Free Republic

If you’re a pastor during this election season, the easy path is to say nothing about politics. You won’t step on anybody’s toes. Nobody will walk out in the middle of your sermon. You won’t lose disgruntled members (and donors!). A few people might ask you to say more about politics, and they will grumble, but they won’t leave the church. You’re safe.Dr. Wayne GrudemBut does God want you to stay silent at this time?I can’t answer that for you. It’s between you and God whether you preach about any political issues at all, and, if you do, which issues...

God created government. So preached Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in the days leading up to the presidential election. Hibbs has joined with nearly 1,600 pastors across the country and about 140 in California in the Pulpit Initiative, a legal effort aimed at protecting the free-speech rights of pastors in the pulpit. Hibbs' sermons in a series called "Politics and Faith" may have been enough to let the church know which candidate he supported. Or at least who he didn't. He preached about politics and Israel. And politics and defending the pre-born. Hibbs was emphatic during an...

If 501(c)(3) organizations were suddenly able to engage in partisan politicking, and donors were able to give on a tax-deductible basis, donors could ostensibly deduct currently non-deductible political donations simply by funneling these monies through churches. Churches would not only pass the collection plate for their religious mission, but churches would also be able to use these tax-deductible donations on behalf of particular candidates. Large churches could bankroll entire political campaigns and receive favorable treatment from those who support them. Politicians could visit with church pastors and lobby them for their campaign support. The lines of mutual respect between church...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that church leaders can keep their tax-exempt status and speak out on social issues. Ad Feedback The decision comes in response to a complaint against a group of Texas pastors, but churches can still not endorse or oppose political candidates. Social and Political Issues from the Pulpit Pastor Wally Sherbon strolls the campus of Regent University each Wednesday, repairing and meditating on his Sunday sermon. But lately, he's also been thinking about what it would mean if he couldn't talk about social and political issues from the pulpit. "It's hard...

The Rev. Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church wants to "open a dialogue" on political preaching. He'll probably get his wish. Booth, a delegate to the Republican National Convention, alerted Americans United for Separation of Church and State to a recent sermon warning followers to oppose Barack Obama for his stance on abortion rights. Booth advised the group that defends church-state separation that he's challenging federal prohibitions on political advocacy from the pulpit. On Wednesday, Americans United asked the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate whether the evangelical church with a following of 150 violated its nonprofit, tax-exempt status with...

Huck’s religious supporters at least made a half-hearted attempt to play by the rules. Not so the good Rev. Wright, although I can’t knock his political savvy: The IRS has revoked only two churches’ tax exemptions in the past 54 years so he might as well put the pedal to the metal and dare them to single out the congregation frequented by America’s first black presidential candidate for special treatment. A review by The Wall Street Journal of 13 sermons at Trinity seen live or through church-recorded DVDs since late December found nine instances of ministers at Trinity appearing to...

In a packed room at The Beacon Drive-In around lunchtime Wednesday, a crowd of about 150 people was listening intently to Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee's stump speech when someone's cell phone rang. Without missing a beat, Huckabee smiled and said, "That's probably Dick Cheney, wanting to take me duck hunting." It was just one of several laughs the Baptist minister received in an hour that was entertaining and, for those who don't know him, informative - and included no less than three specific biblical references. Huckabee wrapped up a two-day tour of South Carolina in Spartanburg on Wednesday, riding...

Hi friends, We have put two of my past sermons on our website so that they might be heard online. Visit the http://www.lifeandlibertyministries.com/audio to listen. More will be added later. Denny

Well, he's more exciting than Al Gore... It was another steamy Sunday morning at the Glory Be AME Church in Baltimore. The Pastor said there was going to be a "different type of speaker" this morning. None of us knew just how different he meant - but God was glorified, and that's all that matters. "Ladies and Gentlemen. Brothers and Sisters. Four years ago, Brother Al Gore spoke from this very pulpit. Now, we all know what happened; those blue eyed devils, the Republicans, stole the Presidential election from us. They tried to take our rights; they tried to send...

When Pastor Chan Chandler proclaimed a few weeks before last November's election that East Waynesville Baptist Church would become a political church, parishioner Ann Stokley says her "jaw dropped to the floor." That the young pastor would call John Kerry supporters out as unfit Christians may not have been that surprising during a heated election in this county of some 60 Southern Baptist steeples nestled in the Appalachians. But Tuesday night, six months after the election - and a week after nine members claim they were kicked out of the church for refusing to vote Republican - Mr. Chandler, a...

