Church insurance protects your buildings, congregation, staff, volunteers, and leadership from the financial risks of property damage, liability claims, employment disputes, and more. Below are answers to the questions Georgia church leaders ask most often. MinistrySure is an independent insurance agency in Loganville, Georgia specializing exclusively in churches, Christian schools, and faith-based ministries.
Most Georgia churches need property insurance, general liability, workers’ compensation (required by Georgia law for employers with three or more employees), and commercial auto if the church owns vehicles. Beyond the basics, churches with staff should also carry directors and officers (D&O) liability, employment practices liability (EPLI), and abuse and molestation coverage. Churches handling sensitive data or online donations should carry cyber liability insurance. An umbrella policy provides additional protection above your other policy limits. The right combination depends on what your church owns, who it employs, and what activities it runs.
Church insurance is a specialized form of commercial insurance designed for the risks unique to religious organizations. Standard commercial policies often exclude or limit coverage for things like pastoral counseling liability, abuse and molestation claims, religious freedom defense, volunteer injuries, and mission trip activities. Church-specific carriers like Brotherhood Mutual build these coverages into their policies rather than treating them as add-ons. A general commercial policy may leave significant gaps that only become apparent when a claim is filed.
Yes. Churches can be sued for slip-and-fall injuries on church property, car accidents involving church vehicles, employment disputes with staff, allegations of abuse or misconduct, injuries during church-sponsored events, and decisions made by the board or leadership. General liability insurance covers many of these claims, but churches also need directors and officers (D&O) liability, employment practices liability (EPLI), and abuse and molestation coverage to fully protect the organization and its leaders.
There is no single answer — it depends on what your church owns and does. For churches that own buildings, property insurance is foundational. For churches with employees, workers’ compensation is legally required in Georgia (three or more employees) and employment practices liability protects against wrongful termination or discrimination claims. For churches with youth programs, abuse and molestation coverage is essential. General liability is important for every church regardless of size. The most common mistake is assuming a basic policy covers everything — specialized coverages like D&O, cyber, and abuse/molestation are often missing from standard packages.
Church insurance premiums in Georgia vary based on building values, location, number of staff, activities, and coverage types selected. Established churches with owned buildings, paid staff, and active programming typically pay $15,000 or more annually. Your premium depends on factors like building age and construction type, total insured property values, number of employees, whether you operate a school or daycare, and your claims history. A coverage review compares options from carriers that specialize in churches — the goal is the right coverage at a fair price, not just the lowest number.
If your church has not had a thorough coverage review by a specialist in the past five to ten years, that alone is reason to schedule one. You should also review your insurance whenever your church purchases or renovates a building, adds paid staff, launches a school, camp, or daycare program, purchases a vehicle, or receives a non-renewal notice from your current carrier. One commonly overlooked trigger: if your church has an armed security team, most standard policies exclude weapons-related incidents and armed security activity entirely. Brotherhood Mutual is one of the few carriers that offers specific security team coverage — and most churches do not realize this gap exists until a claim is filed.
Church property insurance covers the buildings your church owns, including the main sanctuary, fellowship halls, education buildings, parsonages, and any other structures on your property. It also covers the contents inside — furniture, sound equipment, musical instruments, office equipment, and other personal property owned by the church. Most policies also cover loss of income if your building becomes unusable due to a covered event. Coverage typically applies to damage from fire, windstorms, hail, theft, vandalism, and certain water damage. What is NOT typically covered: flood damage (requires a separate flood policy), earthquake damage, normal wear and tear, pest damage, and property belonging to individual church members unless specifically endorsed.
Standard church property insurance in Georgia covers wind, hail, lightning, tornadoes, and fire — all common risks in Georgia. However, flood damage is NOT covered under a standard property policy. If your church is in a flood-prone area, you need a separate flood insurance policy through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private carrier. Georgia churches in southern and coastal regions should pay particular attention to flood and wind/hail deductibles, which may be higher in those areas. Your policy declarations page will show exactly which perils are covered and what your deductibles are for each.
