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§ 3.4 PUBLIC CHARITIES AND PRIVATE FOUNDATIONSCHURCHESA church is a public charitable organization and thus is not a private foundation. 344The IRS has formulated a test that it uses to ascertain whether an organizationqualifies as a church. The IRS position is that, to be a church for tax purposes, anorganization must satisfy at least some of the following criteria: a distinct legalexistence, a recognized creed and form of worship, a definite and distinct ecclesiasticalgovernment, a formal code of doctrine and discipline, a distinct religioushistory, a membership not associated with any other church or denomination, acomplete organization of ordained ministers ministering to their congregationsand selected after completing prescribed courses of study, a literature of its own,established places of worship, regular congregations, regular religious services,schools for religious instruction of the young, and schools for the preparation ofits ministers. 345 The courts also generally adhere to these criteria. 346Thus, to avoid private foundation status as a church, the organization mustbe more than an organization that generally engages in religious activities. 347CONVENTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS OF CHURCHESA convention or association of churches is a public charitable organization andthus is not a private foundation. 348The IRS recognizes that the phrase convention or association of churches has ahistorical meaning generally referring to a cooperative undertaking by churchesof the same denomination. 349 However, a tax-exempt organization, the membershipof which is comprised of churches of different denominations, also qualifiesas an association of churches. 350INTEGRATED AUXILIARIES OF CHURCHESAn integrated auxiliary of a church is a public charitable organization and thusis not a private foundation. 351IRS regulations define an integrated auxiliary of a church as a tax-exemptorganization the principal activity of which is exclusively religious and which iscontrolled by or associated with a church or a convention or association ofchurches. 352 Under these regulations, integrated auxiliaries of a church includemen’s and women’s fellowship associations, mission societies, theological seminaries,and religious youth organizations. Schools of a general academic orvocational nature, hospitals, orphanages, homes for the elderly, and the like arenot considered, by these regulations, to be integrated auxiliaries of churches,even though they have a religious environment or promote the teachings of achurch.344 IRC §§ 170(b)(1)(A)(i) and 509(a)(1).345 Internal Revenue Manual § 321.3.346 See, e.g., American Guidance Foundation, Inc. v. United States, 490 F. Supp. 304 (D.D.C. 1980). See also St.Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church v. South Dakota, 451 U.S. 772 (1981).347 See Tax-Exempt Organizations §§ 8.3 and 11.3.348 IRC §§ 170(b)(1)(A)(i) and 509(a)(1).349 Rev. Rul. 74-224, 1974-1 C.B. 61. See also Chapman v. Commissioner, 48 T.C. 358 (1967).350 Id. In general, see Tax-Exempt Organizations §§ 8.4 and 11.3.351 IRC §§ 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) and 509(a)(1).352 Reg. § 1.6033-2(g)(5). 105