Alabama churches played a key role in defeating last year’s referendum on lottery gambling. Some of them are now stepping up to the plate to offer other options for funding education in the state.
“Much of their opposition (to the lottery) was based on the slogan ‘There’s a Better Way,’ ” said Wayne Flynt, a member of First Baptist Church, Auburn. “And we figure that evangelicals need to offer positive suggestions.
“To put it another way, we know what Baptists are against, what are they for?” added Flynt, an Auburn University historian.
Flynt has challenged Alabama’s 5,000 churches, synagogues and other religious institutions to “voluntarily give up your tax exemption,” with the money going to public schools.
Auburn leads the way
Leading the way, Flynt said First, Auburn, is donating to the Auburn City School System an amount equal to taxes the church would pay if it were not tax exempt.
Flynt said that amount is approximately $5,000 and will be an annual gift. He adds there are “no strings attached,” with the school system free to use the money as it sees fit.
Reaction to the call to arms has been mixed. Flynt said he’s heard from some Baptists who told him the church is not responsible for public schools.
“That’s kind of discouraging,” Flynt noted.
But not all churches are rejecting the idea, with some considering giving money to schools.
Dennis Wiles, pastor of First Baptist Church, Huntsville, said a church committee is discussing the possibility of taking a “love offering” for local schools. But he stressed the gift would not be intertwined with the church’s tax-exempt status.
“We’re not talking about anything that has to do with our tax exemption,” Wiles said. “We may want to do something that says individuals in our church are willing to make an offering to show what they (educators) do is important to our community.”
While Baptists bitterly fought against Gov. Don Siegelman’s vision of establishing a lottery to fund education, Wiles said any plans by First, Huntsville, to give money to schools shouldn’t necessarily be considered a response to critics who charge Christians should offer other solutions.
“For me, personally, it’s not a response to our governor,” said Wiles. Instead, he said the aftermath of the lottery’s defeat has created a “season of opportunity to show that the Baptist family really does care about education.”
Wiles said he is under the impression the majority of money from lottery revenues would have been used for college scholarships, with his church discussing the donation of money for elementary and high schools.
“I’m much more interested in elementary and high school assistance than college,” said Wiles, who offered the opinion Alabama has too many students who are unprepared for college.
Wiles said he doesn’t see the effort as a violation of the separation between church and state.
Another Huntsville church, Weatherly Heights Baptist, is also considering making a contribution to schools.
“Our church didn’t jump on the bandwagon to defeat the lottery, but a lot of Baptist churches did,” David Freeman, pastor of Weatherly Heights, told The Huntsville Times.
“Since that’s the case, we need to provide some alternative,” Freeman said.
Birmingham attorney Lenora Pate applauded Flynt’s efforts.
“This issue represents a real commitment on the part of the people at Wayne’s church,” said Pate, a member of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Homewood. “I think it’s an interesting challenge and will stir many hearts to examine what’s being done in their community,” Pate observed.
Pate said Flynt has estimated $20-30 million could be raised if all of the state’s religious institutions made contributions. “That’s truly a wonderful thing,” she said.
Variety of contributions
While Pate said her church is considering the idea of making some kind of financial gift to local schools, she stressed money doesn’t have to be linked to a church’s tax exempt status.
She said churches make contributions to education in other ways, such as tutorial programs, day care and after-school programs. “It might be more in some ways, as far as the actual dollar amount (of the service provided),” she said.
Despite criticism of Christians who opposed the lottery, Dan Ireland, head of Alabama Citizens Action Program, said Christians are already involved in helping education — citing some of the same initiatives Pate mentioned
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