If your church is underinsured and suffers a major loss, you could face a coinsurance penalty — meaning the insurance company pays only a percentage of the claim based on how far below the required insured value your coverage was. For example, if your building is worth $2 million but you only insure it for $1 million, the carrier may only pay 50 cents on the dollar for a claim. Churches can also be underinsured on contents, equipment, or business income coverage without realizing it. A coverage review specifically checks for these gaps by comparing your current policy limits against your actual property values and replacement costs.
Generally, no. Church property insurance covers property owned by the church, not personal belongings of the pastor or staff. If the pastor lives in a church-owned parsonage, the building itself is covered under the church policy, but the pastor’s personal furniture, clothing, and belongings inside are not — those would need to be covered by the pastor’s personal renters or homeowners insurance. Some church policies allow an endorsement for limited pastoral personal property coverage, but this varies by carrier. It is worth confirming with your agent exactly what is and is not covered.
General liability insurance protects your church against claims of bodily injury or property damage that occur on your premises or as a result of your operations. If a visitor slips on a wet floor in the fellowship hall, or a tree on church property falls and damages a neighbor’s car, general liability covers the legal defense costs and any settlement or judgment. It is the most foundational coverage for any church and is typically required before a church can rent space, host public events, or obtain a mortgage. General liability does not cover employment disputes, vehicle accidents, or abuse allegations — those require separate coverages.
Church general liability insurance typically covers volunteers acting within the scope of their church duties. If a volunteer accidentally injures someone while setting up for an event or causes property damage while performing church work, the church’s liability policy would generally respond to the claim. However, if a volunteer is injured themselves while serving, that is a different situation — workers’ compensation typically does not cover volunteers, though some church policies offer a voluntary workers’ compensation endorsement or an accident medical payment coverage that can help with volunteer injuries. Churches with active volunteer programs should confirm exactly how their policy handles volunteer injuries and volunteer-caused incidents.
In most cases, yes. Church general liability insurance typically extends to church-sponsored activities held at locations other than the church property — such as community outreach events, off-site youth activities, park gatherings, or rented event spaces. However, higher-risk activities like mission trips, sports leagues, overnight retreats, and water activities may have limited coverage or require additional endorsements. Some venues may also require your church to provide a certificate of insurance naming them as an additional insured. It is important to notify your agent before hosting events with unusual activities or at unfamiliar locations so coverage can be confirmed.
Standard general liability policies often exclude or limit coverage for claims arising from pastoral counseling. If a congregant alleges emotional harm, breach of confidentiality, or inappropriate advice resulting from counseling sessions, the church and pastor could face a lawsuit that a basic liability policy may not cover. Pastoral professional liability (sometimes called pastoral malpractice or counseling liability) is a separate coverage specifically designed for this risk. Brotherhood Mutual includes pastoral counseling liability as part of their standard church package — many other carriers do not. If your pastors or staff provide any form of counseling, you should confirm this coverage exists in your policy.
Directors and officers insurance protects the individual members of your church board, elder team, trustees, and other leaders from personal financial liability arising from decisions they make on behalf of the church. If a board decision leads to a lawsuit — such as a financial dispute, a wrongful termination claim, or an allegation of mismanagement — D&O insurance covers the legal defense costs and any damages awarded. Without D&O coverage, board members could be held personally responsible, meaning their personal assets (homes, savings, retirement accounts) could be at risk. Most people who volunteer for church leadership do not realize this exposure exists.
Yes. Church board members, elders, deacons, and trustees can be personally named in lawsuits related to decisions they make in their leadership roles. Common examples include allegations of financial mismanagement, employment decisions (hiring, firing, or compensation disputes), failure to report suspected abuse, breach of fiduciary duty, and discrimination claims. Georgia law provides some protections for nonprofit volunteers, but these protections have limits and do not cover every situation. Directors and officers (D&O) insurance is specifically designed to protect leaders from personal liability for decisions made in good faith on behalf of the church.
