A new study shows more than 9 in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors (93%) say their church has engaged in at least one of six ways to bring attention to Christians suffering persecution within the past year.
According to a Lifeway Research study. Around 1 in 14 (7%) say they haven’t done any of those six, and less than 1% aren’t sure.
“The United States has extensive freedom for people to practice their faith without fear of retribution,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Despite the distance from persecution, pastors and churches are not ignoring the persecution Christians are experiencing throughout the world.”
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Prayers for the persecuted
Praying isn’t all churches are doing for global persecuted Christians, but it is what the most congregations are doing. More than 5 in 6 pastors say they have encouraged their congregation to pray (86%) or prayed in a worship service (85%) for persecuted Christians worldwide within the past 12 months.
“While persecuted Christians may be hard to reach, churches are bringing requests to God on their behalf,” McConnell said.
Evangelical pastors are more likely than their mainline counterparts to include prayer as part of their churches’ response to persecution. Compared to mainline pastors, evangelical pastors are more likely to say they have encouraged their congregation to pray for persecuted Christians worldwide (92% v. 80%) and have prayed in a worship service for Christians suffering persecution (89% v. 79%).
Pastors in the South are among the most likely to have encouraged their congregation to pray (89%) and to have done so during a worship service (88%). Those in the Northeast are among the least likely to encourage prayer (80%) and pray during a service (78%) for persecuted Christians.
Denominationally, Presbyterian/Reformed pastors are among the least likely to have encouraged their congregation to pray for Christians experiencing persecution around the world (75%) and prayed specifically for those persecuted during a service (72%).
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Aaron Earls and originally published by Lifeway.
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