When Religion and Health Care Meet

An area in which religion interfaces with secular society and all its accompanying regulations, statutes, and standards is when churches sponsor retirement and/or health care facilities for older people. Recognized by specific religious groups, these organizations struggle with issues surrounding sponsorship, management, ownership and liability. This paper describes the current "state-of-the-art" regarding the numbers and locations of church homes in the United States. A model for analyzing church-related organizations is presented.