Virtually all churches are charities (whether registered or not) and the people with day-to-day responsibility for running the church are the managing trustees, whether you call them deacons, elders, or the Leadership Team. They are accountable to the Charity Commission, as well as God and the fellowship, for their leadership of the church.

If your church owns a building, then you may have property trustees as well - sometimes called Custodian or Holding Trustees. HEBA acts as property trustee for a number of churches in our area, as do the Baptist Union Corporation.  In a few cases, churches have appointed some private individuals to be their Holding Trustees.

Whoever the property trustees are, they should be informed about building developments and any land transactions the church is considering so that they can offer appropriate advice and support.

Whether your church owns a building or not, the managing trustees have certain responsibilities, as well as the privileges, of leadership.  See Help! I'm a Managing Trustee (Guideline C17 of the Baptist Union Corporation leaflets)  [here]

Resources to help trustees in their work:

Baptist Union Corporation Guidelines  

A very useful set of resources covering church leadership, finance, property, projects, Charity Registration, health and safety etc.  Have a look [here].

When reading these Guidelines, remember that your church's Holding Trustees may be other than the B U Corporation!

Charity Commission

The Commission are regulators for charities and also provide a wealth of information and advice. See their website [here].

Baptist Insurance Company

The BIC has produced a useful range of Risk Assessment documents for churches covering such topics as Fire Safety, Holding Functions on Church premises, and Four Risk Assessment Stages for Baptist Churches.  All available to download free from the Church Guidance section of their website [here].