A Christian non-profit is challenging the Internal Revenue Service after the agency denied them tax-exempt status saying “the Bible’s teachings are typically affiliated with the Republican Party and candidates.”
Christians Engaged describes itself as educational, Christian, and non-partisan, and operates out of Garland, Texas. Its three main goals, as described by the non-profit, include:
To awaken, motivate, and empower ordinary believers in Jesus Christ to: pray for our nation and our elected officials regularly, vote in every election to impact our culture, and engage our hearts in some forms of political education or activism for the furtherance of our nation.
The non-profit works to show Christians how to “civically engage as part of their religious practice” but does not promote specific parties or candidates or earn money for political causes, according to the organization’s appeal letter to the IRS.
The non-profit first applied to become a 501 (c)(3) in late 2019. They received a rejection letter on May 18, 2021, from Exempt Organizations Director Stephen A. Martin saying the group “engage[s] in prohibited political campaign intervention” and “operate[s] for a substantial non-exempt private purpose and for the private interests of the [Republican] party.”
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