Opinion ID: 2058090
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Operated Primarily for Religious Purposes

Text: [¶ 11] Schwartz contends that the Commission erred in finding that the Mission is operated primarily for religious purposes within the meaning of 26 M.R.S. § 1043(11)(F)(21)(a). We disagree. There is substantial evidence in the record to support the finding that the Mission's purposes are primarily religious, including: (1) the Sunbeam, a boat prominently featuring a cross on its hull, brings pastors to island communities to lead religious services and to provide religious counseling; (2) the Mission pays ministers' salaries in conjunction with coastal and island churches; (3) the Mission offers a Christmas program; (4) the executive director of the Mission is an ordained minister whose ministry is an authorized ministry of the Maine Conference of the United Church of Christ; and (5) eight of the Mission staff members are clergy who have come from the Baptist and Congregational tradition. [¶ 12] The fact that an organization has a charitable purpose and does charitable work does not require the conclusion that its purposes are not primarily religious pursuant to section 1043. Cf. Salvation Army v. Town of Standish, 1998 ME 75, ¶ 5, 709 A.2d 727, 729 (holding that a charitable organization's religious purposes will not remove it from the purview of a property tax exemption); see also Kendall v. Dir. of the Div. of Employment Sec., 393 Mass. 731, 473 N.E.2d 196, 199 (1985) (holding that a center for mentally retarded children established by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi was exempt from unemployment taxation, and emphasizing that allowing children of any religious belief to enroll in the program was consistent with its purpose to promote the spiritual, social, and physical welfare of mentally retarded children). [¶ 13] The Mission was originally established to help build congregations on the islands, to bring pastors to the islands, and to provide services to the island communities. Even as the Mission has adopted new ways to meet the needs of the communities it serves, it has maintained its religious emphasis and function. The fact that the Mission provides health care to islanders and an after-school program for students does not diminish its continuing religious purpose. The Commission's finding that the Mission is operated primarily for religious purposes is not clearly erroneous.