As political races and debate stages heat up with so many issues, and policy decisions at stake, I wanted to find some clarity as to the acceptable activities that churches and pastors can use to influence public policy. I have often heard that churches, religious organizations, pastors, and religious leaders cannot engage in public policy debates without losing their tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). The church’s First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution and the provisions of limitations of tax-exempt status coupled with the lack of understanding have prevented many religious organizations and leaders from becoming involved in public policy even when the public debates are contrary to the church’s teachings.
Churches and religious organizations do have defined prohibited actions along with defined permissible actions which allow churches and leaders to influence public policy. The defined prohibited actions are “(a) a pastor or church, in an official capacity, may not endorse or campaign for political candidates. Additionally, religious organizations and their leaders are prohibited from distributing political materials on behalf of a candidate, (b) a pastor or church may not contribute church funds to a political candidate, political party, or political action committee, and (c) a pastor or church may not allow a political candidate to solicit campaign funds from the pulpit.”
The defined permissible actions for churches and pastors to influence public policy are “(a) a pastor may, in his or her personal capacity, endorse a political candidate and/or campaign for that candidate, (b) a pastor may preach about or otherwise utilize religious teachings about social issues, no matter how controversial, even if there is specific legislation being considered on the issue, (c) a pastor or church may produce non-partisan, educational materials on public policy issues, (d) a pastor or church may circulate the non-partisan, educational materials published by another 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization, (e) a church may conduct non-partisan voter registration or identification drives, (f) a church may conduct non-partisan “get out the vote” drives, and the pastor may encourage the congregation to vote, (g) a church may allow a political candidate to address the congregation provided that the political opponent is also provided an invitation to address the congregation at another time, (h) a church may host a candidate forum provided that all candidates are invited, (i) a pastor or church may support or oppose the political appointment of executive branch officials, and (j) a pastor or church may support or oppose the appointment of judicial branch officials.”
Churches and religious organizations simply do not lose their ability to influence public policy by operating in a tax exempted status under the Internal Revenue Code. As there are limitations to their influence ability, they should remain vigilant to interact in nonpartisan educational activities and matters of public policy. For additional information on this topic visit www.irs.gov.
The 2024 elections will soon be here and now is the time to educate yourselves concerning the issues and matters which affect our inalienable rights and freedoms. A well-informed voter is priceless to the ongoing rights and freedoms we enjoy. I will leave you with that thought as this concludes this week’s issue of The Straight Truth With Mary Ann Hutton.