U.S.

Florida church with naked paint parties loses tax-exempt status

/ CBS/AP

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- A Florida church that hosted naked paint parties and slumber-party Sundays featuring the "sexiest ladies on the beach" has lost its tax-exempt status.

The News Herald of Panama City reports The Life Center: A Spiritual Community has been operating a seven-day-a-week party called Amnesia: The Tabernacle since Feb. 28.

A sign on the door says events are alcohol and drug free, but Sheriff Frank McKeithen calls the party atmosphere a "blatant slap in the face" to taxpayers. He says church officials are "trying to get around the laws."

Patrons are charged a "donation" of $20 at the door. On the walls inside are T-shirts emblazoned with obscene gestures and signs that say "I hate being sober."

This led Property Appraiser Dan Sowell to change the tax-exempt status.

"I've been in a lot of nightclubs and I've been in a lot of churches," Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman told the News Herald. "That isn't a church."

First published on March 11, 2015 / 2:28 PM EDT

© 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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