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#1 |
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Greetings in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Why do Orthodox churches in the USA feel the need to seek 501c3 status? I have family who are Eastern Orthodox and was shocked to find out that the Orthodox churches here all seek and have 501c3 IRS status. I left my once free Baptist church who changed into a 501c3 organization for that reason and was thinking of attending my family members church. I was disappointed that the Orthodox church was doing the same. My Orthodox family members were also surprised about this situation when I brought it up and don't know what to think about it. I tried a search of this site for 501c3 and nothing showed up. If you do a study on 501c3 IRS status it states that the church is under the authority of the Federal Government for tax exempt status and is a corporation. Are there any Orthodox churches in the USA who reject this optional 501c3 status from the IRS? I appreciate any enlightenment in this matter. John |
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#2 |
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The 501c3 tax status is convenient for receiving certain grants and other large donations. I think that you misinterpret the concept of being "under the authority of the Federal Government". First most all Churches are NPO's (non profit organizations) and thus are corporations. Nothing wrong here as it is the means by which a Church can (among other things) have its own bank account, pay its own employees (a salary for the priest is nice), take out insurance on its building, property and liability, and maintain its tax exempt status. As a non-profit corporation a Church can also receive donations which can be claimed as charitable contributions by the doner on their own income tax, a Church can also be exempt from property and income taxes so that the government isn't taking a portion of its income. A Church that is not a corporation cannot do any of these things - it has no legal standing at all.
The 501c3 is tax category of the IRS (federal taxes) and most granting bodies (whether governmental or not) require that the recipients of grants have some kind of 501c3 authorization. This insures for the grantor that they are indeed giving money to an organization that can monitor how that money is used and provide some accountability that it was actually used for the purpose for which it was given. If a non-profit corporation applies for 501c3 status, it agrees to abide by certain regulations that are set out by the IRS for accountability and reporting purposes. That's all the "governmental authority" that is exerted. Beyond the reporting of income and how it was used, there is no other control by the IRS that is exerted. Many Churches find that the 501c3 status is beneficial to their ability to raise money and accept donations at relatively little cost to themselves (I think the filing fee for the 501c3 is $100) and increases their ability to do charitable work far beyond their individual ability. But to answer your question - not every parish is a 501c3. Fr David |
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#3 |
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In order to prove you are not a scam, you need some sort of legal status. After all you are receiving money from people, acting as a BODY. If you are not acting as an individual you are acting as a corporate entity. If you are a not-for-profit organization, it seems reasonable to legally identify yourself as such.
Is there a problem with this or do you simply have a problem with being under the authority of a government? If that is the issue, I've got some bad news. If you claim to be a citizen, YOU are putting yourself under the authority of a government! Or have you renounced your citizenship in the US for tax purposes? Herman the sometimes taxing Pooh |
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#4 |
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#5 |
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Let me reply from a legal standpoint, Fr. David was going in this direction but I will try to be slightly more explicit.
A local church group is nothing more than a group of individuals and in many states, has no legal status. The group can call itself anything that is legally permissible but it is still just a collection of people (some might call it a partnership made up of all the individuals but that is stretching.) In the U.S., being as we are so litigious, if someone was hurt by the negligent act of one of the members of this group (like, say, they got food poisoning at the ladies annual bake sale) the injured party might well sue all the ladies connected with the bake sale as well as anyone else that was a member of the group. There is no legal entity that is the church, just the individuals. To give some structure to help solve this problem all states now allow for a group of people (or in many cases just one person) to form a corporation. The corporation is a legal entity, a legal 'person.' Just like you and me it can hold property, and do just about anything that you can do. This corporation can, depending on the particular state, be organized (usually) as either a for profit or a not-for-profit corporation. (It is not unusual for a not-for-profit organization to be the sole share-holder i.e. owner of a for-profit corporation. This is done where the activity in the profit making corporation is not strictly church related and therefore maybe not tax-exempt.) Okay, so now there is a legal entity that holds title to (i.e. owns) the church property, makes important payments, such as the salary of the Priest, can have a bank account, etc. Smaller churches frequently operate in just such a manner. Then, as Father pointed out, along comes a person who wants to give to the church but also being wise in the way of the world wants to make sure that the I.R.S. will allow him/her to deduct the contribution from his/her income tax. The contribution can be made to any organization but then if the contribution is challenged by the I.R.S. as to whether or not it went to a tax exempt organization (and there are many other organizations besides churches that are tax exempt) the donor has the burden of proof that the contribution went to a tax exempt organization. I.R.S. has long taken the stance that if the organization, prior to receiving the donation, is approved by the I.R.S. as a tax-exempt organization, then then donor does not have to show anything more than the fact that the contribution was made to such an organization. So, no church has to file for a tax-exempt status under section 501c3 (and under one of the subsections) but it costs very little and gives donors a 'safe haven' in making his/her contribution. BTW, as mentioned above, states and cities frequently tax churches on non-religious income, property owned by the church but used for non-religious purposes, even in one on going case are trying to tax a church for parts of their parking lot that just might be being used for non-religious purposes. You should be aware that the Orthodox Church has, since the time of Constantine, been in a close relationship with secular authorities and the notion of 'separation of Church and state' is a fairly recent and western concept (that the Orthodox Church probably has not come fully to grips with.) I would guess that there has probably been a previous thread that addresses the relationship of the church and state. If this doesn't answer your questions I'll try again. |
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#6 |
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Herman wrote "Is there a problem with this or do you simply have a problem with being under the authority of a government?"
