WASHINGTON (ABP) -- A recent Bush-Cheney campaign tactic targeting "conservative" churches and their members has triggered disapproval among church-state watchdog groups, including the Southern Baptist Convention and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The campaign reportedly sent out instructions to volunteers in conservative congregations to send their church directories to Bush-Cheney operatives, distribute voter guides to fellow church members and enlist pastors in voter registration drives.

Richard Land, president of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said in a press release that this tactic is a "totally inappropriate intrusion" by a partisan campaign into the nonpartisan ministries of local churches.

Likewise, in an Americans United press release, Executive Director Barry Lynn called the plan "a shameless attempt to misuse and abuse churches" and said that any coordination between Bush and church leaders is illegal. He cited laws that ban involvement in partisan politics by churches and other groups incorporated under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax codes.

A spokesman for Bush's campaign, Steve Schmidt, told the New York Times that the campaign is collecting lists from all different groups, and religious groups have as much a right to participate in the political process as everyone else. Schmidt also said Bush enjoys "record levels" of support from churchgoers.

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