All Saints Episcopal Church Won't Comply With IRS Probe
Pasadena's All Saints Episcopal parish board challenges a request to turn over documents in a case over a 2004 antiwar sermon.
By Louis Sahagun, Times Staff Writer
September 22, 2006

A liberal Pasadena church on Thursday declared that it will refuse to comply with an IRS investigation into its tax-exemption status launched after a guest speaker was critical of President Bush in a sermon.

At a news conference attended by 50 cheering supporters gathered before the marble altar at All Saints Episcopal Church, the Rev. Ed Bacon said his 3,500-member congregation did not violate tax regulations barring tax-exempt organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates when a former rector, George F. Regas, criticized the Bush administration two days before the 2004 presidential election. the rest


Church to Fight IRS Over Anti-Bush Sermon
September 22, 2006

PASADENA, Calif. -- A liberal California Episcopal church plans to fight an Internal Revenue Service investigation into whether the church violated its tax-exempt status with an anti-Bush sermon during the 2004 campaign, church leaders said Thursday.

The IRS began investigating All Saints Church after a retired pastor gave a sermon the Sunday before Election Day in which he said if Jesus were to debate George W. Bush and John F. Kerry, he would condemn Bush's support for the war in Iraq. the rest