Level of church involvement in selected issues according to clergy, by church size and theology…

Level of church involvement in selected issues according to clergy, by denominational group…

Only a minority of churches are involved in social justice,

politics, personal finances, or social and moral issues

(Original release date:  August 10, 2006)  Research conducted for Facts & Trends magazine uncovered just how involved Protestant churches are with key issues such as politics, personal finances, and evangelism, according to the clergy who minister in those churches, and the lay people who attend them. 

Two studies were conducted for Facts & Trends by Grey Matter Research (formerly Ellison Research) of Phoenix, Arizona, with details about the political involvement of churches. One study is a representative sample of 802 Protestant church ministers nationwide, and the other is a companion survey of 1,184 adults who attend Protestant churches at least once a month.

The studies asked each group how involved their church is in a number of issues.  “Involved” includes the focus placed on each topic through church programs, sermon topics, funding, financial support, Sunday school or Bible study topics, and prayer groups.  The issues included local, domestic, and overseas evangelism and outreach, study of the Bible, personal morality, social justice, personal finances, social and moral issues, the environment, and local and national politics.

Out of all these 11 issues, the only two in which a majority of ministers say their church is very involved are study of the Bible and personal morality (defined as helping individuals live according to God’s plan).  Seventy-six percent of all clergy believe their church is very involved in study of the Bible, 21 percent are somewhat involved, and 3 percent are not very involved.  Less than 1 percent say their church actively avoids involvement in study of the Bible.

For personal morality, 62 percent of all clergy say their church is very involved, 30 percent somewhat involved, and 7 percent not very involved, while 1 percent actively avoid this issue.

Other issues have much lower levels of involvement.  Evangelism and outreach are most likely to take place at either the local level or the international level, with less involvement in domestic outreach outside the local area.  Forty-one percent of all clergy say their church is very involved in overseas evangelism or missions and 37 percent are very involved in local evangelism or missions, compared to only 23 percent that are very involved with domestic evangelism or missions.

While more than 6 out of 10 ministers feel their church is very involved in personal morality issues, just 28 percent are very involved in personal finance issues (such as stewardship, giving, or fostering a biblical view of finances).

About 1 out of every 4 clergy (24 percent) believe their church is very involved in social or moral issues, such as supporting or opposing abortion, gay marriage, or gambling.  Interestingly, while an equal proportion are not very involved in these issues, only 3 percent of all clergy say their church actively tries to avoid social or moral issues.

An even lower proportion – 15 percent – are very involved in social justice issues such as poverty, homelessness, racism, or immigration.  But again, while 37 percent are not very involved, few churches (3 percent) actively avoid involvement in these issues.

Clergy tend to see their churches as relatively uninvolved in politics or political issues.  Seven percent are very involved in national politics, and 6 percent in local politics.  In fact, it is more common for churches to actively avoid political involvement (12 percent for national politics and 11 percent for local politics) than to be actively involved in political issues.

The tested area with the lowest level of involvement was environmental issues.  Just 3 percent of clergy feel their church is very involved in these issues, with 20 percent somewhat involved, 65 percent not very involved, and 12 percent actively avoiding environmental issues.

There are dramatic differences in what churches are involved in according to whether they are from an evangelical or mainline denomination.  Mainline churches are more likely than their evangelical counterparts to be very involved in social justice issues (23 percent to 10 percent), and to be either very or somewhat involved in environmental issues (37 percent to 14 percent).

However, evangelical churches are more likely than mainline churches to be very involved in study of the Bible (84 percent to 61 percent), personal morality issues (71 percent to 40 percent), overseas missions and evangelism (49 percent to 20 percent), local evangelism and missions (44 percent to 20 percent), personal finance issues (31 percent to 18 percent), social and moral issues (26 percent to 14 percent), and domestic evangelism and missions (25 percent to 13 percent).  There are not large differences between evangelical and mainline churches only on political issues at both the national and local level.

Broken down by specific denominational groups, there are even greater differences.  For example, 89 percent of Pentecostal clergy say their church is very involved in study of the Bible, compared to just 55 percent among Methodist clergy.  Forty-four percent of Southern Baptist clergy report being very involved in local missions and evangelism, versus just 17 percent among Lutherans.  And 24 percent of Methodist pastors say their church is very involved in social justice issues, compared to only 8 percent of Southern Baptist pastors.

The people in the pews tend to perceive their church as being more involved in various issues than do the people in the pulpits.  Pastors and laity have similar perceptions about their church’s involvement in study of the Bible, overseas evangelism and missions, and national and local politics.  But laity are more likely than clergy to say their church is very involved in personal morality issues (70 percent to 62 percent), local evangelism and missions (50 percent to 37 percent), personal finance issues (45 percent to 28 percent), domestic evangelism and missions (41 percent to 23 percent), social justice (31 percent to 15 percent), and environmental issues (11 percent to 3 percent).

Among laity, denominational differences are present, but not nearly to the extent they are among ministers.  Essentially, laity of all denominations see their church as fairly involved in many issues, while pastors have widely divergent views of their church’s involvement according to their denominational membership.

For instance, on the issue of personal morality, perceived high levels of involvement by clergy range from 86 percent among Pentecostal pastors all the way down to 32 percent among Methodists (a gap of 54 points), while among laity, the range is from a high of 76 percent among those in non-denominational congregations to a low of 62 percent among Methodists (a gap of just 14 points).

Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research, noted that these findings suggest laity may have a view of how involved their church is that is based in assumptions, rather than reality. “The consistency of laity responses among different denominational groups, and the frequent belief among laity that their church is more involved in various issues than their pastor believes it is, both suggest that lay people may be making evaluations of their church’s involvement that are based on assumptions or guesswork,” Sellers explained.  “Clergy are in a position to know much more about what is actually happening throughout the whole church, while lay people often are involved just in certain areas or activities.”

Sellers also noted that this lack of real awareness of what the church is involved in may hinder ministers who want to increase the church’s involvement in a particular issue.  “If the pastor wants to get the church more involved in social justice issues, for example, and the congregation already has the assumption that the church is involved, they’ll have little motivation to support further involvement,” he advised.  “It’s important that the congregation understand what’s really going on in the church, and what the church is actually doing or not doing, if the clergy wants to increase involvement in a particular area.”

Study Details:

Both studies were conducted by Grey Matter Research (formerly Ellison Research), a marketing research company located in Phoenix, Arizona.  The sample of 802 Protestant ministers included only those who are actively leading churches.  The study’s total sample is accurate to within ±3.3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level with a 50 percent response distribution.  The sample of 1,184 people who attend a Protestant church once a month or more is accurate to within ±2.7 percentage points under the same parameters.

Both studies were conducted in all 50 states, using a representative sample of pastors and laity from all Protestant denominations.  Respondents’ gender, age, geography, church size, and denomination were carefully tracked to ensure appropriate representation and accuracy.

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Level of church involvement in selected issues according to laity, by denominational group…