Year In Review: Study Finds Most U.S. Churches Fairly Uninvolved in Politics
December 20, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Despite many portrayals in the mainstream media, a spokesman for one national research firm says two recent studies show few churches in the United States are actively involved politically. In these studies, researchers found that pastors and lay church members generally view their congregations as largely uninvolved in politics.Two studies were conducted by Ellison Research (Phoenix, Arizona) for Facts & Trends magazine. One surveyed a representative sample of 797 Protestant church ministers nationwide, while the other companion survey questioned 1,184 adults who attend Protestant churches at least once a month.
The studies asked each group about their personal political views, as well as how appropriate it is for churches to be politically involved in a number of ways. Of those surveyed, only 6 percent of clergy and only 11 percent of lay church members said they feel their own church is "very involved in local politics or political issues."
And among the clergy and laity polled in the two surveys, in terms of national politics or political issues, the numbers were nearly identical. In fact, Ellison Research's president, Ron Sellers, says politics is "one area where the laity and the ministers basically were of one mind on how involved their church is."
For example, Sellers notes, "we have 76 percent of pastors who say their church is very involved in study of the Bible, 41 percent, very involved in overseas in overseas evangelism or missions; but only seven percent say their church is 'very involved' in national politics or political issues."
Meanwhile, the research company official points out, "You've got a majority of all churches saying that they're either not very involved or they actually avoid political issues." So in reality, he says, "even though the whole church-state separation and involvement of a few churches and things like that are in the news all the time, relatively few churches are really very actively involved in politics."
The studies revealed that the churches most likely to be involved politically are Pentecostal and Southern Baptist congregations. However, Ellison Research reports, even in those denominational groups, few churches go beyond being "somewhat involved" in national or local political issues.
Also, while pastors who are evangelical and/or politically conservative were found to be slightly more likely than others to report some political involvement, the difference turned out to be small. And overall, the researchers report, "there are no major differences in involvement in local politics according to the pastor's theology (mainline or evangelical) or the pastor's personal political views (conservative, moderate, or liberal)."
Ellison Research's report on its study of pastors, churches and political involvement was published in the latest issue of Facts and Trends, a bimonthly magazine produced by the Corporate Communications Office of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
