Churches testing the courts on politics

The Chronicle is reporting an impending legal firestorm:

In a test of federal tax law, a conservative legal group is encouraging pastors to preach about election candidates in September, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Alliance Defense Fund hopes a court case will result from this open defiance of tax rules, which bar churches from engaging in partisan politics, and that the restrictions will be struck down by the courts.

Would the current Supreme Court turn back the decades-old ban on electioneering by churches? Would there be an equal protection problem if this was not also extended to other public charities? These and other questions might be answered in the next couple of years...