Rendering Unto Caesar

More than ever, the little church around the corner is not just a house of worship: besides a manse, it may have a parish hall, a two-acre parking lot, a parochial school, and a few prudent investments in apartment buildings and acreage near by. In general, churches proper enjoy tax exemption on some or all of their holdings, but budget-strapped mayors and state legislatures are eyeing the things that are God's as a source of needed revenue. In Minneapolis, for example, the city assessor is trying to get $1,120 in back taxes from a bowling alley operated by a Roman Catholic parish. After the threat of a court fight, the American Baptist Convention recently agreed to pay Upper Merion township, Pennsylvania, $18,000 a year in assessments on its property there.

Last week one major U.S. church decided that it was time to give Caesar more of his due. In a draft proposal of basic principles that will be put to its 1964 convention, the American Lutheran Church (2,400,000 members) agreed that "to levy upon churches charges for municipal services such as water, sewage, police and fire protection" is "consistent with sound public policy. We believe also that the churches should be willing to accept equitable taxation of parsonages and other dwellings. Churches conducting businesses not essential to their religious ministry ought to be subject to tax laws equally applicable to those governing profit-seeking individuals and corporations."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.