Rev. J. Lawrence Turner doesn’t tell his congregation who to vote for. He believes they don’t need him to.
“I believe in the character, integrity and the intelligence of our congregants,” said Turner, senior pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church. “They can make a faith-informed decision about who they might vote for, without my endorsement.”
But a pending federal court decision may soon make it easier for some pastors to do just that — endorsing candidates from the pulpit without risking their church’s tax-exempt status. The move has some Memphis faith and nonprofit leaders on alert, warning it could help create a religious hierarchy and weaken democratic norms.
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At issue is a proposed consent decree between the IRS and two Texas churches that would limit the agency’s ability to enforce the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 law that bars 501(c)(3) nonprofits — including religious institutions — from endorsing political candidates.
As part of the lawsuit National Religious Broadcasters et al. v. IRS, the IRS filed a consent decree on July 7, stating it would no longer enforce the Johnson Amendment against the named plaintiff churches — specifically Sand Springs Church and First Baptist Church of Waskom — when they speak about electoral politics during worship. The case is under review in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and wouldn’t overturn the Johnson Amendment, but the proposed consent decree could future reduce enforcement — setting a potentially far-reaching precedent.
Kevin Dean, CEO of Tennessee Nonprofit Network, said the litigation in Texas is “pretty narrow,” but the definitions are still unclear. “Honestly, we’re still trying to figure this all out. We don’t quite know how the IRS is defining all of this.”
Still, Turner warns it could signal broader changes in federal enforcement when oversight has already been lax and inconsistent. He worries that relaxing the rules would put pastors in a difficult position — especially in churches like his, where the pulpit has long been used to organize around local and national issues but not make political endorsements. For Turner, the risks aren’t abstract. Two members of his congregation are candidates for Shelby County mayor.
“Who decides who the congregation is going to endorse? Is it the pastor? Is there going to be some sort of a straw poll taken by the congregation?, “ he asked. “I think we get into muddy waters.”
The churches in the lawsuit, represented by First Liberty Institute, argue the law violates their First Amendment rights. This consent decree formalizes a defense based on free speech and religious freedom that has been used to defend other recent legal changes, such as the expansion of religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws, the right of employers to deny contraceptive coverage on religious grounds and the allowance of public funding for religious schools. While it’s unlikely the Johnson Amendment will be struck down entirely, the case could encourage others to push boundaries and use the consent decree as a precedent.
Dean noted that until about a decade ago, the Johnson Amendment was a largely nonpartisan safeguard. “It was generally accepted as a good thing by both sides of the aisle,” he said. That shifted in 2017, when an effort to repeal the provision in the federal tax bill nearly succeeded.
Mississippi Boulevard’s social justice ministry focuses on voter turnout and civic education, and Turner sees that work as distinct from candidate endorsement — and essential to the church’s mission. He worries that weakened rules may blur the line in how federal enforcement views civic engagement, and if it will be politicized.
He also sees practical risks. For instance, his church partners with local nonprofits to deliver food, health care and housing support. If churches start backing candidates, he worries those partnerships — and the services they make possible — could be jeopardized.
These concerns come at a critical time, as his church’s food pantry has seen a 50% spike in demand since February. With federal nutrition funding frozen, Medicaid expansion blocked in Tennessee and regional hospitals closing, Turner expects pressure on faith-based providers to grow. “Our people need us,” he said. “We have to come alongside these institutions.”
Dean warned that loosening enforcement could erode the public trust that nonprofits rely on. “It’s the currency of nonprofits and churches,” he said, adding that people may begin to question whether aid is based on political affiliation rather than need. He fears such a shift could divert scarce resources from core missions into political campaigns, turn community connectors into sources of division, and even open the door to “dark money flowing into our houses of worship.”
Turner also worries the decree could further entrench a hierarchy of faith traditions in the U.S., if politically powerful denominations — particularly large white evangelical churches — use the consent decree as justification and are better able to take advantage of looser enforcement.
He worries political power will place Christianity at the top. “And then Judaism and then Islam and other faith traditions. … It’s not who we say we are as a country.”
Jewish and Muslim faith leaders were contacted for this story, but chose not to comment.
Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, shares Turner’s concerns about unequal enforcement. “It’s the next step in permissiveness the right is showing toward Christianity,” she said. “It creates an unfair playing field among 501(c)(3)s.”
Planned Parenthood maintains strict separation between its nonprofit and political arms, a structure common among advocacy organizations. “We do a lot of work to comply with these laws,” Coffield said. “Now it seems like nothing matters anymore. It’s just a big, giant mess.”
As a Christian, Coffield said she’s alarmed by the blending of political and religious authority. “Christianity is not about saying ‘my values are better than yours,’” she said. “It’s not about shoving them down someone else’s throat.”
While Turner and Coffield express concern, some evangelical leaders have long supported rolling back the Johnson Amendment — or ignored it outright. Tennessee pastor Greg Locke has openly defied the law before these proposed changes, endorsing candidates from the pulpit despite IRS rules. Texas pastor Robert Jeffress, a Trump ally, has called the amendment “an assault on religious liberty.”
Local critics say the risk isn’t just legal — it’s about who benefits. Looser enforcement, they argue, may favor powerful white evangelical institutions while leaving marginalized communities more vulnerable to criticism and enforcement.
“I think it’s part of this larger culture war against women and anybody else who doesn’t conform to a certain type of Christianity,” Coffield said. “Because we do know the types of churches that would take advantage of this are the ones that already have conflated their Christianity with politics. And so that’s very concerning.”
Still, both she and Turner are clear: they aren’t changing course. “We’re moving forward,” Coffield said. “Our plan is to be here no matter what.”
“Nonprofit leaders and some faith leaders are very concerned, but I’m not sure the nonprofit sector as a whole understands how potentially challenging this will be,” Dean said. “There are many unintended consequences. I hope there is a robust conversation about this before anything changes.”
J. Dylan Sandifer (they/she) is an essayist and journalist who writes about the impact of federal politics and policy on Memphis for MLK50. Dylan authors Nothing is Inevitable on Substack and contributes regularly to The New Republic.
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