DKS
Mennonite Magazine Warned By CRA For Partisan Articles
Posted on: 11/09/2012 23:36
Astonishing. And so it begins...
A Mennonite church magazine has been told by the Canada Revenue Agency to be careful about the kind of political articles and editorials it publishes.
In a "reminder" letter sent to Canadian Mennonite Publishing Service earlier this year, the federal agency says engaging in "partisan political activities" could jeopardize the organization's charitable status.
Canadian Mennonite is registered as a charity so it can receive operating funds from Mennonite Church Canada and its area churches, as well as provide tax receipts to donors.
"It has come to our attention that recent issues of the Organization's monthly periodical, entitled 'Canadian Mennonite,' have contained editorials and/or articles that appear to promote opposition to a political party, or to candidates for public office," the letter, dated July 23, states in part.
The letter says under the Income Tax Act, charities are "prohibited from engaging in partisan political activities," which include "direct or indirect support of, or opposition to, any political party or candidate for public office."
Search
Recently Active...
Comments
Panentheism
Posted on: 11/15/2012 13:37
Personally speaking, I'd be far more likely to attend a church based fundraiser if I knew the money was going to something I consider worthwhile to support. Like my friend I'm not interested in supporting/maintaing or decorating the church building.
And I have no problem at all with what you say here. As I've been saying all along, it's a matter of personal choice. Give if you want; don't give if you don't want to. As far as supporting/maintaining the church building, the church building, of course, is maintained not only for the use of the church but also for the use of various community groups, ministries, etc. In fact, if I were to add up the hours I think I might well find that our church building might be used more by community groups than by the church itself! So without maintaining the building, how do we run the monthly Out of the Cold dinner? How do we do the weekly clothing boutique geared to lower income families in the community? How do we provide a space for AA and AlAnon? For TOPS? For Zumba? For Elections Canada when they want a polling place? How do we make space available to the local school board for a couple of programs they run for youth at risk of dropping out of the system (one thing our local board has found is that these kids are far more likely to stick with these programs if they're held in a church than if they're held in a school - interesting, isn't it?) So feel free not to offer support. That's fine. That's your choice. I think the church (if it's going to be available to such outside groups) has the right to solicit funds from outside.
You see, my quibble isn't with your right to decide to give or not to give. That's completely your decision and I won't criticize you either way or try to guilt you into giving something you don't want to give. There are a lot of charities I hear from but don't give to for a variety of reasons even though they're quite worthy causes. My quibble was specifically with your statement that:
"They shouldn't be asked to help with the funds for repairs to a church roof either."
And you still haven't explained why people shouldn't be "asked" (asked, not required) to give. It still sounds like "I don't like being asked so you shouldn't be allowed to ask anyone."
Amen to this and Spiritbear. You name the issue.
Jim Kenney
Posted on: 11/15/2012 20:34
Sprit Bear, one Sunday morning, a quiet young woman showed up early at church, and asked if she could come to worship with us. This was a very surprising question for me, and we had a conversation. It turned out her sister in Nova Scotia had gone to a UC in her community and was made to feel very unwelcome. She thought she might receive the same treatment as this church. This young woman over time became a volunteer in our Sunday School and served on the Board for a while. I have heard stories of people who have gone away for a few years, and, when they came back to their home churches, were treated as though they were invisible. There might not be membership fees required for attending worship, but too many churches have invisible barriers designed to keep most people out. I did say "little more than private clubs", not that they were private clubs. Fortunately many other churches are not like that -- most of the ones I have served have been opening and welcoming without being too demanding.
Did you notice that I also described many of the good things that many churches do that make them very much unlike private clubs?