In early October, Josh Howerton, the senior pastor at Lakepointe Church in the Dallas area, delivered a sermon titled, "How to Vote Like Jesus," in which he repeated GOP talking points in support of electing Donald Trump over Kamala Harris in the presidential election.

The 41-year-old Southern Baptist pastor—with a reputation for comparing himself to Jesus and for dishing out misogynistic wedding advice in church services—never flat-out told his congregation of about 20,000 members and 340,000 Instagram followers to vote for Trump. However, Howerton spent much of the 45-minute sermon attacking the Harris-Walz ticket and spewing false rhetoric about their views on abortion and transgender rights.

The sermon quickly drew national attention: The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a Wisconsin-based association of "atheists, agnostics and skeptics" who aimed to maintain the separation of church and state ahead of the elections, filed a complaint with the IRS accusing Howerton of breaking the 70-year-old Johnson Amendment. (Howerton has since grown his Instagram audience to about 386,000 followers.)

The FFRF reported that Lakepointe allegedly violated the U.S. tax law prohibiting religious organizations and many nonprofits from endorsing or opposing political candidates. The FFRF demanded the IRS revoke the church's tax-exempt status. "Churches can't be allowed to get away with such blatant politicking," FFRF co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement. "They must abide by the same rules as other nonprofits—or lose their tax code privileges."

It was 1954 when Lyndon B. Johnson, then a Democrat senator in Texas, introduced the measure as an amendment to the tax code. His goal was to squash his political opponent Dudley Dougherty, a conservative Catholic state rep from Beeville, Texas, who garnered support from right-wing, anti-communist nonprofits including the Fact Forum and the Committee for Constitutional Government. The group deployed political tactics mirroring Sen. Joseph McCarthy's crusade against communism that targeted liberals. No churches were involved in the quarrel, according to PolitiFact, however, they were covered by the bill as nonprofit organizations. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican, signed the legislation into law.

At present, Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code describes how nonprofit groups including churches, charities and universities are "absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office," according to the IRS. The law stops nonprofits from contributing to campaign funds and making "verbal or written" statements that either support or oppose political candidates, the IRS says. Churches in violation could face "denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes."

The IRS has never been particularly aggressive in enforcing the law. That the government reserves the power to remove a church's tax-exempt status hasarguably kept churches in check from entering the political domain. However, religious leaders do still have First Amendment rights and they're allowed to speak freely about political issues and endorse a political candidate as private citizens, according to First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit Christian conservative law firm based in Plano.

In 2017, shortly after winning his first presidential election, Trump told evangelical Christians who helped get him into the White House that he planned to "destroy" the Johnson Amendment, per reporting by the Associated Press. Only Congress has the power to abolish the amendment, though Trump could direct the IRS to ignore the rule. 

Democrats and Republicans in Texas and across the country have accused one another of using churches and clergy to campaign for their preferred candidates in recent years. Progressive-leaning pastors and nonprofits have made repeated calls for the IRS to take action amid the consistent blending of conservative Christian faith and values with government, especially in Texas. A 2022 investigation by the Texas Tribune and ProPublica found that 20 churches in Texas had supported political candidates, at least according to legal experts.

Ahead of November's elections, a range of churches and pastors statewide seemed to breach the law or made no attempts to hide their endorsement of local, state and presidential candidates. Conservative pastors told me they'd like to see the rule abolished. "I don't think the government ought to have any say about anything that's said or not said from the pulpit," Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas said in September. Jeffress, who's affiliated with the SBC and is one of several Texas pastors counted among Trump's spiritual advisers, believes the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court will one day strike down the law as "a violation" of First Amendment rights. "If the Johnson Amendment were abolished today, though, it wouldn't make me want to officially endorse candidates from the pulpit," Jeffress said. "But I don't like any kind of restriction." 

Some progressive pastors expressed concerns over the lack of enforcement by the IRS, while others said they couldn't trust the government to do anything worthwhile, so they also didn't mind if the law was repealed. 

"I don't care to be candid," Zach Lambert, a progressive pastor of Restore church in Austin, said after announcing he voted for Harris in the election. "I don't endorse candidates on stage. Our church doesn't endorse candidates. I don't think we would start doing it just because the Johnson Amendment was gone." Lambert described how he was concerned over the rise of white evangelical embrace of Trump's anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigration rhetoric, however, he didn't believe the IRS would take action anytime soon. "It's just not enforced, so I don't think it's super relevant." 

Now close to the year's end, the FFRF has filed complaints to the IRS regarding Pastor Howerton's Lakepoint Church and two other Texas churches for allegedly violating the Johnson Amendment. The FFRF shared the following complaints from the last two years and responses from the federal agency with me via email.

