CHURCHES AND POLITICKING

Thirty-one local pastors have asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate two large churches in Ohio they say are improperly campaigning to elect a Republican gubernatorial candidate, The New York Times and The Columbus Dispatch report. The clergy members say that Fairfield Christian Church and World Harvest Church, both in the Columbus, Ohio area, have promoted the candidate, J. Kenneth Blackwell, among their members, allowed their buildings to be used by Republican groups, and violated other restrictions on political activities by tax-exempt groups. The churches, meanwhile, have denied that any of their activities violated such regulations.