Office of General Counsel

Welcome to the Office of General Counsel (OGC)! OGC serves the National Setting and the Conferences of the United Church of Christ.

The General Counsel also serves as the Secretary to the United Church of Christ Board. OGC provides legal counsel and training on a variety of matters including governance, contracts, abuse prevention policies, and intellectual property compliance. OGC also oversees the United Church of Christ federal group tax exemption and provides proof of tax-exempt status to Local Churches and Conferences. Please click the button below to request a 501(c)(3) group exemption letter. You can also log on to UCC Database & Directories to request a letter and claim your church’s Candid profile. We are not able to assist with adding your Local Church to the IRS Tax Exempt Organization online database. Please see our policy here. For more information on how the group exemption works, CLICK HERE. Churches granted standing on or after January 20, 2026 will not be automatically included in the group exemption and the addition of these churches to the group exemption have been temporarily paused as of January 20, 2026, due to IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-8. Processes and guidance are currently being developed for compliance and this page will be updated soon. Any group exemption letter issued for a church that obtained UCC standing on or after January 20, 2026 is not valid due to IRS regulation updates.

We have included information here that is helpful to some of the most common legal-related inquiries that we receive. Under Church Resources, you will find information on Local Church bylaws, as well as information on copyright compliance for Local Church worship services, whether in-person or online.

The blog below will be updated periodically, so please check back to read more.

Heather E. Kimmel, General Counsel

Heather E. Kimmel is the General Counsel of the United Church of Christ. She has been serving in that capacity since December 1, 2015. She joined the Office of General Counsel as Associate General Counsel in 2013.  Before joining the National Setting of the United Church of Christ, she was an attorney at two large law firms and served as a federal judicial clerk.

Olivia Risko, Paralegal

Olivia Risko joined the Office of General Counsel of the United Church of Christ as a paralegal in 2024. Olivia previously worked in a domestic relations firm as well as a local city’s law department doing municipal level prosecution. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology from Cleveland State University. Additionally, she holds an Associate of Applied Science and an Associate of Applied Business with a concentration in Paralegal Studies, both from Cuyahoga Community College.