2024

Nov. 1 - The Ark Church: The FFRF reported that the nondenominational church in Conroe allegedly "endorsed candidates for office" this year. The foundation cited a story by the Houston Chronicle, which reported that Pastor Alan Clayton introduced Conroe Mayor Pro Tem Curt Maddux, then running for another term, "urging the congregation to cast early ballots" for the June 15 election. Maddux, a longtime member of The Ark Church, lost to Shana Arthur in his reelection bid to Conroe City Council Position 2, per reporting by Community Impact News. 

"We write to respectfully request that the IRS actually enforce the law, and immediately investigate The Ark Church, ensuring that it no longer receives the benefits of 501 (c) (3) status and that donations made to the church are no longer treated as tax deductible," FFRF attorney Madeline Ziegler wrote to the agency last month. "The IRS should take appropriate action to remedy any violations of 501 (c) (3) regulations that occurred or which continue to occur."

Oct. 18 - Courage Tour: The FFRF reported "illegal political campaigning" by nonprofit organizations named the Lance Wallnau Ministries Inc. and Ziklag, each located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. The FFRF highlighted a news articleby ProPublica, which described Texas televangelist Lance Wallnau as "one of the most influential figures on the Christian right" and also "a bridge between Christian nationalism and Trump." The story identified Ziklag in its title as "the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country." The FFRF alleged the organizations hosted an official campaign event for then Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance in September in Monroeville, Pa. as part of the "Courage Tour," a series of religiously-inspired, pro-Trump rallies across the country.

Line asked the IRS to investigate concerns raised by the ProPublica article, and, if founded, remove the tax-exempt status for both organizations. "Some churches and religious organizations, like Lance Wallnau Ministries and Ziklag, have chosen to make a mockery of their 501 (c) (3) status by reaping all of the benefits of tax exemption while knowingly violating the statute by openly endorsing and supporting political candidates running for public office," Line wrote. "We would like to see the IRS take action on this issue and enforce its rules for the benefit of all taxpayers."

After the elections, Adrian Gonzalez, director of compliance planning and classification at the IRS office in Dallas, responded to FFRF's complaint on Nov. 13, saying the agency had an "ongoing audit program to ensure compliance" with tax codes.

2023

Jan. 4 - City Church Harlingen: The FFRF reported that the evangelical church's founding pastor Luis Cabrera told his congregation in 2022 "to support the election efforts" of Maya Flores in her congressional campaign in the Rio Grande Valley. "God is calling us to go vote and elect godly officials," Cabrera said, per the report. "Please vote for Mayra Flored for Congress." 

In June 2022, Flores, a far-right Latina, flipped the historically Democrat House seat to win the special election and soon gained national recognition for having the ability to get conservative Latino votes in South Texas. Later that year, U.S. Rep. Vincente Gonzalez, a Democrat from Corpus Christi who is Latino, defeated Flores to represent the 34th Congressional District. 

Jan. 24 - First Baptist Church, North Houston: The FFRF reported that the church in north Houston "displayed a campaign sign" for Steve Mead's 2021 election bid to win a seat on the Aldine Independent School Board. The SBC-affiliated church, Kat Grant of the FFRF wrote in a letter to the IRS, "has breached the responsibilities of its tax-exempt status by displaying a candidate's campaign sign on church property, signaling to members and the public its preference for one candidate over another."

Feb. 23 - Church of the Blessed International: The FFRF reported that Johnny Perez, a pastor at the nondenominational church in Lubbock, had invited attorney Tray Payne to "promote" his 2022 mayoral campaign. The pastor allegedly said he and his wife were endorsing Payne for mayor and then prayed over the political candidate on election day that year. Payne won the election in May 2022 and served as mayor through May 2024.

July 19 - FountainGate Fellowship Church - The FFRF reported that Scott Beard, founding pastor of the nondenominational church in Abilene, Texas, was running for a local city council seat the previous year when he "advised the congregation to display his campaign signs that he made available to them." FountainGate allegedly violated the IRS law, the FFRF reported, "by allowing Pastor Beard to advocate his city council campaign from the pulpit, promoting political campaigns more generally, and urging onlookers to vote for particular candidates close in time to an election."

In May 2023, the Texas Tribune reported that three churches in West Texas donated a combined $800 to Beard's city council campaign -- "a clear violation of federal rules prohibiting nonprofits and churches from endorsing candidates." Beard apparently told ProPublica and the Tribune that the churches didn't know they weren't allowed to provide him with campaign funds and that he returned the checks. "Look, we've made mistakes," Beard reportedly said. "Every campaign makes them. I'm just kind of under the microscope because of me being a pastor, honestly." Beard was fined $3,500 for "lack of good faith" in accepting the donations and posting his campaign signs on church property, the commission found. 

Dec. 23 - Mercy Culture Church -  The FFRF reported that the nondenominational church led by Landon and Heather Schott allegedly broadcasted a message during a Sunday service in support of their former pastor Nate Schatzline in the 2022 Texas House of Representatives election. Pastor Landon Schott blasted Democrats as "godless" and "demonic" during sermons this year. 

https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/texas-churches-tax-exempt-status-19986767.php