THE PULPIT INITIATIVE1 …

                                        THE PULPIT INITIATIVE1
                                     FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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                Ephesians 6:19-20 -- "that I may open my mouth boldly . . . , as I ought to speak."


    ·   What is the Pulpit Initiative?

             o The Alliance Defense Fund's (ADF) "Pulpit Initiative" is a strategic litigation plan. Through
               strategic lawsuits against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), ADF seeks to restore the right of
               each pastor to speak Scriptural truth from the pulpit about moral, social, governmental, and other
               issues without fear of losing his church's tax exempt status.

    ·   What kind of restriction does the IRS currently place on a pastor's speech?

             o Churches are exempt from federal income taxes under the IRS tax code, but only if they do not
               engage in speech about candidates for office. The IRS states that churches "are absolutely
               prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign
               on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. The prohibition
               applies to all campaigns including campaigns at the federal, state and local level." The tax code
               places candidates for government office beyond the reach of a pastor speaking from the pulpit.

    ·   When did this restriction begin?

             o This restriction began in 1954, when Lyndon B. Johnson, a senator from Texas at the time,
               proposed the restriction as an amendment to the § 501(c)(3) tax exemption for charitable
               organizations. He did this to keep two nonprofit organizations in Texas from campaigning
               against him, but the amendment has also had the effect of restricting the right of pastors to speak
               for or against candidates from the pulpit. From our nation's founding until 1954, opposition to
               candidates by tax-exempt churches was commonplace.

    ·   How will churches be involved in the initiative?

             o Participating churches will exercise their constitutional right to preach a sermon on "Pulpit
               Freedom Sunday," September 28, 2008. That sermon will evaluate the current candidates for
               office based on Scripture or church teaching and will make specific recommendations based on

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  ADF does not endorse or oppose political parties or candidates, nor does it urge allegiance to any political party or candidate. ADF
does believe that churches and pastors have the freedom to plainly speak Scriptural truth about the qualifications of candidates for
public office regardless of the candidate's political affiliation.
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  King James Version.

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           that evaluation. If the IRS responds by investigating the church for the sermon, churches who are
           investigated may serve as clients for lawsuits against the IRS in federal court. The ADF will
           represent these churches for free and will seek to demonstrate that the IRS restriction on pastors'
           speech violates the U.S. Constitution.

·   What kind of commitment is required to participate?

       o Each client church will exercise their constitutional right to speak freely from the pulpit. Each
         pastor will prepare and deliver a sermon on September 28, 2008 evaluating the current
         candidates for office in light of Scripture and church teaching and make specific
         recommendations based on that evaluation. Should the IRS investigate the church, the church
         may then participate as a client in a lawsuit against the IRS and will assist the ADF in winning
         the lawsuit by communicating with the ADF and following counsel's advice concerning
         litigation strategy.

·   What are the risks of being involved in the initiative?

       o If a lawsuit is unsuccessful, the IRS could impose one of two tax consequences on the church.
         First, the IRS could levy an "excise" tax against the church. This is a tax imposed directly on the
         speech activity that violates the IRS speech restriction. An excise tax would be difficult for the
         IRS to calculate and would probably not be very great in amount (i.e. the amount of electricity
         for the time of the sermon). Second, the IRS could revoke a church's tax exempt status for a
         period of time. Under the tax code, churches are automatically tax exempt as long as they do not
         violate the IRS speech restriction. An argument could be made that a church may only lose its
         tax exempt status for the specific time period the IRS speech restriction was violated (i.e. the one
         day on which the sermon was given). Even if tax exempt status is revoked, a church may once
         again be automatically considered tax exempt under the tax code if it agreesd to abide by the IRS
         speech restriction.

·   Wouldn't a temporary loss of tax exempt status have a drastic impact on our church?

       o Most likely, a temporary loss of tax exempt status would have very little impact on the church.
         Only "income" can be taxed by the IRS, but all donations to the church are "gifts," which are not
         considered income under the tax code. Therefore, there may be no tax consequences for the
         church at all. Only church "income" from other non-gift-related sources, such as business-
         related income, is subject to federal income taxation. For most churches this would be a small
         amount, if any.

·   Wouldn't a temporary loss of tax exempt status have a drastic impact on the taxes of our church
    members?

       o Only those church members who "itemize" their deductions (roughly 30%) could be affected by
         the loss of tax exempt status. Those who take the "standard" deduction (roughly 70%) would not
         be affected at all because they do not itemize their contributions to the church as deductions.
         There is an argument to be made that those who "itemize" may still consider their contributions
         tax deductible as churches are automatically tax exempt under the Internal Revenue Code. For
         instance, if a church loses its tax exempt status for the pastor speaking from the pulpit, there is an
         argument to be made that because the church is automatically exempt under the Code, the tax
         exempt status is only lost for the day the sermon was preached and any contributions made at

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                 other times would still be deductible. It is important to note that this argument has not been
                 tested and professional advice should be sought before claiming any deduction for itemization.

    ·   What are the benefits of the initiative?

            o The goal of the initiative is to restore the right of pastors to speak freely from the pulpit, even for
              or against a candidate for office if they so choose, without fear of censorship by the government
              or worrying about jeopardizing their church's tax exempt status. Where a lawsuit is successful,
              all churches in that court's jurisdiction could once again speak out according to their faith about
              candidates. Through the courage of individual churches, freedoms of speech and religion will be
              restored to many more.

    ·   Is the Pulpit Initiative right for every church?

            o Some churches and pastors feel a great burden to address candidates for office from the pulpit in
              light of Scripture while other churches and pastors feel less of a burden to do so. Obviously,
              those churches and pastors who are heavily burdened about this issue may want to participate
              with ADF in the pulpit initiative. The pulpit initiative may not be right for every church and no
              church or pastor should feel compelled to participate. Participation in the initiative requires that
              the church and pastor both be comfortable with the benefits and the risks of the project. Each
              pastor should also ensure that his church's leadership is comfortable with the project and
              supportive of the pastor's involvement before participating in the initiative.




IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: Any tax advice contained in this communication was not written and is not intended to be used
for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties imposed by the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending any
transaction or matter addressed herein.

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