WASHINGTON — As one pastor resigned this week amid a firestorm over the role of politics in his Baptist church, a U.S. congressman continues to try to make it easier for religious leaders and their congregations to engage in partisan political activity on the church's time and dime. Rev. Chan Chandler (search) resigned his post as pastor of the Waynesville Baptist Church (search) in North Carolina on Tuesday after nine members accused him of leading other members to push them out because they didn't agree with his pro-Republican views. Chandler has denied claims that the nine were voted out because...

Local clergy don't show the same support as U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn on legislation that would allow politics to be mentioned in church sermons without fear of losing tax-exempt status. Many church leaders from the Cherokee County area are not in favor of "The Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act," H.R. 235, which Coburn claims would help preserve "our freedom." Coburn expressed his strong support of the bill, written by U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., and said Americans are required "to defend the right of moral and spiritual leaders to speak out on issues of justice and morality without...

Returning freedom of speech to our nation's Houses of Worship.HR 235 was introduced to liberate clergy from the muzzle imposed by the absolute ban on all speech that may be regarded as "political," and thereby enable them to speak out on all vital and moral and political questions of the day. It will free houses of worship from the fear and anxiety and uncertainty created by the threat that the IRS will impose financial penalties or revoke tax-exempt status altogether. KEY POINTSTo Understanding the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act Above all else, HR 235 is about recognizing the...

Democratic Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards came to town yesterday, visited Allen Temple A.M.E., and had Rev. Donald Jordan say this:"I know he is going to be president of the United States," Rev. Donald Jordan told a cheering capacity congregation of 1,200. "The Republicans have no one who can compare to him. I ask your support of him."

Mixing religion and politics can spark controversy. Nonetheless, church leaders have a moral obligation to speak out on certain issues. So, faith and politics will, at times, intersect. But what constitutes the church's proper role? Consider two recent examples. As Newsday reported last week, the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton appeared with Sen. John Kerry at the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Miami. Some 300 parishioners, flapping "Kerry-Edwards" fans, were urged to vote Democratic. Meanwhile, various Catholic bishops have raised questions about the moral legitimacy of voting for a candidate favoring abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Kerry, who...

A month ago, the Internal Revenue Service mailed a letter to the First Baptist Church of College Hill inquiring about a visit two years ago by Janet Reno, then a Democratic candidate for governor. The letter caused the Rev. Abraham Brown to move a scheduled political forum from the historically black church. Why? Because if the IRS found the church was supporting or opposing a political candidate, it could revoke the church's tax-exempt status. No church in the United States has ever lost its tax-exempt status, but in a campaign season when the presidential candidates are reaching out to church...

NEW YORK (Talon News) -- A pilot asked passengers on an American Airlines flight to raise their hands if they were Christians, telling them they were "crazy" if they weren't, some of the passengers said Monday. Passenger Jen Dorsey told CNN, "We were just at the beginning of our flight. The pilot came on to greet everyone and give his comments for the morning, and he said he'd recently been on a mission trip, and he'd like all the Christians to please raise their hands." Also speaking on CNN, passenger Karla Austin said the pilot commented, "'If you are a...

Houses of Worship Free Speech Act Must Be Passed! Summary: North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones (R) is pushing for passage of H.R. 235, the Houses of Worship Free Speech Act. He currently has 120 co-sponsors. Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) is urging passage of H.R. 235, a bill that will overturn an injustice that has been done to pastors since 1954. That year, then-Senator Lyndon Johnson inserted language into the IRS code that restricted what pastors could say on political issues from the pulpit. Johnson added this language to seek revenge upon conservatives in his state who opposed his re-election. Rev....

Many of you are probably already aware that for the last 50 years freedom of speech in America's churches has been stifled. Thanks to a new bill gaining support in the House of Representatives, that may change. In 1954 Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson championed an amendment to the IRS Code that banned any place of worship from overtly supporting a political candidate. The punishment for such a heinous crime was, and is, the loss of tax-exempt status. Originally voted down last October, the "Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act" (H.R. 235) hopes to remove the free speech restrictions placed...

Restore Freedom of Speech to America's Pulpits ISSUE: Ever heard of the First Amendment?Apparently, it doesn't apply if you're in church. There are limits to what your preacher can say from the pulpit -- limits placed there by the government. Now, a bill introduced in Congress seeks to change the law. If a church speaks out on issues that the IRS deems to be too political, it risks losing its tax-exempt status. But the "Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act" (H.R. 235) would repeal the authority of the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax status of a church,...