Not could, it will.
Baptist church targeted for 'anti-gay' event
Homosexual activists file complaint threatening nonprofit status
Posted: May 29, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Homosexual-rights activists filed a complaint against a Baptist church that held an event to support a proposed state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Montanans for Families and Fairness, a coalition that includes Planned Parenthood and homosexual groups, charges Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church in Helen, Mont., failed to report to the state commissioner it used its nonprofit resources to support the proposed constitutional ban, according to the Billings Gazette.
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The situation is under review by the state political practices commission, which could result in fines and loss of the church's nonprofit status with the IRS for engaging in political advocacy.
At the church event last Sunday, petitions supporting the ban in Montana were circulated.
The initiative will be placed on the November ballot if 41,000 voters sign, the paper said.
"They made an expense on behalf of this thing," Rob Hill, campaign director for the coalition that filed the complaint, told the Gazette. "We believe they have to file with the commissioner's office. They haven't done that."
The church's lead pastor, Rev. B.G. Stumberg, said he was suprised to hear about the complaint Wednesday through a reporter.
"I don't know what they're talking about," Stumberg told the Billings paper after hearing details. "We haven't given a cent. The only thing we've done is we've spoken out for marriage."
The Sunday event featured a broadcast with national leaders such as James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship.
The pastor said petitions supporting the ban were passed around and signed. He insisted the church did nothing wrong.
The activist groups contend, however, the church should have reported its contributions to the ballot initiative to the state by Wednesday.
Under state law, argues the coalition's Hill, the church became an incidental ballot committee when it authorized expenditures for the event, the Gazette said.
Therefore, it needed to file disclosure reports with the state no later than five days after the church authorized those expenses.
The church had to pay for access to the simulcast event.
"This church used its resources to plan the event, gather the audience, provide a multimedia event and then petition its congregation, all in support of the discrimination amendment," Karl Olson, chairman of the coalition, told the Gazette.