Opinion ID: 1268867
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Must a Pastor be Available and Committed Exclusively As a Clergyman For a Local Congregation In Order To Have An Exempt Residence?

Text: The parties dispute exemptions for three assistant pastor residences. The City urges that these are nonexempt unless a pastor is available and committed exclusively as a clergyman for a local congregation. Two pieces of Catholic property are involved. One is the Assistant Pastor Apartment. [24] Father Grief resided in this apartment during tax years 1979 through 1982. At that time, Father Grief, an ordained priest, was an assistant pastor of the St. Joseph's Church. He spent approximately one third of the year doing pastoral work in the villages, one half of the year in Nome doing pastoral work for both the villages and the Catholic Bishop, and the summer months outside Alaska. The other property was that part of St. Joseph's Rectory where Father Poole resided during the tax years 1981 and 1982. In those years, Father Poole served both as an assistant pastor of St. Joseph's Church and as radio station KNOM administrator. The third property involved was the Lutheran Parsonage. Pastor Mark Houglum and his family resided there in tax years 1979 and 1980. The American Lutheran Church had sent him to operate the Arctic Christian Training School. This school provides leadership education among Native people within the congregation of Our Savior's Lutheran Church. In 1979, Pastor Houglum also assisted pastors in outlying villages and the pastor of Our Savior's Lutheran Church through preaching and other services. In 1980, Pastor Houglum continued his work half-time as assistant pastor of Our Savior's Lutheran Church and half-time as Director of the Arctic Christian Training School. In that year, the church had no other pastor. Pastor Houglum was also Director of Eskimo Ministries. The superior court reversed the exemption denials for these three properties and remanded some determinations for reconsideration. It exempted these residences because they have some direct relationship to a structure used primarily as a house of worship. We affirm the superior court's judgment but for different reasons. Under Harmon, the three disputed residences would not have been exempt. Harmon exempted only residences of religious leaders whose work exclusively and directly related to a local house of worship and an associated congregation. None of the three assistant pastors here were committed exclusively as clergymen for a local congregation. Today, however, we reject Harmon's exclusivity test. The present religious residence exemption statute reflects the legislature's intent to broaden the exemption beyond the residences of spiritual leaders whose work exclusively relates to a house of worship. We based our narrow exclusivity test in Harmon on the words  the residence of the pastor, and suggested that the legislature amend the statute if it desired a broader exemption. 462 P.2d at 439. Apparently the legislature took our suggestion, for the residence segment of the religious purposes list now reads the residence of a bishop, pastor, priest, rabbi, minister or religious order of a recognized religious organization. AS 29.53.020(b)(1) (emphasis added). This small change is significant here since Harmon explicitly suggested this very change. Thus, we hold that the post- Harmon amendment of AS 29.53.020(b)(1) broadened the residence exemption. The statute now exempts the residence of a pastor who is primarily a spiritual leader but who may also be responsible for other church-related activities. This broadening of the exemption permits a practical application to small congregations unable to afford or utilize a full-time spiritual leader. We conclude that Father Grief's residence (the Assistant Pastor Apartment, 1979-82) is exempt because Father Grief was an assistant pastor of St. Joseph's Church and did pastoral work in the neighboring villages. Father Poole's residence (part of St. Joseph's rectory, 1981-82) is exempt because Father Poole was a spiritual leader of St. Joseph's Church. His dual role as administrator of his church's exempt radio station does not preclude the residence exemption. Finally, Pastor Houglum's residence (the Lutheran Parsonage, 1979-80) is exempt because Pastor Houglum did pastoral work for the congregation of Our Savior's Lutheran Church and for outlying villages. His additional role as director of two pastoral organizations does not bar the exemption. [25]