[Lekooks] Political Endorsements in LCUUC communication channels

[Amy Shaw]

Hi all,

I’ve been getting great emails asking what we can and can’t do in term of partisan support, especially given recent executive orders.

Here’s what I know about churches and political endorsements- including supporting or promoting candidate functions/events through church channels.

The Johnson Amendment is a 1954 provision in the U.S. tax code that prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates.

On May 4, 2017, Trump signed the "Presidential Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty, an executive order which does not repeal the Johnson Amendment, nor does it allow ministers to endorse from the pulpit, but it does direct the Department of Treasury that "churches should not be found guilty of implied endorsements where secular organizations would not be."

Which means we are still at risk of losing our tax-exempt status if we use the church, or the church’s resources, to promote one candidate over another.

It breaks down to this- we really can’t do it without serious risk to our not-for-profit status, so it is safer not to ever use church channels or resources to promote or support a specific political candidate.

We’ve deliberately kept lekooks as the “unofficial social only” message board of LCUUC, which means it might be taken as the church taking a position, or it might not- but it is really really risky and I wouldn’t suggest using it to promote any specific candidate.

Thank you all so much for getting involved and doing the work of justice. We will keep finding ways to get the message out.

Warmly,
Rev. Amy


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