Pension board writes IRS on pastor's tax protest
The Rev. John Schwiebert and his wife, Patricia, relax after
loading food for an Oregon relief ministry in 2003. Since 1977, the
couple has withheld part or all of their federal income tax as an act of
conscientious objection to war and U.S. military spending. A UMNS file
photo by Tim Tanton.
|
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
May 8, 2007
Bishop Ben Chamness
|
The pension agency of The United Methodist Church has sent a letter
of protest to the Internal Revenue Service over the U.S. tax agency's
garnishment of a retired clergyman's pension.
However, the Rev. John Schwiebert says he is disappointed that the
only action taken by the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health
Benefits is the May 4 letter.
A volunteer pastor of Metanoia Peace Community United Methodist
Church in Portland, Ore., Schwiebert is a long-time "war tax" resister.
Since 1977, he and his wife, Patricia, have refused to support the U.S.
military by withholding all or part of their federal income tax.
Since the beginning of 2007, approximately half of his monthly $3,000
pension payments have been deducted involuntarily because of an IRS
levy claiming Schwiebert owes the government $7,500 for the 2002 and
2003 tax years. Five payments had been deducted by early May.
In January, the Schwieberts asked pension board directors to consider
an alternative to complying with the levy. The directors voted
unanimously in April to continue complying, but to send the IRS the
board's own letter of protest.
The letter objects to the board’s role as "collection agent" while
acknowledging "its obligation to obey the law." It was signed by Bishop
Ben R. Chamness, chairman of the agency’s board of directors.
A check for the levy was enclosed with the letter, which stated: "We
forward this amount under protest, however, feeling strongly that the
levy forces us to be a collection agent for the IRS in a dispute between
the federal government and a church member who is acting out of
conscience and long-standing church teaching."
Noting that The United Methodist Church officially supports
conscientious objection to all war, including the payment of taxes for
military purposes, the letter pointed out that the money owed by the
Schwieberts "are amounts that they quite openly refused to pay because
of religiously based conscientious objection to the primary purposes for
which the money was to be used, namely U.S. military activity,
including the war in Iraq.
"Their recent action is consistent with numerous other conscientious
acts of civil disobedience or non-cooperation they have undertaken
throughout the last 30 years and for which they have both incurred
penalties, including the seizure of personal savings and property," the
letter continued.
"In some years, they have forfeited more than double the amount of
the income tax owed because they 'redirected' the amounted owed to
nonprofit agencies, only to have the IRS seize the same amount plus
penalties."
Schwiebert said he appreciated the board's letter to the IRS but
called it a minimal response to his appeal for support. "(The letter)
was an action that carries no risk and will be fairly easy for the IRS
to ignore," he told United Methodist News Service.
"We
forward this amount under protest, … feeling strongly that the levy
forces us to be a collection agent for the IRS in a dispute between the
federal government and a church member who is acting out of conscience
and long-standing church teaching."
– Bishop Ben R. Chamness to the IRS
"What we were hoping was that the board itself could engage in civil
disobedience," he added, acknowledging such action might have to be
authorized by a higher body, such as General Conference, the church’s
top legislative body, which meets every four years.
The board's letter informed the IRS that the reduction in
Schwiebert’s monthly pension benefit created a hardship for the
Schwieberts and the household where they live with a small group of
people "in an intentional Christian servant community affiliated with
their local United Methodist Church."
Because the denomination’s Social Principles support conscientious
objection, the levy "has, in essence, coerced the General Board into
violating one of the church’s deeply held principles of faith," the
letter declared. "It has put the General Board in a position of
punishing Rev. Schwiebert’s conscience, as opposed to supporting it, as
the church so clearly teaches."
The letter urged the IRS "to investigate the enactment of new federal
laws, such as H.R. 2631, proposed in 2005, that provide for alternative
tax payments for conscientious objectors to war in the same way that
selective service laws provide for alternative service for conscientious
objectors to military service."
Schwiebert believes there should be a way for the church "to say no
to the government of any country in which it has a presence" when that
government’s actions, such as engaging in war, are inconsistent with the
teachings of Jesus Christ.
He does not plan legal actions but rather to work to raise the
consciousness of the church, possibly by writing proposed legislation
for the 2008 General Conference to allow the pension board to refuse to
cooperate with the IRS.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Related Articles
United Methodist pastor to appeal IRS levy on pension check
Church provides spiritual home in more ways than one
Portland churches reach out in variety of ways to needy
Resources
Board of Pensions
Metanoia peace community
War tax resistance |