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GUEST: Robert Long, former senior warden at All Saints Parish, Pasadena

On Monday, All Saints Church in Pasadena confirmed that an investigation of the parish by the Internal Revenue Service had indeed been closed. More than two years ago, the IRS informed All Saints, one of the most politically progressive churches in Southern California, that its tax exempt status was going to be investigated due to a sermon prior to the 2004 presidential elections. The preacher in question was the church’s former rector, George Regas, who prefaced his preaching by stating that his intention was not to tell people how to vote. In a letter they sent All Saints last September, the IRS still declared the sermon an “intervention” but that the church’s tax exempt status would not be revoked. The parish responded by asking the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to review the propriety of the IRS investigation. All Saints will also be legislatively seeking legal protections for the freedom of the pulpit against politically motivated tax investigation.

For more information, visit www.allsaints-pas.org