property too. I personally have no problem with a church incorporating and don't see another way to practically handle church affairs without inappropriately mixing them up with someone's personal life.

Incorporation is different from 501(c)(3) status. Once you are incorporated you can apply for 501(c)(3) status at the federal level.