Pastors in the city of Sacramento are preaching politics.

The spiritual leaders of mostly African American churches have emerged in recent weeks as a new special interest group in city politics, endorsing City Council candidates, attending news conferences and advocating changes in how the city is governed.

It's a phenomenon seen often in East Coast cities, and even some larger California cities, but a deep political involvement by pastors is a fairly new trend in Sacramento.

"We're beginning to recognize that we want to be better stewards of the city," said Bishop Sherwood Carthen of the large Bayside of South Sacramento church. "We want to figure out what it is going to take."

The impact of that involvement remains to be seen, given the pastors' recent success rate at City Hall and their overall limited political experience.

Many of the same pastors wading into politics now were involved in the City Council's contentious redistricting debate over the summer.

Despite testifying repeatedly to the council and marching in a protest through Oak Park, the pastors lost a fight to keep the UC Davis Medical Center campus in the Oak Park council district, moving its representation to the seat for neighborhoods on the other side of Stockton Boulevard.

That defeat drew many in the group to the 2012 elections.

"That struck such a nerve and as pastors, we felt we had a responsibility to get involved in civic matters," said the Rev. Darryl Heath of downtown's St. John Missionary Baptist Church. "We believe it's awakened a sleeping giant."

The pastors are focusing on three issues as the campaign season begins to unwind.

• Several are supporting Mayor Kevin Johnson's latest proposal to change the city charter, a plan that includes a watered-down version of Johnson's previous strong mayor initiative and an independent redistricting commission. The mayor is trying to persuade the City Council to place the measure on the June ballot.

• The group is also supporting local NAACP chair Betty Williams in her campaign against south Sacramento Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell. Williams' campaign distributed an email last month showing a photograph of her posing with 10 pastors.

• Also receiving the pastors' early endorsement was developer Allen Warren, one of four challengers running against Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy in the district covering Del Paso Heights, North Sacramento and other neighborhoods north of the American River.

Voter turnout in both districts is historically low, so any mobilization by the pastors could have an effect.

Still, Sacramento political consultant Andrew Acosta, whose firm has run multiple City Council and other local campaigns, said, "it's yet to be seen just how much influence (the pastors) actually have."

Acosta said Pannell could be a particularly difficult target for the group, given that she has held the office since 1998 and is well-known in her community. What's more, Pannell's husband, Sam, held the seat for five years until his death in 1997, and south Sacramento's most recognizable community center is named for him.

"She is a fixture in that community, and she will have resources to get out there and tell her side of the story," Acosta said. "At the end of the day, you need to say why the voters should be firing their current council member."

Pastors involved in politics will need to tread carefully or risk their organizations' tax-exempt status. Faith-based organizations are prohibited from engaging in political campaign activity to remain tax exempt as 501(c)(3)s, according to the IRS.

However, tax law does not place the same restrictions on church leaders. According to the IRS website, tax regulations are "not intended to restrict free expression on political matters by leaders of churches or religious organizations speaking for themselves, as individuals."

The IRS warns church leaders that they "cannot make partisan comments in official organization publications or at official church functions." Candidates may list pastors who endorse their campaigns, as long they make it clear "titles and affiliations of each individual are provided for identification purposes only."

So far, political literature mentioning the pastors, such as the Williams email, has listed pastors' names, but not the churches they represent. And at a news conference announcing the launch of the mayor's latest charter reform campaign last month, the pastors in attendance did not mention which organizations they represent.

Carthen, Heath and others said they do not make political comments from the pulpit. They said they can spread their message outside church doors, where, they argue, their influence is strong. Carthen's church attracts 1,600 to 2,300 each weekend, he said.

"Whatever influence I carry, I'm grateful for that," said Carthen. "But just because I lead a church, that does not preclude me from endorsing a candidate."

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Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085. Read his City Beat blog at sacbee.com/citybeat.

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