Abuse and molestation coverage pays for the legal defense and any settlements or judgments that arise from allegations of sexual abuse, physical abuse, or molestation involving anyone connected to the church — staff, volunteers, or other participants. This coverage applies whether the church knew about the conduct or not. Claims in this category are among the most expensive and damaging a church can face, often involving multiple victims, extended litigation, and significant settlements. Many standard commercial liability policies exclude abuse and molestation entirely. Church-specific carriers like Brotherhood Mutual include this coverage as part of their standard package, which is one of the most important reasons to work with a carrier that understands ministry risk.
Any church with paid employees should carry EPLI. Employment practices liability insurance covers claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and other employment-related disputes brought by current or former employees. Even churches with well-intentioned leadership face these claims — a terminated employee may allege the firing was discriminatory, or a staff member may claim a hostile work environment. Defending against these claims is expensive regardless of whether the church did anything wrong. EPLI covers the legal defense costs and any settlement or judgment. Churches with multiple staff members, schools, or daycare operations have higher exposure and should confirm this coverage is in place.
If your church accepts online donations, stores member contact information, maintains a donor database, or uses email for communications, you have cyber risk exposure. Cyber liability insurance covers the costs of responding to a data breach — notifying affected individuals, providing credit monitoring, hiring forensic investigators, legal defense, and regulatory fines. Here is a scenario we see more often than you would expect: a church launches a building campaign, and a staff member receives what looks like a legitimate email about the campaign. They click a link, and suddenly the church’s donor list is exposed. Within days, congregation members receive scam emails that appear to come from the church. Cyber liability insurance covers the cost of responding to incidents like this. MinistrySure shops the cyber market specifically for churches and makes the process simple.
Church-owned vehicles, vans, and buses require a commercial auto insurance policy — they are not covered under your general church insurance package. Commercial auto covers liability if a church vehicle is involved in an accident, as well as physical damage to the vehicle itself. If your church uses 15-passenger vans, be aware that these vehicles carry higher risk ratings due to rollover history, and some carriers restrict or exclude them. Churches that do not own vehicles but have volunteers or staff driving their personal cars for church business should carry hired and non-owned auto coverage, which protects the church if an accident occurs during church-related driving in a personal vehicle.
An umbrella policy — also called excess liability — provides an additional layer of liability protection above the limits of your underlying policies (general liability, commercial auto, and employers liability). For example, if your general liability policy has a $1 million limit and your church faces a $2.5 million judgment, the umbrella policy would cover the additional $1.5 million. Established churches with significant property, large congregations, active youth programs, schools, vehicles, or multiple staff members should strongly consider an umbrella policy. The cost is relatively low compared to the protection it provides, and for churches with complex operations it is one of the most important coverages in the program.
Georgia law requires workers’ compensation insurance for any employer with three or more employees, and churches are not exempt from this requirement. Workers’ compensation covers medical expenses and lost wages for employees who are injured on the job — whether that is a maintenance worker who falls from a ladder, an office administrator who develops a repetitive stress injury, or a preschool teacher who is injured breaking up a student altercation. Churches that fail to carry workers’ compensation when required face significant legal penalties and personal liability for the church leadership. Volunteers are generally not covered by workers’ compensation, but some church policies offer a voluntary workers’ compensation endorsement or accident medical payments coverage to address volunteer injuries.
A quote tells you how much a policy costs. A coverage review tells you whether your current insurance actually protects your ministry. At MinistrySure, we start by requesting your current policy documents and reviewing them line by line — looking for gaps, exclusions, and areas where your church may be underinsured. Then we compare options from carriers that specialize in church insurance and present a clear, side-by-side comparison so your leadership team can make an informed decision. There is no cost or obligation for the review. Sometimes the answer is that your current coverage is solid and you should stay where you are. We would rather tell you that honestly than write a policy you do not need. Our Google reviews reflect this approach — church leaders consistently mention that we put their interests ahead of writing a policy.
