PUBLIC BENEFIT AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF RELIGION

Charity Commission draft supplementary guidance February 2008

Introduction

Historically, the concept of charity has often been closely linked with a religious sense of duty about helping others.

There are approximately 23,000 charities on the Charity Commission's register set up for the purpose of advancing religion.

Not all religious purposes are charitable.  Consideration needs to be given to whether the purpose is 1) actually advancing a religion; and 2) whether it is for the public benefit.

Charity trustees have a new duty to report in their Trustees' Annual Report on their charity's public benefit.

For smaller charities, below the audit threshold, trustees are required to include a brief summary in their Trustees' Annual Report of the main activities undertaken in order to carry out the charity's aims for the public benefit.  The statement should also confirm that the trustees have had regard to our public benefit guidance where relevant.

For larger charities, above the audit threshold, trustees are required to provide a fuller explanation in their Trustees' Annual Report of the significant activities undertaken in order to carry out the charity's aims for the public benefit, as well as their aims and strategies.  They are required to explain the charity's achievements, measured by reference to the charity's aims and to the objectives set by the trustees.  It is up to the charity's trustees to decide how much detail they want to provide to clearly illustrate what their charity has done in the reporting year to meet the requirement; we will not be prescriptive about the number of words or pages needed.

Charity trustees are not legally required to follow this guidance but they must have regard to it when it is relevant for their charity.  As with all the Charity Commission's published guidance, that means they should be able to show that:

·           they are aware of the guidance;

·           in making a decision where the guidance is relevant, they have taken it into account;

·           if they have decided to depart from the guidance, they have good reasons for doing so.

For charities advancing religion beneficiaries include followers or adherents, potential followers or adherents and the wider public.

Private benefit:  we use this term to mean any benefits that a person or organisation receives other than as a beneficiary of a charity.  It does not, therefore, include the sorts of personal benefits people receive as a beneficiary, such as being a follower or an adherent of a religion.

The Meaning of the Advancement of Religion

There is no full, legal definition of what constitutes a religion for the purposes of charity law.  The Oxford English Dictionary definition is:  'Belief in or sensing of some superhuman, controlling power or powers, entitled to obedience, reverence and worship, especially as a means to achieve spiritual or material improvement; acceptance of such belief (especially as represented by an organised Church) as a standard of spiritual and practical life; the expression of this in worship etc.'  'A particular system of such belief';  'Devotion; fidelity, conscientiousness, pious attachment'.

Whilst this is not a legal definition of what constitutes a religion, it does indicate the characteristics that typically feature in a religious belief system.

The Charities Act 2006 states that:

religion includes:

(i)       a religion which involves a belief in more than one god, and

(ii)     a religion which does not involve a belief in a god.

The following factors are relevant in considering whether or not a particular belief system is a religion.

·           What do followers or adherents believe in?

• a personal creator god or gods;

• a supreme being; or

• a divine or transcendental being, entity or principle.

·           What degree of cogency, coherence, seriousness and importance does the belief system have?

To be a religion, the practice of which it is charitable to advance, it must be a sincere religious belief system of substance or significance, capable of benefiting society, having a certain level of cogency, coherence, seriousness and importance as opposed to a self-promoting organisation set up to promote one or more persons, or a trivial system set up for, perhaps, frivolous reasons.

·           What is the nature of the relationship between the believer and the 'supreme being or entity'?

This relationship with the supreme being or entity is usually spiritual in nature, characterised by feelings of connectedness or unity with a force of power that is greater than the self, which is apart from the self but which may also exist within.

To be charitable for the public benefit, a religion has to be 'advanced'.

In general, to advance a religion means to promote, sustain and increase belief in a supreme being or entity together with the worship of, or respect for, such supreme being or entity by means of some or all of reverent submission, veneration, deep respect, homage, adoration, devotion, obeisance, submission, prayer and meditation.

Advancing a religion can be concerned with seeking new followers.

The following examples illustrate the many different ways in which charities can advance religion:

·           Facilitating religious practice

·           Places of worship

·           Raising awareness and understand of religious beliefs and practices

·           Religious devotional acts

·           Missionary and outreach work

·           Religious communication

·           Retreat and pilgrimage

·           Advancing religion generally

·           Proselytising

Whatever way trustees choose to advance religion, the activity must in a clearly demonstrable way, be an expression of the advancement of the particular religion.

The European Court of Human Rights has considered the compatibility of proselytising under the European Convention on Human Rights in a specific case regarding the Christian religion.  It confirmed that a democratic society has a number of beliefs and held that freedom to manifest one's religion includes, in principle, the right to convince one's neighbour.  Distinction has to be made between 'bearing Christian witness', and improper proselytising, not having due respect for the freedom of thought, conscience and religion of others.

There must be an identifiable benefit or benefits

To be recognised as charitable, all organisations advancing religion must have a moral and ethical code which is capable of impacting on society in a beneficial way.

Where there is sufficient evidence of benefit to society, the following are examples of the ways in which advancing religion has the potential to be for the public benefit:

·           the provision of ethical and moral codes in society;

·           the provision of sacred spaces, churches and worship services;

·           the provision of public rituals and ceremonies;

·           contribution to spiritual well-being;

·           contribution to the spiritual and moral education of children;

·           contribution towards promoting social cohesion;

·           pastoral and missionary work expressing, in practical ways, the religious teaching and contributing to addressing social needs and the furthering of other charitable purposes;

·           the contribution to followers or adherents good mental and physical health; aiding the prevention of ill-health, speeding recovery and fostering composure in the face of ill health;

·           the inspiration religion can provide to others.

All charities must ensure that benefits are balanced against any detriment or harm that may arise from their activities.  In this, they should consider whether any activities are:

·           dangerous or damaging to mental or physical health;

·           encouraging or promoting violence or hatred towards others;

·           unlawfully restricting a person's freedom; or

·           illegal.

Benefit must be to the public or a section of the public

Considering whom the aims are primarily intended to benefit is therefore important when assessing whether a charity benefits the public or a section of the public.  With charities for the advancement of religion, it is considered that the beneficiaries are normally both the followers or adherents and the wider public or, in the case of a charitable religious order, the beneficiaries are the members of the order, the wider church and the public generally.