The Southern Baptist Conference stays an overwhelmingly conservative denomination, however new information suggests the individuals within the pews are extra politically various than generally assumed. A Lifeway Analysis survey, sponsored by the Land Heart for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, discovered that 75 % of SBC pastors and church leaders establish with the Republican Occasion, in comparison with 58 % of lay individuals.
Though solely 7 % of Southern Baptist pastors and leaders establish as Democrats, 26 % of SBC laypeople do. As well as, lay individuals are extra prone to establish as impartial than pastors and leaders (15 % for lay individuals, in comparison with 11 % for pastors/leaders).
Taken collectively, the info suggests 42 % of Southern Baptist laypeople don’t establish with the GOP, in comparison with 25 % of pastors and leaders who reject the Republican label. SBC lay individuals are 3 times extra possible than SBC pastors and leaders to establish as average/center of the street, with 22 % of churchgoers figuring out with that label and solely 7 % of pastors/leaders doing so. Whereas 80 % of pastors/leaders take into account themselves conservative or very conservative, 56 % of lay individuals do. About 2 % of pastors/leaders and about 15 % of lay individuals establish as liberal.
The info was included in a brand new survey that discovered SBC pastors/leaders and lay individuals reject key tenets of Christian nationalism. In accordance with the survey, 62 % of SBC pastors and leaders and 58 % of SBC church members agree that “the federal government shouldn’t favor any explicit faith or spiritual perception.” Moreover, 85 % of pastors/leaders and 81 % of church members say “authorities shouldn’t favor one faith over one other.” In the meantime, 95 % of SBC pastors/leaders and 92 % of church members agree that “spiritual freedom is a precept that ought to apply to all individuals and religions,” the survey discovered.
The survey passed off in January.
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Michael Foust has lined the intersection of religion and information for 20 years. His tales appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity As we speak, The Christian Publish, and Leaf chronicle, and Toronto Star and Knoxville Information-Sentinel.
