One Example on How to Handle Religious Exemption Letter Requests

Recently, we had a conversation with Keith Duff, Executive Pastor of Village Bible Church in Illinois, on the topic of churches signing religious exemption letters for their congregation members.

According to Duff, this is their approach to handling these types of requests: 

  1. We ask the person to describe their religious conviction.

  2. We then ask them to read a document we've put together that lays out the reasons Christians are for the vaccine and reasons why they are against it.

  3. In the end, if someone determines they wish to request a religious exemption, we tell them to write a letter explaining why.

  4. We will provide a letter for the individual that simply states we affirm the individual to be a person of faith and deep religious conviction. We do not make a statement regarding vaccines as a church, but simply state this person is part of our church and we affirm their strong religious convictions. Each letter we write is different based on the circumstances.

How is your organization handling exemption letter requests? Join the conversation on our social media platforms.

If you need more help navigating this ever-changing field called church HR, we can help. Click the button below to schedule a call with one of our experts and see how we can help make church HR simple for you.