Forecast for Congress: stormy weather ahead.

Brace yourself.

When Congress returns from its winter recess this month, the relentless crusade against church-state separation is certain to resume with a vengeance.

High on the list is the infamous Istook Amendment, U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook's plan to erase the church-state safeguards from the Bill of Rights. H.J. Res. 78, the misnamed "Religious Freedom Amendment," was unveiled last March at a press conference attended by TV preacher Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition and other groups that want to repeal the freedom of conscience provisions of the Constitution.

In its first incarnation, the Istook Amendment was 52 words long. Four revisions later, it has metastasized into 86 words and is as dangerous as ever. The scheme would allow coercive religious worship and instruction in the public schools, require taxpayer funding of sectarian schools and other ministries and invite majoritarian religious symbolism at government buildings.

To make matters worse, U.S. Rep. Charles Canady (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Constitution Subcommittee, has asked that the Istook Amendment be placed on a congressional fast track. Some observers think action in committee could take place in the first few weeks of February, with a floor vote by the end of that month or early March.

Is it just a coincidence that this haste comes after a belligerent speech on the subject by Robertson?

Addressing his CC state lieutenants at a closed-door strategy session last fall, he demanded action on the Istook Amendment. "We just tell these guys, 'Look, we put you in power in 1994, and we want you to deliver....This is what you're going to do this year," growled Robertson. "And we're going to hold your feet to the fire while you do it."

Canady, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the other "guys" in the House leadership must be getting extremely warm toes.

Advocates of church-state separation are guardedly optimistic that the supporters of the Istook Amendment do not have the two-thirds vote necessary to pass this constitutional travesty. The scheme boasts 148 cosponsors, an appallingly high number, but far short of the 290 needed for approval.

Nonetheless, amendment backers can count on the full lobbying barrage of the assembled Religious Right forces. Since its introduction, H.J. Res. 78 has been a top priority of the "Christian nation" crowd. And any member of Congress who resists the Istook altar call is certain to catch hell from the Religious Right's minions.

Even if the measure fails, the Christian Coalition plans to use the House vote on its prevaricating voter guides during the congressional elections next fall.

As if the Istook Amendment weren't enough, Congress is likely to take up a second critical church-state issue in the early days of the 1998 session: tax subsidies for religious and other private schools.

Robertson cited voucher aid to sectarian education as another of the demands on his agenda, and that issue has been an obsession of Speaker Gingrich throughout much of his tenure. Gingrich and Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) engineered a virtual blitzkrieg of voucher schemes, hearings and press conferences last fall.

Thanks to a threatened veto from President Bill Clinton, it all came to naught. But Gingrich and company will be back again this year, spoiling for another fight on the subject.

Capitol insiders believe most of the legislative action will focus on an "experimental" voucher program for the District of Columbia. Many public schools there are not performing up to expectations, and members of Congress can use the District's children as guinea pigs in an insidious experiment without upsetting the folks in their own congressional districts. Congress is also considering a kind of "back door" voucher scheme that would allow parents to use money from tax-free savings accounts to pay for tuition and other costs at religious schools. The scheme, pushed by Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.), has the enthusiastic backing of the same Religious Right forces that are pressing for vouchers.

These issues and others mean churchstate separationists face another tough year at the Capitol.