He also predicted the ongoing decline of the liberal churches, based on his extensive research, and his conclusions earned him widespread opprobrium on the Left.
His 1977 study, Why Churches Should Not Pay Taxes, is considered "essential reading" for those who support tax exemptions for religious organizations, according to James Dunn, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs.
[3] Strongly supporting the separation of church and state,[3] he has said that the best thing government can do to help religion is "leave it alone.
He worked as a minister for United Methodist churches in Colorado and New York until 1960, when he joined the NCC.
[2][3] In 1964 he was chosen for a leadership and spokesman role by the coalition lobbying the United States Congress to defeat an effort to promote school prayer.