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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
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September 2004 |
Leaders urge caution in political activities
By Linda Green, UMNS
United Methodist churches responding to the Republican Party's request for their church membership directories could be setting themselves up for charges of invasion of privacy and potentially jeopardizing their tax-exempt status, say denominational officials.
Numerous media began reporting July 4 on the Bush-Cheney campaign's plan to use church rosters to mobilize religious conservative voters and to organize support among congregations.
Reports said the Bush-Cheney re-election strategy asks religious volunteers to help identify churches that could be organized by the campaign and to talk to pastors about conducting voter registration drives, distributing voter guides and other campaign materials in churches and conducting get-out-the-vote efforts during Sunday services. The strategies are included in a guide for volunteers listing duties and deadlines for activities targeting religious voters.
Reactions from faith groups about the campaign's desire for church lists have run the gamut from being offended or appalled to amenable. Numerous groups, including the American United for Separation of Church and State, call the campaign strategy a violation of the separation of church and state.
The Rev. Eliezer Valentin-Castanon, director of civil and human rights at the United Methodist Board of Church and Society in Washington, told United Methodist News Service that since a "party" was seeking information from churches, "there is no violation of church and state. It is a candidate looking for information. Parties have the right to ask."
But, he said, churches will have to decide how to handle the request because not everyone in the congregation will be agreeable to a church handing over its directory. "It is important for churches to know that if they provide the information from the directories, without members being aware, they might be liable because it is a privacy matter."
Saying the release of church membership lists is a potential violation of the separation of church and state is James Allen, associate general counsel for the church-wide Council on Finance and Administration. He said the Bush campaign initiative seeks "to encourage church members and churches to walk a very fine legal line." If churches participate in political activities and "if the church should inadvertently cross the line by assisting a candidate, it could endanger its tax-exempt status."
"A church should be extremely cautious about assisting any candidate or party," Allen said.
One person saying that the Bush-Cheney efforts do violate the separation is Charlotte Coffelt, a member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Houston, and a board member of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
"It is a violation of the separation of church and state to politicize the church," she said, noting that her group has been tracking churches that have been engaged in politicking for decades.
Coffelt, who is also a candidate for the Texas State House of Representatives, said she has no problem with members of faith groups talking to each other and their neighbors on their own about candidates. "Under no circumstances should a campaign think of using church directories as part of the campaign, because it is a violation and churches could jeopardize their tax exempt status."
Coffelt said she "would not dream of taking my political campaign material into the foyer of any United Methodist church in the district in which I am running. My campaign would not use church directories to distribute campaign material."
InfoServ, the United Methodist Church's toll-free answer line, has fielded calls from church members concerned about political parties contacting them after getting their names from directories. They also wonder about the effect on churches' tax-exempt status.
As each presidential campaign season begins, questions arise about the role of churches in campaigns. On June 10, the Internal Revenue Service sent a letter to the major political parties warning them that certain activities could endanger the tax-exempt status of non-profit organizations, including United Methodist and most other churches.
Last updated on 08/23/2004