The web site is excellent. Someone worked very hard on the design. My question is your church a 501c3 church or a free church? More and more I am finding many of the New Testament churches have signed up to be a corporation and be under the IRS rather than the Lord. Even the Gospel Advocate leadership seems to hide in the bunker and refuses to answer any questions about 501c3 churches. I would appreciate your thinking.<\/p>\n\t
See:\u00a0Are you a 501C church?<\/a><\/p>\n\t I was shocked by your answer. Since the founding of our nation, churches have had non-profit status and anything given is tax-deductible. The IRS themselves cannot figure out why churches are becoming corporations. You need to read the IRS rules. They state that churches need not be 501c3. The first amendment does not allow congress to make any laws regarding religion. Once you become a corporation your first amendment rights are gone. I think you mean well but just never studied a corporation church vs. a free church. Churches only started becoming corporations about 50 years ago. Lawyers and CPAs have been the main reason they signed up. There is no law that requires any church to be 501c3. It was Jesus who said we can’t serve two masters. Once a church becomes a corporation the IRS is the master. Most ministers know also of the translation problems in Romans 13. The bad translation has come down from tradition by old-time protestant churches.<\/p>\n\t So, you didn’t appreciate my thoughts after all. You are incorrect to conclude that I state or do things without studying them.<\/p>\n I’m not here to defend the laws the United States has decided to pass, but I do believe that arguments need to be reasonable.<\/p>\n The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” That is very different from your assertion that Congress cannot make any laws regarding religion. It is false to conclude that the Constitution does not cover some segments of the population. Nothing in the First Amendment makes a religion organized through a corporation different from any other religion. It appears you are confusing commercial companies with corporations. Corporations can be commercial or non-profit. Only commercial companies have some limits on what they can say.<\/p>\n Your statement that churches incorporating only started in the last fifty years I personally know that to be false, but just for fun, I found this statement: “the oldest surviving corporation — the Benedictine Order of the Catholic Church, founded circa 529 A.D.” [Bruce Brown,\u00a0The History of the Corporation<\/a>].<\/p>\n Second, you have misread the IRS code. All churches are covered by Section 501 (c) (3), whether they apply for official recognition or not. This is the section that states the government will not tax charitable non-profit organizations and churches. So when a church claims exemption from taxes, it is this section of the code that they are applying.<\/p>\n “Churches that meet the requirements of IRC section 501(c)(3) are automatically considered tax exempt and are not required to apply for and obtain recognition of tax-exempt status from the IRS.” [Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations<\/a>. p. 3].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Therefore, all churches fall under section 501(c)(3). In a real sense, all churches that do not pay taxes are 501(c)(3) organizations.<\/p>\n It doesn’t mean that the IRS is controlling any religion. It only means that to be eligible for an exception from taxes, the organization must have certain characteristics. For example, a political action committee calling itself a religious organization is not tax-exempt, even if it advocates morally good positions. If you disagree with some of these restrictions, then the place to go is your congressman requesting that the requirements be changed.<\/p>\n Nothing in IRC 501(c)(3) gives the IRS control over a religious organization. As I pointed out, even if in the future the government decided that, say a church’s stance that homosexuality is a sin, causes the IRS to remove the exemption from taxes, it would do nothing to the teachings of this or any other church that I know of.<\/p>\n If you wish to claim there is a bad translation in Romans 13, you must prove your point. An empty assertion proves nothing.<\/p>\n “Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:25).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: The web site is excellent. Someone worked very hard on the design. My question is your church a 501c3 church or a free church? More and more I am finding many of the New Testament churches have signed up to be a corporation and be under the IRS rather than the Lord. Even the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[448,310],"class_list":["post-29586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-church","tag-government"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34559,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-filing-for-a-501c3-exemption-making-a-covenant-with-the-people-of-the-land\/","url_meta":{"origin":29586,"position":0},"title":"Isn’t filing for a 501(c)(3) exemption making a covenant with the people of the land?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Exodus 34:12 reads in the NASB: \"Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, lest it becomes a snare in your midst.\" Without expending too much on the passage in Exodus 34:12, I am trying to determine the extent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69158,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-link-to-wvbs-or-gbn\/","url_meta":{"origin":29586,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to link to WVBS or GBN?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it wrong for a church to link to WVBS or GBN on its website? I'm unsure if it's right or wrong, but I'd at least like your thoughts, if you don't mind. Thanks. Answers: World Video Bible School (WVBS) and Gospel Broadcasting Network (GBN) solicit funding from individuals\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23916,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-dr-henry-halley-associated-with-the-churches-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":29586,"position":2},"title":"Was Dr. Henry Halley associated with the churches of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day. I was reading\u00a0your excellent article on Alexander Campbell. Good job. I have a question? Was Dr. Henry Halley of the famous\u00a0Halley's Bible Handbook\u00a0ever associated with the churches of Christ? I read where he was once a student of J. W. McGarvey. I saw also where he was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33097,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-cant-all-the-elders-in-a-city-get-together-to-direct-all-the-churches-in-the-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":29586,"position":3},"title":"Why can’t all the elders in a city get together to direct all the churches in the city?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First, I would like to say thank you for posting your informative studies. I currently attend a church that has dissolved the eldership and has been operating without elders. After reading Keith Sharp's article on Autonomy I still have a question about elders. Our biblical example is one church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67110,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-churches-of-christ-the-only-correct-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":29586,"position":4},"title":"Are the churches of Christ the only correct church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeffery, In the article \"Wasn't Babel the city of Eridu?\" you mentioned, \"You will not find any claim that the churches of Christ are the only correct church on this site.\" Do you no longer believe in the one true church? I understand that not every church with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33481,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-churches-of-christ-register-with-the-government-as-a-whole-or-each-congregation-independently\/","url_meta":{"origin":29586,"position":5},"title":"Do churches of Christ register with the government as a whole or each congregation independently?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the church of Christ in Malawi. I would like to find out how the churches of Christ in the USA register with the government. Is it that every congregation registers independently? or is there one registration for all congregations of the churches of Christ?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Question:<\/h2>\n
Answer:<\/h2>\n
“Churches and religious organizations, like many other charitable organizations, qualify for exemption from federal income tax under IRC section 501(c)(3) and are generally eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. To qualify for tax-exempt status, such an organization must meet the following requirements (covered in greater detail throughout this publication):
\n\u00a6 the organization must be organized and operated exclusively for religious, educational, scientific, or other charitable purposes,
\n\u00a6 net earnings may not inure to the benefit of any private individual or shareholder,
\n\u00a6 no substantial part of its activity may be attempting to influence legislation,
\n\u00a6 the organization may not intervene in political campaigns, and
\n\u00a6 the organization’s purposes and activities may not be illegal or violate fundamental public policy.” [Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations<\/a>. p. 3].<\/blockquote>\n