“Pastors who endorse political candidates shouldn’t lose tax-exempt status, IRS says in filing” [AP, 7/8/25]

“Churches can endorse political candidates to congregations, IRS says” [Reuters, 7/8/25]

According to a story in the New York Times this past Monday, the days of will they or won’t they, should they or shouldn’t they, when it comes to preachers and explicit endorsements of certain political candidates are over. We preachers can now say what we wish, and can endorse, or oppose, whomever we wish, from the pulpit, without risk. That is, without the risk of having the church stripped, by the IRS, of its nonprofit status.

When I read this little headline, and the accompanying story, I was initially completely taken aback, wondering why the story seemed buried in only a few newspapers. Why wasn’t everyone abuzz regarding this big change? Why wasn’t this front-page news? I realize there are terrible tragedies unfolding all around us— clearly much more important news. Still, this change in the relationship between churches and the IRS seems and feels like a huge shift in the world of churches, preachers and the connection between faith and politics.

Of course, there are a lot of questions about how this change will actually play out. Will some churches essentially become extensions of the offices of political candidates or arms of political action committees? How will parishioners actually feel about preachers endorsing certain candidates? What will happen when a preacher endorses a candidate that many of her/his/their parishioners deem unworthy of that endorsement? Will parishioners demand a thorough rendering of a preacher’s endorsement of a political candidate, with clear reasoning and connection to faith and scripture? Will preachers now take the place of certain newspapers that have abdicated the role of candidate endorsement?

To what extent will preachers be expected to endorse? Does this extend to local and county elected positions? And, what about primaries?

While there’s been plenty of endorsing going on over the years, in various ways, in churches across the United States, there’s also been a lot of confusion about the role of preacher in the realm of partisan politics. Christian preachers— and the congregations they lead— ought not consider the preacher to be ultimately beholden solely to the national enterprise. The calling of the preacher is to a higher authority and that requires that preachers recognize and appreciate the sometimes tricky road we walk.

According to an article in The Christian Century:

People in the US—including those who are religious—generally take a dim view of political endorsements in the pulpit. According to an analysis of 2023 polling provided by the Public Religion Research Institute, majorities of all major religious groups oppose or strongly oppose allowing churches and places of worship to endorse political candidates while retaining their tax-exempt status. That includes White evangelicals (62 percent) as well as Black Protestants (59 percent), White mainline or nonevangelical Protestants (77 percent), White Catholics (79 percent), Hispanic Catholics (78 percent), Hispanic Protestants (72 percent) and Jews (77 percent). [“Churches can endorse politicians, IRS says in court filing,” by Bob Smietana and Jack Jenkins, christiancentury.org, 7/8/25]

In what ways will this “dim view” toward political endorsements from the pulpit have sway? Enough to hold candidates at bay who eagerly court the attention of preachers? And, what about the community of preachers and denominations? Will a dangerous sort of competition set in— my preacher endorsed so-and-so, who did your preacher endorse? Will larger bodies, like denominations, try to influence the preaching of their pastors?

For certain candidates and for certain churches this may all seem like a dream come true. The endorsement of political candidates, the strong encouragement for individuals to vote a certain way, offered from the sanctity of the pulpit, is now without guardrails. It’s hard to see, though, that this is good news for American religious life, or the American political scene, for that matter. Religious communities ought to be appreciated for, and respected as, holding a different sort of place in the public square, as institutions that nurture and guide the spiritual development of individuals and communities for all dimensions of human life. It’s not that religious leaders ought to ignore politics, but when churches simply become spheres of partisanship, we all lose.