The Presidential Prayer Team, a ministry that has declared itself bipartisan, has lost members due to what it called “targeted” advertising on its weekly prayer e-mails by the Democratic National Committee.

“The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has targeted this Prayer Team’s weekly prayer updates on several free e-mail providers with an advertising link that appears right above our e-mail,” the team wrote in a July 27 “member alert.”

“Sadly, we have experienced increased drop-out rates (people canceling their memberships to PPT) which we believe is clearly linked to these ads.”

Jim Bolthouse, the team’s executive director, said hundreds of members have been lost due to the DNC advertising links, The Associated Press reported.

A spokesman for the DNC told the AP that the ads were not aimed specifically at the group but were attached to e-mails that contain specific key words.

The team says it is connected to 1.48 million households, to which it sends a weekly list of “featured leaders for prayer.”

“This Prayer Team will remain politically neutral, but will expose and stand for or against any issue which opposes biblical principles – such as the sanctity of life, marriage and the family or Christian religious freedoms,” it said in the alert.

See an earlier RNS story about the ministry – when it lost and gained members with the change in administration – here.