Legal Liability

In the United States sometimes there is a question about the legal liablity associated with offering a mental ministry and whether typical liability insurance policies will cover participants in a mental health ministry. When these question arise the legal counsel or the risk management staff of your parish or diocese should be consulted.

In general, under typical liability insurance policies mental health ministers would be covered in the same way as any other person volunteeting to be involved in a parish ministry. To insure that they are covered under a parish or diocese insurances, mental ministers ministers must be working under the authority of the parish pastor or the diocese. Examples of ministerial activities which would typically be covered by insurance include: meeting with persons and listening to their accounts of mental health issues; praying with such persons; offering referrals to mental health professionals. Mental health ministers must avoid activities which could be construed as professional health services, e.g. diagnosis, evaluation, consultation, treatment or prescribing medications. 

Below are articles which adress this issue in more detail.

What Pastors Need to Know About Mental Health, Ministry, and Liability: How both legal experts and ministry leaders approach mental health issues in the church - Article from Church and Tax Law - April 20, 2022

Nally v. Grace Community Church of the Valley: Clergy Malpractice - A Threat to Both Liberty and Life - C. Grace McCaffrey, Pace Law Review Volume 11, Issue 1, Fall 1990, Article 4.