IRS INVESTIGATION OF ALL SAINTS CHURCH IN PASADENA

 
The recently disclosed IRS investigation of All Saints Church in Pasadena sounds an alarm for everyone who values religious freedom and respects the importance of a free pulpit.

Rev. Dr. George Regas did not cross the line into impermissible electioneering when he preached at All Saints Church in October of 2004 on the moral issues facing the nation and then illustrated his points by means of an imagined dialogue among Jesus, Sen. John F. Kerry, and President George W. Bush. Dr. Regas said several times during his sermon that he was not urging his hearers to vote for any particular candidate, and he added that people of good faith could vote for either candidate.
 
We believe that the IRS challenge to All Saints offends settled notions about proper relations between church and state in American society. It also raises important questions about how much latitude IRS field offices have been given to initiate challenges based on second-hand press reports and using murky criteria as to what constitutes electioneering. We respectfully ask the IRS to stop its proceedings against All Saints with no requirement that All Saints make any admission of wrongdoing.

None of us can support electioneering on the part of tax-exempt organizations, but all of us uphold the right and the duty of religious leaders to engage in moral critique of government policies. We certainly do not believe that such critique should be withheld from pulpits during election season, for that is precisely the time when it is most important for citizens to consult their consciences and their core values in reflecting on the kind of government they want.   

That said, we do not and cannot support H.R. 235, the so-called Houses of Worship Restoration Act, which some now put forward as a remedy for the All Saints matter. This legislation, strongly supported by the Religious Right, goes alarmingly too far. It would allow houses of worship to engage openly in political campaigning and would authorize political endorsements from the pulpit.  Parties and candidates could make contributions to houses of worship with the implicit understanding that the houses of worship would then do direct political work on their behalf. Such a law could lead to bitter divisions in our houses of worship along political lines. H.R. 235 would also unfairly advantage religious bodies over other 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations, which would continue to be barred from engaging in electoral activities.
 
We call upon people of conscience and good will to join us in objecting to the unwarranted challenge to All Saints Church, even as we invite them to join us in opposition to H.R. 235.

Moral critique and moral discernment is the right and duty of houses of worship and of their preachers; partisanship and electioneering is not.

Signed,

SUPPORT FOR ALL SAINTS CHURCH:  THREE THINGS YOU CAN DO NOW

1.      Sign the National On-Line Statement of Support
 A national sign-on mechanism has been created at the URL below. We are
 particularly interested in getting the signatures of clergy, women
 religious, and religious educators. You can see some of the early signers'
 names and indicate your own support for the statement by clicking on this
 URL:  http://interdependencedeclaration.org/allsaints/statement.html
 The goal will be to get as many signatures as possible, then turn this into
 publicity at some point before the Chicago IRS office has made its final
 decision.  The goal is not to accuse the IRS of bias, but to speak out in
 defense of George Regas and All Saints and to ask that fair standards be
 used to initiate investigations. A further goal is to raise appropriate
 questions about H.R. 235, legislation strongly backed by the Christian Right
 that would remove ALL constraints on churches in respect to political
 activity.

 2. Ask Others to Sign the Statement
 Here is language that you could use in contacting potential signees:
 Dear Colleague,
 In the past months, the IRS has initiated an investigation into the
 tax-exempt status of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.  This
 investigation was prompted by an anti-war sermon given by George Regas in  the run up to the 2004 election.  I believe that you share my concern about  the chilling impact this investigation may have on religious critics of
 government.  People of conscience must remain free to stand up for their
 beliefs in public while refraining from endorsing any particular candidate.
 To show support for All Saints, I encourage you to electronically sign a
 letter of concern that can be found at the following address:
 http://interdependencedeclaration.org/allsaints/statement.html

 3. Write Op-Eds and Letters to the Editor...and Share Them With All Saints
 All Saints Church would like to collect these even if they are not actually
 published. They will help the church's attorneys in getting the IRS to back
 off. Send what you have written to kholeman@allsaints-pas.org. You can glean  ideas for your letter or Op-Ed from the sign-on statement or from materials  available at the All Saints site: www.allsaints-pas.org (including appropriate sermons.)

 Anthony Marsh
 Project Director
 Progressive Christians Uniting
 1501 Wilshire Blvd.
 Los Angeles, CA 90017
 213-989-1630
 www.progressivechristiansuniting.org

The Church In Society Committee and the Regional Board of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Pacific Southwest Region agree with this statement and  encourage our congregations to sign this petition in support of All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena.