Editorial Method & Sources

Ministry Facilities is a general planning library for congregational boards and volunteers. It is not a building code, legal opinion, engineering report, safeguarding policy, accounting standard, tax opinion, or substitute for a licensed professional who has inspected your site.

How claims are handled

{{figure:editorial-method-how-claims-are-handled|Low angle of a desk with reference books and a notepad}} We distinguish four kinds of material:

• Official requirements and public guidance link to the responsible government or standards body where a useful public source exists. Applicability still depends on jurisdiction, building use, project scope, funding, and other facts.
• Planning practices are presented as options to evaluate, not universal rules or guaranteed outcomes.
• Illustrations and sample numbers are hypothetical unless an article identifies a source. They are for showing a method, not predicting a congregation's cost, attendance, fundraising result, or schedule.
• Local decisions belong to the authority having jurisdiction, the congregation's governance, insurer, and qualified architects, engineers, accountants, lawyers, safeguarding professionals, trades, or other advisers as the subject requires.

United States and Canada

{{figure:editorial-method-united-states-and-canada|Smiling staff member reviewing notes at a desk in warm light}} The library serves readers in both countries, so an article must not present one country's rule as universal. United States federal accessibility law generally exempts religious organizations under ADA Title III, but state or local law, funding, leases, and nonreligious uses may create other duties. Canadian requirements differ by province, territory, municipality, and use. Always confirm the rule for the actual property and activity.

Corrections

{{figure:editorial-method-corrections|Low angle of a red pen marking edits on a printed page}} We revise an article when a reliable source contradicts it, when a claim is broader than its evidence, or when wording could be mistaken for a guarantee. To report a possible error, use the contact page and include the article URL, the disputed sentence, and the source you believe should govern.

Source hierarchy

For legal, tax, accessibility, safety, and safeguarding subjects, we prefer primary public sources such as the IRS, CRA, CDC, CPSC, U.S. Access Board, Department of Justice, and Canadian federal or provincial authorities. Manufacturer instructions, the adopted standard, the insurer, and the local authority having jurisdiction remain essential for site-specific work.