I’m not the first to note that the recent Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell vs. Hodges may presage hard times ahead for Churches. Harsh persecution in these United States, such as imprisonment or martyrdom, is wildly unlikely. However, it seems reasonable to expect extant civil rights laws and court precedents to be applied to the prosecution of the “right” to recognition of same-sex marriages. For example, other jurisdictions may follow the New York City decision to refuse to rent public school space to Churches. Similarly, the tax-exempt status of organizations which oppose this new “civil right” may also be threatened at the federal or state level. Such actions would create heavier financial obligations for religious organizations and Churches, as might lawsuits. (Legal bills can run up very quickly.) I should also point out that currently pastor’s salaries are discounted because what they get paid for housing expenses is tax-free: should that exemption disappear, salaries would have to increase to compensate for the additional tax burden.
We may be prepared to surrender our bodies to the flames, but are we prepared with enough money to pay higher rents, tax bills, and pastor’s salaries?
A colleague from my presbytery recently remarked to me that the way we have been “doing Church” in our ecclesiastical circles for the last several decades may soon turn out to be a luxury we can no longer afford.
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