MinistrySure is an authorized Brotherhood Mutual agent — Brotherhood Mutual is one of the largest insurance carriers in the country specializing exclusively in churches, schools, and ministries, and they insure approximately 85% of our client ministries. We are also a preferred agent for Insurance Board, which serves specific denominations including United Church of Christ (UCC), Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and Alliance of Baptists. We have access to additional top-rated church insurance carriers as needed to ensure we find the right fit for your ministry’s specific situation.
MinistrySure’s primary service area is Georgia statewide, with a concentration in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Our office is in Loganville, Georgia, and we serve churches, Christian schools, and ministries across the state — from metro Atlanta to Savannah, Macon, Augusta, Columbus, Valdosta, and everywhere in between. We also serve certain denominations in parts of Tennessee through our Insurance Board appointment. We do not write policies nationwide — our focus on Georgia allows us to understand the specific risks, regulations, and insurance market conditions that Georgia churches face.
The typical process from first conversation to binding a new policy takes two to three weeks. The timeline depends on how quickly we can obtain your current policy documents and any additional information needed from your church. If your renewal date is approaching, we can often expedite the process. The transition itself is seamless — your new policy starts on the same day your old one ends, so there is no gap in coverage. We handle the paperwork, coordinate with the carriers, and provide your church with updated certificates of insurance for any third parties that require them, such as mortgage holders or facility rental agreements.
Many Georgia churches choose their insurance agent the same way they choose a mechanic — they ask a friend or use someone from the congregation. This works fine for auto and home insurance, but church insurance is specialized and the risks of getting it wrong are significant. Two things go wrong most often. First, surprise exclusions: a general insurance agent may not realize that your policy excludes armed security team incidents, abuse and molestation claims, buildings over 50 years old, Boy Scout or similar youth organization charters, schools, or preschool operations. These exclusions are buried in the policy language and often are not discovered until a claim is filed. Second, claims difficulty: when a claim does occur, non-specialized carriers are more likely to apply coinsurance penalties, depreciate losses instead of paying replacement cost, exclude sewer and drain backup, and refuse to cover ordinance or law costs when an older building must be brought up to current code after a loss. Brotherhood Mutual builds many of these protections into their standard church policies. One good test question to ask any agent: have you ever told a church to stay with their current carrier instead of switching? If the answer is no, they are selling — not advising.
Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company is one of the largest insurance carriers in the United States specializing exclusively in churches, Christian schools, camps, and related ministries. Based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, they are rated A (Excellent) by AM Best — the industry standard for financial strength. Churches choose Brotherhood Mutual because their policies are specifically designed for ministry risks, including built-in coverage for pastoral counseling liability, religious freedom defense, abuse and molestation, security team activities, and volunteer medical payments that other carriers often exclude or charge extra for. MinistrySure is an authorized Brotherhood Mutual agent in Georgia, and our agents have been recognized as Brotherhood Mutual Agents of the Year (2011 and 2015) and Rookies of the Year (2009 and 2011).
A non-renewal means your current insurance carrier has decided not to continue your policy when it expires. This is different from a cancellation, which happens mid-policy. Non-renewals can happen for several reasons — too many claims, a change in the carrier’s underwriting guidelines, the carrier exiting a geographic area or line of business, or a risk the carrier no longer wants to insure (such as older buildings or certain activities). A non-renewal does not necessarily mean your church did anything wrong, but it does mean you need to find new coverage before your current policy expires. If your church has received a non-renewal notice, contact an agent who specializes in church insurance as soon as possible — the more time you have before expiration, the more options are typically available.
The most helpful document is your current policy declarations page (often called the “dec page”) — this is the summary page of your policy that lists your coverages, limits, deductibles, and premium. If you have the full policy document, that is even better. Other helpful items include your most recent claims history or loss runs (your current agent or carrier can provide these), a list of all buildings and vehicles the church owns, and the number of paid employees. If you do not have all of these documents readily available, do not let that stop you from reaching out — we can help you request them from your current carrier and walk you through the process.
Every church is different. If you don’t see your question here, we’re happy to help. Request a coverage review or call us directly.
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