All Saints' rector also demands that the agency clarify its findings after closing its probe into an antiwar sermon in 2004.
By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times
September 23, 2007
The rector of a liberal Pasadena church today demanded an apology and a clarification from the Internal Revenue Service after being notified that the agency had closed a lengthy investigation of the church over a 2004 antiwar sermon -- but also found that the same sermon constituted illegal intervention in a political campaign.
The Rev. J. Edwin Bacon Jr., rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, told congregants during morning services today that he and other officials were relieved that the church no longer faced the imminent loss of its tax-exempt status, but were bewildered by the IRS' seemingly contradictory conclusions about the case.
All Saints has "no more guidance about the IRS rules now than when we started this process over two long years ago," Bacon said. He said the lack of clarity from the IRS in its recent letter to the church would have a continuing "chilling effect" on the freedom of clerics from all faiths to preach about core moral values and such issues as war and poverty.
It’s all here …
All Saints rector to address IRS probe
By Janette Williams
Whittier (CA) Daily News
9/22/2007
PASADENA - At his sermons Sunday, All Saints Rector Ed Bacon will address what the church calls "new developments" in a federal probe of whether a guest preacher's anti-war sermon before the 2004 presidential election was politicking that jeopardized the church's tax-exempt status.
No one at All Saints Episcopal Church was sure how the 2004 sermon attracted the Internal Revenue Service's notice, and more than six months ago the church filed a freedom of information request to find out.
"We had a response (from the IRS) recently and that is part of what we will be revealing," church spokesman Keith Holeman said Friday. "They had only recently, about a week ago, said they received the materials. So it was a long wait between the time of the request and the response."
It’s all here …
IRS Probe in Pasadena Church Political Endorsement Allegation
Church's Tax-Exempt Status Under Fire
KABC-TV and City News Service
PASADENA, Sept. 23, 2007 (CNS) - New developments are expected to be revealed Sunday in the case of a Pasadena Episcopal church being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for allegedly endorsing a political candidate during the 2004 presidential election.
After talking with the congregation, the Rev. J. Edwin Bacon is expected to hold a news conference to announce the new developments following 11:15 a.m. services, said the church's Keith Holeman.
All Saints Church's tax-exempt status was jeopardized by the IRS investigation. The tax code prohibits churches and other tax-exempt institutions from endorsing or opposing political candidates.
It’s all here …
Comments