No, I have no problem being a US citizen. I simply believe in the separation of church and state. I had no idea that the Orthodox Church had not fully come to grips with this concept as Kyrill states. There are churches that do not seek 501c3 status and have no problems with the IRS or the state. The Founding Fathers assured that the Church would always be separate from the state and thus not regulated nor controlled by it. Churches are inherently exempt from IRA control or regulation. In a word, the Church does not need the permission nor approval of the United States Government to exist or operate in a tax deductible status. The First Amendment provided for religious liberty. Christians in America have the opportunity to keep God’s church pure and undefiled and to perform the great commission without restrictions from state or federal governments. Even though the civil government made this offer, churches did not have to accept it. Since the ratification of the First Amendment, the federal government has never forced a church to incorporate or get 501(c)(3) status. The Supreme Court still understands that the state cannot legally interfere with a church who does not willingly submit itself to the state. For Example: "I am not the only IRS employee who’s wondered why churches go to the government and seek permission to be exempted from a tax they didn’t owe to begin with, and to seek a tax deductible status that they’ve always had anyway. Many of us have marveled at how church leaders want to be regulated and controlled by an agency of government that most Americans have prayed would just get out of their lives. Churches are in an amazingly unique position, but they don’t seem to know or appreciate the implications of what it would mean to be free of government control." (from the Forward of In Caesar's Grip, by Peter Kershaw) "It is impossible to have religious freedom in any nation where churches are licensed to the government. " George Hansen, Member of Congress (ret.) |
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#7 |
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I assume the OP is concerned about the Church's freedom to speak out against issues that the government embraces (abortion, etc). In Evangelical, Baptist and other Protestant churches, that has been a hot button issue for many years.
Churches have existed long before being allowed to receive 501(c)(3) status and can still obtain tax exempt status without going that route, should they choose to do so. |
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#8 |
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#9 |
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The Seperation of Church and State is peculiar to protestantism. Its actually a new concept within the realm of human history altogether. In Orthodox thought ideally the church and state is to work symphonically and synergistically. If the secular government has a program that can benefit the church, her members, and possibly even society, then the church can opt to partake of the program.
The seperation of church and state is only observed in Orthodoxy if the state becomes openly hostile to the church. Your looking at the situation through the prizm of your own cultural upbringing, whereas in Orthodoxy the voluntary and willfull seperation of church and state is simply not ideal and possibly even antithetical to the gospel. |
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#10 |
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I really do not understand what the issue is. What problems are there with 501(c)(3) status? There are many organizations, non-religious, that apply for it as well, it is merely a convenient legal status that allows a corporate entity to act on behalf of its members, and identifies it as "not-for-profit." I imagine most parishes do it because they simply think they are supposed to and I am really not aware of any limitations, legal or religious, that come with it.
If there is a "better" way, I'm sure people would be interested in hearing it. I'll ask again, what, exactly, is the concern? Herman the curious Pooh |
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#11 |
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If there is a "better" way, I'm sure people would be interested in hearing it. I'll ask again, what, exactly, is the concern? |
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#12 |
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I have never heard of yells for revocation of 501(c)(3) status, but I do expect it to go away someday. I don't think it has affected the stance of the Orthodox Church. Of course we are so below the radar in general, due to our fractured nature and ethnic emphasis that we will be the last ones to be noticed and gone after anyway. Our issues are so much bigger than 501c3 and "government influence".
Herman the not-for-prophet Pooh |
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#13 |
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There is a interesting phrase.
Can not see the forest because of the trees. So the goal of religion is to give people Heaven and eternal life. There would be bad to go to a place that does not give you eternal life because gives you wisdom, freedom, anything else. If the life gets to end or to be deteriorated, all the knowledge , freedom everything gets to ZERO. So Father Arsenie Boca said: If you don't like the Church and priests, raise your children to become the priests you want to have. So I say to you. If you don't like the status of Church. Become Orthodox priest and make a Church you like to have. There would be wrong to renounce eternal life for a 100 year freedom because if you don't get eternal life, you have no freedom sometime in the future. May God put between Church and state the relation God wants to be and if possible, the best relation God can give to people . May God bless everybody. |
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#15 |
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#16 |
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The best way to handle this is prayer:
Dear God, please force me and all humanity to salvation and to the best religion in your eyes and please let me and humanity understand all religions on the Earth . Also, please defend all the people on the Earth, all the countries on the Earth and all the Churches on the Earth that have best path to salvation including their freedom. if you mean what you said before, you will say this prayer. |
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#18 |
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So if there are those that yell to revoke the status of 501 then it works both ways. The Church can affect government and transform it and not the other way around. This is exactly how church and state is supposed to function. This protestant dogma of seperation of church and state is a form of neo nestorianism where individuals must categorize there beliefs using a false schismatic dichotomy. Again if there is freedom of religion the christian need not seperate himself between christian beliefs and political beliefs
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#19 |
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501c3 really has NOTHING to do with religion, or the Government "licensing" or control over it. It is merely an article that defines certain corporations as "not-for-profit". I belong to an educational organization called the Longship Company that is also incorporated under Article 501c3.
I really do not see what the fuss is about. Much ado about nothing. Herman the 501c3 Pooh |
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#20 |
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So if there are those that yell to revoke the status of 501 then it works both ways. The Church can affect government and transform it and not the other way around. This is exactly how church and state is supposed to function. This protestant dogma of seperation of church and state is a form of neo nestorianism where individuals must categorize there beliefs using a false schismatic dichotomy. Again if there is freedom of religion the christian need not seperate himself between christian beliefs and political beliefs Firstly the Church, I think, only transforms persons, not institutions. I think the relationship with government must be merely functional. Secondly, Church/state separation is Enlightenment, not Protestant per se, not that they can always easily be distinguished, and is a function of the enlightenment attempting to displace the Church and make the State the center of people's devotion. |
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