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PASTOR'S REPORT, April 17, 1979
Page 5
have had the privilege of taking the concept from the first glimmer of
an idea through proposal to Mr. Herbert Armstrong, then through design
to the printed magazine, and on to the newsstands. We are now waiting
for further results so we can evaluate our performance and any changes we
may need to make.
--Roger Lippross, Director of Publishing
STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL AMENDS ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
The Attorney General has amended his charges against the Church, College
and the Foundation and their officials. He has done this by filing an
"amended complaint" in court.
(A complaint is the vehicle by which the
charges in a lawsuit are presented.)
Attorneys for the Church do not feel the Attorney General's amended
complaint supercedes the original one because it was done without court
permission.
In any case, the amended complaint is essentially a rehash
of the first one.
Though some of the most outrageous charges are dropped,
similarly repulsive charges are made in their stead.
Recently the Attorney General fought a motion Church attorneys made before
the cour.t asking that the state bring forth any documents to substantiate
their wild allegations. The Church is convinced that the Attorney General
went ahead and amended all counts in the complaint because he, in fact,
has no evidence of wrongdoing upon which to base his case, and is merely
"buying time" with which to harrass God's Church.
TAXPAYERS' LAWSUIT LOSES ROUND IN L.A. SUPERIOR COURT
On Tuesday, April 10, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Vernon Foster dealt
a set back to the "taxpayers' lawsuit" filed by eleven taxpayers (all
members of God's Church in California) several weeks ago. The suit con
tested the constitutionality of the Attorney General using tax monies to
investigate and harrass the Worldwide Church of God under section 9505 of
the California Corporations Code. The Attorney General relied on section
9505 as his sole authority for his lawsuit (State vs. Worldwide Church
of God) which included the demand for a free-wheeling search of any and
all records of God's Church.
Section 9505 applies to charitable trusts, but does not mention churches.
The Attorney General contends that churches are "charitable trusts," but
it is the contention of the taxpayers' lawsuit that IF 9505 is applied
so as to include churches, the section is unconstitutional and in violation
of the first amendment.
God's Church, as are many other churches in California, is incorporated
as a "non-profit corporation" in order to carry on its business affairs
and to enjoy the appropriate tax-exempt status of a church. It has
always complied with the applicable non-profit corpoiation laws of Calif
ornia. The taxpayer's attorney pointed out to the court that profit
making corporations -- and churches that have never been incorporated -
do not experience such excessive scrutiny, and that there is no reason
to assume that incorporated churches need more watching than other entities.
The attorney for the taxpayers called the court's attention to the U.S.
Supreme Court decision regarding Lemon vs. Kurstman. In this 1971 case