WASHINGTON — As the Alliance of Baptists appeals a $34,000 penalty for allegedly violating travel rules to Cuba, two of the five churches charged with breaking the rules have recently received new licenses to visit the island nation.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control informed the Washington-based Alliance in July that five churches — one of which was Birmingham’s Baptist Church of the Covenant — had used its license for itineraries that “did not reflect a program of full-time religious activity” in Cuba, including tourist activities and “beach time.” Two of the churches — First Baptist Church, Savannah, Ga., and First Baptist Church, Washington — received new licenses in March and August, respectively.
John Finley, senior minister of the Georgia church, said his congregation believes it has been “in full compliance of all of the regulations” as it has visited churches in Cuba under previous licenses, including those of the Alliance. “When their license was suspended, we applied for our own and received it promptly,” said Finley, who noted that church members took “an innocent kind of walking tour for which we paid no money” that was led by their Cuban hosts.
Treasury Department spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said she could not comment on particular cases.
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