Leasing and Use of Church Property

The Commission on Financial Management (Trustees) approved revised/updated standard leases for use by member churches of the Presbytery of Philadelphia.  The substance of the revisions address the increased risk exposure related to the supervision of minors identified by legal counsel and corroborated by our insurance provider. For more information, see the expanded comments for Boys Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Counseling Groups.

The Trustees now require these standard lease forms be used, with written waiver requests for exceptions.  Using standard leases will improve the approval process and save money.  These newly revised leases should be used for all upcoming renewals as well as new agreements.  There are standard leases for the following contractual agreements:

• Standard Lease Agreement: Generally, to be used for all agreements with terms greater than six months. To affirm: if the agreement includes leasing worship space, it will require the additional approval of the Commission on Ministry.  Additionally, if the term is for more than one year, it will require approval by the Presbytery Collegium.
• Lease Renewal Agreement: We encourage the use of the revised Standard Lease Agreement in place of renewals.  However, to ease the administrative burden the Lease Renewal Agreement is acceptable.  It is important that the clause related to the “Supervision of Minors” is included.
• Residential Lease for Manse: Approved by the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, this form conforms to Pennsylvania landlord/tenant laws. This form is required for leasing all residential property, manse or otherwise.
• Facility Use Agreement: The agreement should be used for short-term rental of church facility space, six months or less.  If the term is more than six months, the Standard Lease Agreement is required.  Examples include school bands using the space for practice during the summer, third-party Vacation Bible School use of gym or classrooms, etc.
• Release, Waiver, and Indemnity Agreement: A waiver, or release of liability, is a contract releasing a party from liability for injuries resulting from their ordinary negligence.  These agreements should be used for activities taking place on church property or at church events where the possibility of injury from participating in that activity exists.

If you would like to generate these leases/agreements, other than the Release, Waiver, and Indemnity Agreement, to allow for e-signatures please contact the presbytery office at cheintz@presbyphl.org or zalan@presbyphl.org and a blank lease form will be sent to you through DocuSign for completion.  Or you can download the agreements, complete them on your computer, manually sign, and send to Jim Wagner to begin the presbytery approval process.

Please contact Jim Wagner jwagner@presbyphl.org , 215-242-1301 at the presbytery for questions and clarifications.