Santa Barbara clergy and laypeople packed the Unitarian Society
Hall Sunday night for a forum on just how political they can
legally get. Titled Politics from the Pulpit, the forum featured
Geoff Green, director of the Fund for Santa Barbara; Clark Roof,
director of the Walter Capps Center for the Study of Ethics; and
pastor George Regas of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena. The
IRS threatened the tax-exempt status of Regas’s church after he
delivered a sermon on the morality of war the Sunday before the
2004 presidential election. According to Green, 501(c)(3)
nonprofits, including churches, may not campaign for or against
candidates, but they may take positions on war and may also utilize
some of their funds to campaign for or against legislation.
