what about PASTORS and CHURCHES? 501 (c)(3) Here is info ....

[austinchick]

found it on another Candidate's forum

For those interested, here is the first page of the document, "GUIDELINES for POLITICAL ACTIVITIES by CHURCHES and PASTORS."

James Madison Center for Free Speech
GUIDELINES for March 2006
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
by CHURCHES AND PASTORS
_________________________
by James Bopp, Jr. General Counsel
James Madison Center for Free Speech
in association with the Alliance Defense Fund

As the 2006 elections approach, and various groups begin again their intimidation tactics in an effort to silence churches and pastors about the great social and moral issues of our time,
churches and pastors need clear guidelines for permissible political activities. In response to that need, the James Madison Center for Free Speech and the Alliance Defense Fund are providing these guidelines3 and will respond free of charge to inquiries by churches, pastors, and priests on permissible political activities through informal e-mails, telephone advice and legal opinion letters.* The Alliance Defense Fund has provided a grant to the James Madison Center for Free Speech for this purpose.

These guidelines summarize the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act and

James Madison Center for Free Speech, 1 South 6th Street, Terre Haute, IN 47807, voice
812-232-2434, fax 812-235-3685, http://www.jamesmadisoncenter.org e-mail
madisoncenter@aol.com.

Alliance Defense Fund, 15333 North Prima Road, Suite 165, Scottsdale, AZ 85260,
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org.

The James Madison Center for Free Speech encourages you to copy and share these
guidelines with anyone who may benefit from their use.

*Requests for a formal opinion letter involving substantial legal research are not covered
by the grant. If a request falls into this category, the requesting pastor or priest will be notified assoon as possible so that appropriate arrangements may be made to answer this request.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the1 Government for a redress of grievances.



Here' more info from Liberty Counsel:

http://www.lc.org/resources/pastors_chu ... litics.htm
http://lc.org/index.cfm?PID=15257



GUIDELINES for POLITICAL ACTIVITIES by CHURCHES and PASTORS. This is put out by the James Madison Center for Free Speech, funded by a grant from the Alliance Defense Fund.

http://www.citizenlink.org/images/ivote ... slegal.pdf
(Note: March 2006 version is updated and current.)

This is a must read for all 501(c)(3) organizations. :

ACTIVITY
Endorse a canidate for political office? CHURCH: NO PASTOR: Yes

Allow candidates to speak on church
premises? CHURCH: Yes PASTOR: N/A

Rent list of church members to candidate
for fundraising purposes (at fair market
value)? CHURCH: Yes PASTOR: N/A

Distribute Voter Guides CHURCH: Yes PASTOR: Yes

Engage in voter registration, voter identification, get out the votet, voter education ? CHURCH: Yes PASTOR: Yes

(sorry, the examples are a bit cramped & confusing..)


Friends, this is a great tool to help inform and encourage pastors, churches and non-profit organizations to get involved, to let their voices be heard, and to help mobilize the Evangelical Christian vote.

[weatherbill]

CHURCHES ARE ALREADY TAX FREE. THEY DON'T NEED to file to become a 501-c-3 becasue they are already a non profit by the 508-c-1-a rules! Churches have been deceived into filing to become a 501-c-3 which puts them under federal jurisdiction....... the church needs to awaken to this!

[Mark]

CHURCHES ARE ALREADY TAX FREE. THEY DON'T NEED to file to become a 501-c-3 becasue they are already a non profit by the 508-c-1-a rules! Churches have been deceived into filing to become a 501-c-3 which puts them under federal jurisdiction....... the church needs to awaken to this!

My church HAS been awake for a LONG time now, but no one has shown interest.

I have been saying for months now that I have a non profit tax exempt Religious Organization/Church
that we could work through which can accept donations that are even tax deductible.

And no one seems to care. No one can see the potential.

I don't have the funds to do these things myself.

I would need donations and volunteers to help create and place ads and other potential educational projects.

