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Church has acted in good faith to cooperate, position has not changed
Eagle Mountain International Church/Kenneth Copeland Ministries (the "Church") has
reviewed Senator Grassley's July 7, 2008, "Memorandum to Reporters and Editors" on
the status of the responses and level of cooperation received from the six church
ministries who are the subject of the Senator's investigation that began in November
2007.
The Church's position continues to be that it has responded to the request of Senator
Grassley in good faith and to the greatest extent possible without compromising the
privacy, confidentiality, and freedom of association rights and protections afforded
to the Church by the United States Constitution and the Internal Revenue Code (the
"Code").
As stated in the Church's letters of December 6, 2007, and March 31, 2008, to
Senators Grassley and Baucus, and in discussions with Committee staff members, the
Church continues to believe that the most timely and efficient way for the Committee
to obtain the requested confidential information — without compromising the
universally recognized fundamental constitutional and statutorily based rights of
this Church and all religious institutions — is for the IRS to request and
obtain the information through a "church tax inquiry" under section 7611 of the
Code. At the completion of the 90-day inquiry period provided by section 7611 of
the Code, the IRS would have in its possession and available for disclosure to
Senator Grassley all of the confidential information, including financial data,
Senator Grassley is seeking from the Church.
Through this well-established statutory process, Senator Grassley and his staff could
then obtain all of the information they seek through a request made under section
6103 of the Code, which would provide the Church with the confidentiality protections
to which it is entitled. Had the Senator pursued this course suggested by the
Church back in December, he would have the information he is seeking available to
him at this time. The Senator's suggestion that the Church or its attorneys are
being uncooperative or seeking to prolong the process is simply untrue.
Indeed, in an effort to expedite the process, in April the Church took the
unprecedented step of pledging its cooperation to the IRS should the IRS undertake
a church tax inquiry of the Church. Church and KCM CEO John Copeland said in a
statement following his delivery of the letter to IRS offices in Dallas: "We told
the IRS that we welcome them to come and make inquiry of us and we will provide
answers to the IRS regarding questions that Senator Grassley has. The Church desires
to protect its and all other churches' First Amendment rights, and by this action,
we believe we are doing just that."
The Church respects the oversight role of the Senate Finance Committee and
specifically the many efforts of Senator Grassley to provide oversight of tax-exempt
organizations. Indeed, the Church has voluntarily adopted and adheres to policies
and procedures that the Senator has publicly suggested over the years are appropriate
governance practices for tax-exempt organizations.
However, the Church respectfully disagrees with Senator Grassley's position that
churches are no different from any other tax-exempt organization. Any government
inquiry into the affairs of a church raises serious constitutional issues that must
be carefully balanced against the government's need to evaluate the effectiveness of
the laws of the land. To ensure its constitutional rights are not unnecessarily
infringed upon, the Church firmly believes that it must be given the protections
from disclosure afforded by the federal tax laws and the benefit of the processes
and procedures that apply to inquires of churches made by the IRS. Without such
confidentiality and due process of law, the potential exists for the information to
be used in an effort to damage or attempt to embarrass the Church, its pastors, and
its members. Any such use of the information provided interferes with, and
ultimately threatens, the religious liberties of this Church, the thousands of other
Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches who preach the "Word of Faith" message, and
all other churches — irrespective of their particular doctrine or faith.
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