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3. Church renovations aren't the same after Katrina
Baton Rouge churches, having been shelters for refugees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, have now become bases for mission volunteers wanting to help the Gulf Coast. This summer, the churches are expected to be bursting with work groups. That's changing the ways that churches think about their buildings, reports The Advocate of Baton Rouge. University Presbyterian Church started with adding a shower off the kitchen and putting bunk beds in one of the Sunday school classrooms. Now, says associate pastor Clint Mitchell, the church wants to build "a place where volunteers could relax, talk about their experiences, and decompress." The church's key question right now: "How do we practice good hospitality?" Other churches are asking similar questions about additions and renovations. But if Katrina really has influenced Christians' thinking on missions and ministry, as many have argued, one imagines that this isn't just a Gulf Coast story. Countless churches nationwide are considering building projects right now. After Katrina, are they more likely to include showers and shelters?

4. How much is tax exempt?
So let's say a church does take Katrina into consideration and builds a facility with several shower stalls and a large area that could be easily converted into a dormitory or shelter of some kind. Between natural disasters, that place would look an awful lot like—and would probably be used as—a gym. Should that property be exempt from taxes as a core part of the church? Or would the gym be fpr a separate use that could be taxable? For that problem writ large, check out Christ Chapel Community Church in Macon, Georgia, and its sports complex, called SportsTowne. The church bought the 100,000-square-foot facility for $8.35 million—complete with a roller hockey rink, indoor basketball, tennis, and volleyball courts, and outdoor fields. Associate pastor Beth White says the whole thing should be exempt: "The thing most churches are trying to do is win lost people. … Our target audience will come to us for sports. So we have an opportunity to use our building six days out of the week to come in contact with people and use lifestyle evangelism to invite them back on Sundays." The local board of tax assessors isn't so sure, especially since a for-profit arena football team gets to use the facility and offices rent-free. But that's still part of the church's mission, says White. "The trade-off is we get to use their influence, and they get to use our building. … [They] have influence with people the church will never gain influence with. They have influence with the Saturday night sports crowd." (Does this kind of story really interest you? If so, be sure to check out our newest sister publication, Church Law & Tax Report.)

5. Church directories flap
One brief religion story in the 2004 presidential election was the controversy over the Bush-Cheney campaign's effort to acquire church directories. That move was universally panned across the political spectrum, with the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land being one of the chief critics. Land is back as one of the chief critics now that the North Carolina Republican Party is trying the same tactic, calling it "completely beyond the pale of what is acceptable."

Quote of the day :
"He is in a very visible leadership position, and comments such as recent ones related to Mr. Sharon and so many others are misinformed and presumptuous and border on arrogance. … It puts the evangelical movement in a bad light when that happens, because people make broad generalizations, rightly or wrongly, all the time."
—David Dockery, president of Union University, on Pat Robertson.

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February (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50