Does The Church Need To Hold Its Mouth Right?

VirtueOnline1 points the reader to a report that King's Glory Fellowship Association, a Christian church in Calgary Canada, has lost its charitable status. Reported in a "National Post" article entitled "Advocacy Costly For Church - Fellowship Loses Tax Status As Charity"2;

"the Kings Glory Fellowship Association, a nondenominational Protestant group, was told by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that for several reasons, including a lack of clarity on how it spends it money, they could no longer issue charitable receipts. But the letter highlighted that the group spent more than 10% of its time on 'nonpartisan political activities and therefore strayed into activities outside its stated purpose. 'We note … the members of the Board of Directors espouse strong negative views about sensitive and controversial issues, which may also be viewed as political, such as abortion, homosexuality, divorce, etc.'"

Of course, this is only a problem in our ultra-liberal neighbor to the north, eh? Not so! Consider:

That "Catholic Charities of Boston" announced in March 2006 that they would end its adoption work, deciding to abandon its founding mission, rather than comply with state law requiring that gays be allowed to adopt children3.
Even more recently, this very month in Washington DC, the Catholic Archdiocese is being faced with the decision to provide full benefits for same-sex partners in the District. "The archdiocese's statement follows a vote Tuesday by the council's Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary to reject an amendment that would have allowed individuals, based on their religious beliefs, to decline to provide services for same-sex weddings. "Lets say an individual caterer is a staunch Christian and someone wants him to do a cake with two grooms on top," said council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 6), the sponsor of the amendment. "Why can't they say, based on their religious beliefs, 'I can't do something like that'?""4
A liberal Episcopal congregation - All Saints Episcopal Church (Pasadena, California) - was investigated by the IRS to determine "whether the sermon had been a prohibited political endorsement. "On the Sunday before the 2004 Presidential Election, Rector emeritus George Regas preached a sermon opposing the Iraq War. The premise of the sermon was a debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry moderated by Jesus Christ."5
The investigation of Warroad Community Church in Warroad, MN of 20086.
The investigation of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Liberty City, FL (2006).
Or, in what may have been the first case of its kind, the law suit against First Orthodox Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, Rev. Charles McIlhenny, and the Presbytery of Northern California brought by a practicing homosexual and former organist over 30 years ago. The basis of the suit was for the violation of a city ordinance banning discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

More and more, some voices are calling for the application of hate speech regulation to sermons and manuscripts written by pastors and church leaders. Speech opposing homosexual behavior, abortion, even adultery could theoretically become subject to these regulations, no matter how compassionately and thoughtfully the presentation actually is.

In the end, the only solution for maintaining free speech in the US may be to cast off the government protection of not-for-profit corporate status. In the mean time, the pressures are very real for the church "to hold its mouth right". And those same pressures very much exceed the local fora in which the church thinks it is speaking! Wise courage and holy boldness must be components present in the church's voice, or it will increasingly lose its already sharply diminished prophetic voice in our culture.

For other related web sites, see:

This article was contributed by the Rev. Canon Mark E. Rudolph, Rector.

St. John the Evangelist - Ancient Faith, Modern Relevance

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Does The Church Need To Hold Its Mouth Right?

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