501 (c) 3 violations?

[Frank Smith]

January 16, 2006
Group Seeks I.R.S. Inquiry of Two Ohio Churches
By STEPHANIE STROM
A group of religious leaders has sent a complaint to the Internal Revenue
Service requesting an investigation of two large churches in Ohio that they
say are improperly campaigning on behalf of a conservative Republican
running for governor.

In their complaint, the clergy members contend that the two Columbus-area
churches, Fairfield Christian Church and the World Harvest Church, which
were widely credited with getting out the Ohio vote for President Bush in
2004, have allowed their facilities to be used by Republican organizations,
promoted the candidate, J. Kenneth Blackwell, among their members and
otherwise violated prohibitions on political activity by tax-exempt groups.

They are asking the I.R.S. to examine whether the churches' tax exemptions
should be revoked and are requesting that Mark W. Everson, the federal tax
commissioner, seek an injunction to stop what they consider improper
activities.

Both churches denied that any of their activities violated limitations on
nonprofit political activity. "We endorse values, but not candidates," said
the Rev. Russell Johnson, Fairfield's leader.

He said Mr. Blackwell had been featured at events because he was the only
candidate who had spoken out strongly in favor of an amendment to the State
Constitution banning same-sex marriage that passed last fall. Mr. Johnson
noted that he was meeting with a Democratic candidate for Congress this
week.

World Harvest Church and a recently formed affiliated organization,
Reformation Ohio, issued a statement saying their voter registration efforts
have been conducted in diverse neighborhoods and that they were committed to
full compliance with all applicable federal laws.

But the leaders who supported the complaint said that the two churches had
gone too far. "I have become very concerned about how it could be that
churches were becoming almost an extension of a political party," said the
Rev. F. Allan Debelak, the minister of a Lutheran church in the Columbus
area and a signer of the complaint. "They have been giving what seems to be
an endorsement, even if they never used the word, an endorsement of Ken
Blackwell."

Thirty-one clergy members representing a variety of Christian and Jewish
denominations signed the complaint, which was shown to the news media on
Sunday. Rabbi Harold J. Berman said he had signed because he was concerned
that the line between church and state was becoming blurred. "I think
government is clearly impaired when churches get too actively involved in
government," he said, "and I think religion gets impaired when government
acts in religious affairs."

After a series of forums on faith and values at North Congregational Church
in Columbus, a group of moderate Christians, constitutional scholars and
clergy began collecting examples last fall of activities by Fairfield and
World Harvest to support a complaint to the tax authorities. They stepped up
their efforts after The Los Angeles Times reported that All Saints Church, a
large liberal Episcopal church in Pasadena, Calif., was under investigation
for its political activities.

The I.R.S. told All Saints that a guest sermon on Oct. 31, 2004, by a former
pastor might have jeopardized its tax exemption. In the sermon, the pastor
imagined a debate between Jesus Christ, President Bush and John Kerry, and
it criticized the Iraq war.

The church said that the sermon in no way violated I.R.S. boundaries.

World Harvest and Fairfield Christian frequently note the prohibitions on
political activity and say they are careful not to violate them. Each church
has created separate entities whose goals are to increase political
participation among Christians and to encourage them to vote, but those
groups are also subject to constraints on political activity.

The complaint questions, for example, how the Ohio Restoration Project, a
nonprofit organization led by Mr. Johnson, Fairfield's leader, obtained
charitable status when among its stated purposes are to support and promote
legislation. The group has said its goal is to create an army of "Patriot
Pastors" to help increase the participation of church members in this year's
statewide elections.

Reformation Ohio, which was started by Rod Parsley, pastor at World Harvest,
is a church, according to its registration with the Ohio secretary of state.
Its goal is to win 100,000 converts, register 40,000 new voters and help the
poor.

Those organizations and their affiliated churches have sponsored several
improper events, the complaint says. For example, the Fairfield County
Republican Party Central Committee met at Fairfield in March to fill a
precinct vacancy. Churches are permitted to lease their facilities for
political purposes so long as they charge market rates.

Carl Tatman, the committee chairman, said that it did not pay rent for the
space. "The church was nice enough to volunteer the space as a donation," he
said.

A month later, the Republican Club of Northwest Fairfield County held a
fund-raiser at the church. Brian Sauer, its chairman, said the group paid a
fee but he did not recall how much. "I want to make it clear that our club
has no affiliation with any type of religious group," he said.

Mr. Blackwell has been the only candidate for governor at a number of events
organized by the Ohio Restoration Project and Reformation Ohio, including a
rally in front of the Statehouse in October.

The I.R.S. allows nonprofit groups to organize events featuring political
candidates if all legally qualified candidates are invited. Spokesmen for
one Democratic and two Republican candidates for the governor's office said
they were invited but did not participate.

But Brian Flannery, a Democratic candidate, said he has never been invited
to events organized by Fairfield Christian Church, the World Harvest Church
or their affiliates.

It is not always enough, however, to invite all the candidates. According to
a 2002 I.R.S. publication on election year issues, an "organization that
invites two opposing candidates to speak at its events with the knowledge
and expectation that one will not accept the invitation because of
well-known opposing viewpoints may not be considered to have provided equal
opportunity to all candidates."

The complaint notes Mr. Blackwell's appearance at more than eight events
held by the churches or their affiliated organizations since August. And Mr.
Blackwell is scheduled to be featured this spring in radio ads - "Ohio for
Jesus" - paid for by the Ohio Restoration Project.

Mr. Parsley has been careful not to endorse anyone from his pulpit, which
would clearly violate I.R.S. rules, but he has expressed his support for
candidates in other locations. There have been widespread reports of the
contributions he and his mother made to Mr. Blackwell's campaign, and
shortly before the 2004 presidential election, he said in an interview with
ABC News that he supported President Bush.

His church has also invited conservative Republicans like Ann Coulter and
John Ashcroft to speak, and they have voiced support for Mr. Blackwell. In
August, former Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat who has aligned himself with
the conservative Christian movement, stood in World Harvest's pulpit at a
Reformation Ohio meeting and told Mr. Blackwell, who was seated in the front
pew, "You are the kind of leader this state - any state - needs."