Majority of Protestant pastors do not share political views

NASHVILLE — Protestant pastors may hold strong political views, but most don’t use their pulpits to tell church members how to vote, according to new data by LifeWay Research.

The research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention’s publishing house, LifeWay Christian Resources, found that 84 percent disagreed with the survey statement, “I believe pastors should endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit.”

“We know that pastors have strong feelings when it comes to political candidates and their job performance,” said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research. “But each week when they step into public pulpits in front of sometimes thousands of congregants, the vast majority of those pulpits remain silent on advising others how to vote. They may not approve but they do not plan to tell.”

LifeWay Research conducted phone interviews with senior pastors of 1,000 randomly selected churches between Oct. 7 and Oct. 14. The sample was calculated with a margin error of plus or minus 3.2 percent. A separate survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, meanwhile, found that 5 percent of regular church attendees reported being urged by clergy or other religious groups to vote in a certain way.