California Episcopal church won't comply with the IRS

September 22, 2006

(RNS) A California Episcopal Church voted Thursday (Sept. 21) to defy the Internal Revenue Service's demands for documents concerning an anti-war sermon given shortly before the 2004 presidential election.

All Saints Church's lay leader, Bob Long, said they have nothing to hide from the IRS.

"We came to this decision because we believe that these summonses intolerably infringe upon our Constitutional rights," he said in a statement Thursday.

The governing board of the Pasadena, Calif., church voted 26-0 to deny the IRS request, firmly placing the ball back in the IRS's court.

IRS regulations prohibit nonprofits, including churches, from participating in any political campaign on behalf of one candidate. Possible penalties if found guilty are numerous, the most drastic being the loss of tax exemptions.

The church came under IRS scrutiny after the Rev. George Regas, the church's former rector, delivered a guest sermon in October 2004, called "If Jesus Debated Sen. Kerry and President Bush." Regas depicted Jesus addressing Bush, calling the president's doctrine of pre-emptive war a "failed doctrine."

The sermon did not endorse a particular candidate but has been under investigation by the IRS since June 2005.

The Rev. Ed Bacon of All Saints, and supportive religious leaders around the country say the investigation is an attack on the church's freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

"We are also here not for ourselves alone but to defend the freedom of pulpits in faith communities throughout our land," he said.

-- Chansin Bird