IRS May Strip Church Of Tax-Exempt Status After Anti-War Sermon

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

09 November 2005

A Californian church may be stripped of its tax exempt status by Internal Revenue Service after a preacher delivered an anti-war sermon and appeared to suggest that the congregation should not vote for George W. Bush, two days before the 2004 presidential election.

In a sermon at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena on Oct 31, 2004 entitled: "What if Jesus were to debate John Kerry and George Bush?" a retired rector, Rev. George Regas, condemned the war in Iraq and criticised Bush for failing to own up to the "human consequences" of his actions.

Rev. Regas also said that Bush, and his Democratic opponent in the poll John Kerry, were not showing enough commitment to the eradication of poverty.

"All of this needs to be part of our thinking on (Election Day)," Rev. Regas stated towards the end of his speech.

However, it appears that the sermon has come to the attention of the IRS, which has the job of policing the rules governing tax exempt organisations. Under Section 501 of the revenue code, charities and churches are prohibited from "participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office".

While the IRS has refused to comment on whether it is investigating the incident with a view to stripping the Pasadena church of its tax exempt status, Marcus Owens, the church's tax attorney and a former head of the IRS tax-exempt section, indicated in a Dow Jones report that the agency has offered to drop the proceedings if the church admitted wrongdoing. Mr Owens added that the church had declined the offer.

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