I ask again, does ANYONE understand the potential? Would ANYONE like to help a Church do these things?

.

[Mark]

found it on another Candidate's forum

For those interested, here is the first page of the document, "GUIDELINES for POLITICAL ACTIVITIES by CHURCHES and PASTORS."

James Madison Center for Free Speech
GUIDELINES for March 2006
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
by CHURCHES AND PASTORS
_________________________
by James Bopp, Jr. General Counsel
James Madison Center for Free Speech
in association with the Alliance Defense Fund

As the 2006 elections approach, and various groups begin again their intimidation tactics in an effort to silence churches and pastors about the great social and moral issues of our time,
churches and pastors need clear guidelines for permissible political activities. In response to that need, the James Madison Center for Free Speech and the Alliance Defense Fund are providing these guidelines3 and will respond free of charge to inquiries by churches, pastors, and priests on permissible political activities through informal e-mails, telephone advice and legal opinion letters.* The Alliance Defense Fund has provided a grant to the James Madison Center for Free Speech for this purpose.

These guidelines summarize the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act and

James Madison Center for Free Speech, 1 South 6th Street, Terre Haute, IN 47807, voice
812-232-2434, fax 812-235-3685, http://www.jamesmadisoncenter.org e-mail
madisoncenter@aol.com.

Alliance Defense Fund, 15333 North Prima Road, Suite 165, Scottsdale, AZ 85260,
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org.

The James Madison Center for Free Speech encourages you to copy and share these
guidelines with anyone who may benefit from their use.

*Requests for a formal opinion letter involving substantial legal research are not covered
by the grant. If a request falls into this category, the requesting pastor or priest will be notified assoon as possible so that appropriate arrangements may be made to answer this request.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the1 Government for a redress of grievances.



Here' more info from Liberty Counsel:

http://www.lc.org/resources/pastors_chu ... litics.htm
http://lc.org/index.cfm?PID=15257



GUIDELINES for POLITICAL ACTIVITIES by CHURCHES and PASTORS. This is put out by the James Madison Center for Free Speech, funded by a grant from the Alliance Defense Fund.

http://www.citizenlink.org/images/ivote ... slegal.pdf
(Note: March 2006 version is updated and current.)

This is a must read for all 501(c)(3) organizations. :

ACTIVITY
Endorse a canidate for political office? CHURCH: NO PASTOR: Yes

Allow candidates to speak on church
premises? CHURCH: Yes PASTOR: N/A

Rent list of church members to candidate
for fundraising purposes (at fair market
value)? CHURCH: Yes PASTOR: N/A

Distribute Voter Guides CHURCH: Yes PASTOR: Yes

Engage in voter registration, voter identification, get out the votet, voter education ? CHURCH: Yes PASTOR: Yes

(sorry, the examples are a bit cramped & confusing..)


Friends, this is a great tool to help inform and encourage pastors, churches and non-profit organizations to get involved, to let their voices be heard, and to help mobilize the Evangelical Christian vote.

Thanks for the well documented info. I haven't seen those links before.

I'd love to do those type of things.

Especially the issue oriented ads and guides, but I'd need the donations to do so since I don't have the personal funds to do it with.
One positive indeed is that contributions are tax deductible.

I believe a LOT of progress could be made by just presenting the issues and candidate positions
and letting people make up their own minds on who to vote for. Probably 95% or more would choose Ron.

[kgiese]

Churches take advantage of Americans. Money is funneled up. They don't pay their fair share of taxes even though they are wealthier then many of the world's wealthiest corporations. They buy fancy churches, land, more churches, art, and horde gold and treasure. Churches got tax breaks because they are supposed to maintain a level of poverty. Churches may do some good, but they are fundamentally bad. All wars are fueled by religions. Just because you call something by two names, you are still referring to the one God. The world figured this out at one point, before it is reflected in the story of the tower of Babel. What I see is church leaders buying houses, cars, and bigger churches, and fancier clothes, so the flock can be better than the poor people. While you step over that beggar to pay homage to yourself feel good. Feel great knowing the church loves you.

