Alabama Baptist, national Methodist, Episcopal groups urge Congress to keep politics out of churches

From Alabama-

A group of 99 religious and denominational organizations are urging Congress to maintain laws that prevent churches and other tax-exempt non-profit groups from endorsing political candidates.

The coalition, which includes the Alabama Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ's Justice and Witness Ministries and the United Methodist Church's General Board of Church and Society, presented a letter this week to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and all members of Congress.

The letter addresses the "Johnson Amendment," the 1954 IRS regulation that prohibits churches and other religious organizations from keeping their tax-exempt status if they endorse candidates, participate in partisan activities, or "directly or indirectly" become involved in a political campaign.

More here-

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/04/alabama_baptist_national_metho.html

Keep politics out of the pulpit

From LA Times-

Under federal law, it is illegal for churches and other so-called 501c(3) nonprofit organizations to “participate in, or intervene in … any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.”
But in recent years the Internal Revenue Service has failed to aggressively enforce the law...

That soon may change. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which had sued the IRS seeking to require it to enforce the law, says it has reached an agreement with the IRS under which the agency has adopted procedures for “reviewing, evaluating and determining whether to initiate church investigations.”

IRS investigation of political activity by nonprofits has been complicated by allegations that the agency improperly targeted tea party and other conservative groups that sought tax exemptions.

Read more:

http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/column/guest/los-angeles-times-keep-politics-out-of-the-pulpit/article_1208e44a-7570-5436-9dff-1b80519fcaa4.html#ixzz3AAyZK79n

Pastors plan to defy IRS ban on political speech

LA Times piece about the challange to the IRS in California and the counter group trying to keep politics out of the pulpit. You might be surprised who's on which side.

Meanwhile, a separate group of 180 ministers, rabbis and imams also has sought to counter the "pulpit initiative." Members of the Interfaith Alliance -- which includes the nation's top Episcopal bishop -- have signed a pledge to refrain from electioneering in their houses of worship.

"Political activity and political expressions are very important, but partisan politics are . . . . a death knell to the prophetic freedom that any religious organization must protect," said the Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, who signed the pledge.

All Saints survived a nearly two-year IRS investigation after former Rector George Regas spoke out against the Iraq war on the eve of the 2004 presidential election. Bacon repeatedly said the church did not engage in campaigning.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-pulpit25-2008sep25,0,6331764.story