church criticizes IRS complaint as harassment

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Church criticizes IRS complaint as harassment

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins, The Beacon-Journal (Akron, Ohio), April 7, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A complaint alleging improper political activity by conservative churches on behalf of Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell is "a campaign of harassment" and full of errors, one of the churches said.

World Harvest Church of suburban Columbus was one of two megachurches named in a complaint filed late Thursday by a group of 56 mainly liberal religious leaders who want the IRS to investigate the churches' activities.

"People certainly have the right to disagree and to debate," World Harvest spokesman Giles Hudson said. "But for this group - especially members of the clergy - to engage in outright falsehoods for the sake of a political agenda is unconscionable."

Among the mistakes cited by World Harvest Church and Pastor Rod Parsley:

An allegation that Parsley will feature Blackwell in upcoming "Ohio for Jesus" radio spots.

Parsley has no such radio campaign planned, and Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo told The Associated Press Friday that Blackwell won't be participating in any such spots.

An allegation that Parsley has escorted and endorsed Blackwell at campaign events.

The complaint doesn't cite any such campaign events regarding Blackwell's run for governor, though it does refer to events Parsley held - at which Blackwell spoke - in favor of a 2004 gay marriage ban.

An allegation that Parsley plans to target conservative voters with a voter registration drive.

Parsley's Reformation Ohio project has a goal of registering 400,000 new voters but the complaint does not provide evidence that Parsley is seeking only conservatives.

"This latest complaint filed by a group of left-leaning clergy amounts to nothing more than a campaign of harassment," Hudson said.

The clergy who filed the complaint based their allegations on media reports, said Marcus Owens, a former IRS lawyer who helped draft the complaint. He said they will stand by the complaint until facts are presented to show the allegations are wrong.

"The ministers only have access to what's publicly available given that World Harvest Church doesn't release its financial statements," he said. "The world only has to go on whatever is in news account because World Harvest Church is not transparent, and what is available is troublesome to the clergy."

A message seeking comment was left for Eric Williams, a United Church of Christ minister who is the main spokesman for the religious leaders who signed the complaint and a related one Jan. 15.

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