[Mark]

Churches take advantage of Americans. Money is funneled up. They don't pay their fair share of taxes even though they are wealthier then many of the world's wealthiest corporations. They buy fancy churches, land, more churches, art, and horde gold and treasure. Churches got tax breaks because they are supposed to maintain a level of poverty. Churches may do some good, but they are fundamentally bad. All wars are fueled by religions. Just because you call something by two names, you are still referring to the one God. The world figured this out at one point, before it is reflected in the story of the tower of Babel. What I see is church leaders buying houses, cars, and bigger churches, and fancier clothes, so the flock can be better than the poor people. While you step over that beggar to pay homage to yourself feel good. Feel great knowing the church loves you.

That's quite an all-encompassing statement you've made there.

If you're a man, how would you like it if I assigned all of the evil things men do to you as a man?

All men do evil things ect.

Not all Churches take advantage of Americans, not all are fundamentally bad ect.

Maybe you only see what you want to see.

I don't own a house. I don't even have a car that runs. I haven't bought clothes for months and months.

Yet, I've had an established Church for over 9 years.

Jesus addressed those who use God as a means to profit and manipulate people for evil, and their ultimate fate will not be pleasant.

[1776Patriot]

CHURCHES ARE ALREADY TAX FREE. THEY DON'T NEED to file to become a 501-c-3 becasue they are already a non profit by the 508-c-1-a rules! Churches have been deceived into filing to become a 501-c-3 which puts them under federal jurisdiction....... the church needs to awaken to this!

Are you familiar with the Indianapolis Baptist Temple? They tried resisting the IRS in their own way, they lost. It did nothing to deter them and they say only helped them, but still... THe IRS said they had to pay taxes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana...Baptist_Temple

[tonesforjonesbones]

Here's the way I look at it. Churches must RESIST being tax exempt..because it allows the government to control. If they are tax exempt...the government will force them into marrying gays because the courts are now ruling against the will of the people and granting gay marriage. If I had a church I would RESIST tax exempt..so I could tell the government to go to hades. Then you can campaign for anyone you want. Tones

[heavenlyboy34]

Here's the way I look at it. Churches must RESIST being tax exempt..because it allows the government to control. If they are tax exempt...the government will force them into marrying gays because the courts are now ruling against the will of the people and granting gay marriage. If I had a church I would RESIST tax exempt..so I could tell the government to go to hades. Then you can campaign for anyone you want. Tones

We agree again! Nice to see another of your good posts, dear Tonesy! ~hugs~

HB34

[williamrist]

I believe that the 501c3 is deceptive, because it places the government and IRS,
over the headship of Jesus Christ, and so a church should never serve two masters. Render on to Ceasar the things that are Ceasars, and to God the things that are Gods. The 501c3 was set up and designed to control what is said at the
pulpit, while at the same time it would give certain pagan agencies the ability to
control who gets voted into office, as well as to remind people to forget about using their God, given Constitutional Rights, called Freedom of Speech. Churches were already tax exempt. Thanks to Lydon B. Johnson,his deceptive idea of a 501c3, he uses his personal idea to control Freedom of Speech. I would tell pastors today that if you want your freedom back, dispose of the 501c3, and challenge the
Lydon B. Johnsons deceptive 501c3 in court. After all Lyndon B. Johnson, would have a difficult time defending himself, since he is no longer alive. The power comes from the people not the government. If God is with us then who can be against us.

[angelatc]

CHURCHES ARE ALREADY TAX FREE. THEY DON'T NEED to file to become a 501-c-3 becasue they are already a non profit by the 508-c-1-a rules! Churches have been deceived into filing to become a 501-c-3 which puts them under federal jurisdiction....... the church needs to awaken to this!

Yepper