By Roy Hayhurst, GuideStone Financial Resources DALLAS, Texas – A federal district court judge ruled Oct. 6 that the minister’s housing allowance, which allows churches to designate part of eligible ministers’ income as a tax-free housing allowance, is unconstitutional. The judge in the case — Barbara Crabb, an appointee from President Jimmy Carter’s administration — made the same ruling in 2013. That ruling was overturned in 2014 by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. Both the 2013 case and this year’s case were brought by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). In 2014, the case was dismissed by the circuit court of appeals because the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring the case. “We have monitored this case and its predecessor cases closely and will seek as part of a long-standing coalition of ministerial benefit boards to file a friend-of-court brief on appeal at the appropriate time,” said GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins. “The housing allowance, far from being a government endorsement of religion, as Judge Crabb contends, actually removes government from the equation. Were it not for the housing allowance, the government would be imposing a tax on religious employers and … [Read more...]