Most Protestant church pastors surveyed support school voucher programs and student-led prayers at public events in public schools, Ellison Research reports.
The Phoenix-based marketing research company found 49 percent of ministers strongly support “giving parents school vouchers to help pay for their children to attend private schools (religious or non-religious) if they choose.”
Twenty-four percent said they somewhat support the idea, compared to 14 percent who strongly oppose it and 13 percent who somewhat oppose it.
Sixty-three percent of pastors affiliated with denominations that are members of the conservative National
Association of Evangelicals strongly support school vouchers. Thirty-one percent of pastors from denominations affiliated with the more liberal National Council of Churches strongly support the school vouchers.
A national sample of 518 active Protestant pastors also were asked about school prayer.
Overall, more than 90 percent of pastors said they support “laws allowing student-led prayers at public events in public schools, such as graduation.”
Surveyors found 67 percent strongly support such laws, 25 percent somewhat support them, 4 percent oppose them somewhat and 3 percent oppose them strongly.
Most pastors also voiced support for “laws allowing educators or students to lead corporate prayer in public schools.” Forty-four percent strongly supported such laws and 39 percent somewhat supported them, compared to 10 percent who opposed them somewhat and 7 percent who opposed them strongly.
The survey found that 89 percent of pastors with ties to the National Association of Evangelicals supported permitting corporate prayer in schools compared to 72 percent of those with ties to the NCC. (Religion News Service)
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