Posted on 06/30/2004 8:46:52 AM PDT by rface
Starting next month, the person seated next to you in church might not be there for the prayer, the fellowship or even the word of God.
Instead, about 100 volunteers will be attending services in Johnson County to look for overt election-year politicking from the pulpit, which could violate federal law.
It is the latest volley in an ongoing struggle between conservative and moderate political forces in Kansas. The issue of gays and marriage provided the trigger.
Upset at the Kansas Legislature for defeating a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the Rev. Jerry Johnston, pastor of First Family Church in Overland Park, invited area clergy members to a meeting this month. About 100 came, he said. Churches, he said, must get more involved in politics. “God calls a minister to speak on moral issues,” Johnston said.
Concerned that religious leaders might stir up support for their favored legislative candidates, the Mainstream Coalition, a group that seeks to preserve the separation of church and state, decided to respond.
Volunteers were recruited. Letters are being mailed to more than 400 houses of worship in Johnson County reminding them of Internal Revenue Service rules on electioneering and telling them that their services may be monitored.
Johnston and other ministers should keep partisan politics out of the pulpit, said Caroline McKnight, coalition executive director. “His job is to lead his flock by setting an example … not by bringing the smoke-filled room into his sanctuary,” she said.
Mainstream Coalition volunteers, like all visitors, are welcome at First Family, Johnston said. The church, he said, will not endorse or attack individual politicians during services. “Are we going to violate the law? Of course not,” he said. “We're not rabid, crazy fanatics.”
The involvement of religious groups in politics has evolved into a heated issue. Many groups steer clear of electioneering. Many immerse themselves in issues and candidates, with their leaders speaking out and trying to motivate.
University of Kansas religious studies professor Tim Miller said churches used to avoid politics . That began changing about 25 years ago, he said. For ministers to hold meetings like the one in Johnson County, he said, indicates an effort to reach out. “Of course, you try to broaden your base,” Miller said. “That's part of politics.”
Some churches have become a campaign force for conservative causes and Republicans. First Family, which has about 3,000 members, is conservative and could be influential.
But churches oftentimes do too little, Johnston said. “Many preachers don't know anything about politics; many don't know who their representatives and senators are,” said Johnston, who added that he should have gotten more involved in the past.
Churches should encourage their members to act, he said. During July, he said, his church and others in Johnson County will hold forums for candidates, register voters and educate people on the issues.
“We have to lead the way,” he said.
Already Johnston has been distributing a pamphlet containing background information on incumbent state legislators from the area. If they supported the amendment against gay marriage, the word YES appears by their picture. If they voted against it, the word NO appears.
In Johnson County, where conservatives and moderates within the GOP have feuded for years, churches and clergy could potentially influence an election.
Consider the re-election campaign of Rep. John Ballou of Gardner, whose 43rd District covers the southwest corner of Johnson County and who voted against the gay marriage amendment.
Churches, he said, will help turn out voters against him. “They're after a number of us on this, they're motivated, and they're mad,” said Ballou, a Republican.
His Aug. 3 primary opponent, Mike Kiegerl of Olathe, favors the amendment and hopes for support from religious organizations. “I will talk to ministers if I have the opportunity,” he said.
But churches, he added, should not mention the legislative race during services. “I am a believer in separation of church and state,” Kiegerl said.
Under IRS rules, tax-exempt groups like religious organizations must not participate in political campaigns for or against a candidate . Some political activities are permitted, such as voter education or registration conducted in a nonpartisan manner. Alleged violations could bring federal scrutiny and possible loss of tax-exempt status.
The Mainstream Coalition will ask its volunteers to report their observations after each visit to a house of worship. If a serious breach of rules is found, a complaint might be filed with the IRS, the group said.
They won't find any violations at Westside Family Church in Shawnee, said its pastor, the Rev. Dave Cox, one of the clergy who met with Johnston.
“We're well aware of our restrictions,” he said. “We're also well aware of our liberties.”
In the past, the church has done “a little bit” to encourage involvement in politics, Cox said. Next month, he said, the church will do more. “We're going to try to ratchet up,” he said.
Voter registration will be one activity during July. But there will be no endorsements of candidates. “We're not a political church; we're never going to be a political church,” Cox said. “We have a mission to reach people for Jesus Christ.”
good to see another 100 people attending Church.
I'll have to do a little looking into what "the Mainstream Coalition" is. and I bet it's anything but mainstream
We need to go after the KCStar.
Churches need to stop the fearful cringing and start speaking out against what is wrong in society. Throw the tax-exept status out and start doing what christians have been called to do.
The problem is American churches like their pretty edifices too much to actually minster and rebuke. We'll get to answer for that too.
We batter ban the Dems from speaking at churches. A favorite pastime of theirs!
Mainstream Coalition is anything but, you are correct.
http://www.mainstreamcoalition.org/
Pro gun control
Pro abortion
Anti relgious symbol display - hmm, the rest of the first amendment reads, "or prevent the free exercise thereof". Guess that doesn't apply here for some wacky reason.
Crazy lefties that try to appear "mainstream".
tSG
http://www.thesupergenius.com
When running as a Republican precinct candidate, the LameStream crowd sent out post cards suggesting that I (their opposition candidate)was "dangerous" and did not represent true Republican values. They also suggested that if elected, candidates not supported by them would work to subvert the Kansas Constitution.
They are mainstream if you believe in gun control, hate crimes, banning all mention of God in schools, making religious displays illegal on all government property.
...all the while, wiping flecks of foam from his lips and glancing about with wild, reddened eyes...
What about Democrats campaigning in black churches? Who's monitoring them? Hello? Hello?
The minister should preach about the damnation of homosexuals, but leave out any talk of who to vote for.
Stick to the facts about the deadly lifestyle and their various forms of death through out world history.
There's nothing wrong with informing the masses about Biblical truths and wisdoms. That what Churches are for. It's their job to teach.
It is not that the church is getting into politics but that politics is getting into the church.
Removing the tax exemption from a church is a very much a two-edged sword. It will certainly hurt the receipts in the offering plate, but the church is then free to speak on all sorts of issues. The assumption is that the donations will dry up if they are not tax-deductible. On the other hand, if a church is freed to speak loudly about political issues, the membership may increase offsetting receipt losses from loss of tax deductibility.
I've been working on them. Maybe we should coordinate.
I've taken a few of their writers to task (Lewis Diguid) but they never seem to print my letters.
Yep. Many have let the God of liberalism, Satan himself, through the front doors. They're now paying the price with their eternal souls.
Mainstream coalition is a bunch of lefties and rinos. In Kansas, people decided it was hard to be elected as a Democrats and so we have lots of rinos. The MC's main goal is for more babies to be killed but separation of church and state is their second goal. Ironically, they hang out at the Village Prespertarian Church or at least one of the main charter members was the pastor there. Of course, what he is doing is for the good of humanity and isn't political. Unfortunately, they have the support of Steve Rose who owns and publishes the only real newspaper in Johnson County. He's the biggest Rino of the bunch... although he will probably endorse GWB.... he also, sadly, is a Dennis Moore supporter.
I'm sure these are the same type of people who don't raise an eyebrow when Al Gore holds a fundraiser at a Buddhist Temple, or when Democratic candidates speak from the pulpit of black churches.
Oh, great. This is just like these hypocrites. It's the looney religious left that combines religion and politics. How many conservative candidates have you seen addressing church congregations. WE see the Dumbocrats all the time at church services, especially black churches.
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