As Peter mentioned in Leading Off, First Baptist Church of Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress introduced Gov. Rick Perry (and caused quite a stir) at this weekend’s “Values Voter Summit.” But then he went on Sunday, on his own pulpit at his church, to discuss it further.
And this is where I have a question. There are numerous reports of churches in the past risking their tax exempt statuses because their pastors endorsed candidates from the pulpit. Here, for instance. Or here. Or here. And there are decent rundowns of the current federal law (which actually doesn’t single churches out – just about any nonprofit with tax-exempt status has to follow the same rules) here and here.
So I guess my question is this: On Sunday, did Jeffress jeopardize his church’s tax status by continuing to talk about his endorsement of Perry? Is it noteworthy that, in Jeffress’ tweet linked above, that he refers to the Perry endorsement as a personal one? Does that matter once he talks about it on the pulpit?
And I guess that’s more than one question. But what say you?
