The Southern Baptist Convention remains an overwhelmingly conservative denomination, but new data suggests the pews are more politically diverse than commonly thought.lifeway research investigationA survey sponsored by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Rand Center for Cultural Engagement found that 75 percent of SBC pastors and church leaders support the Republican Party, compared to 58 percent of their congregations. It turned out that it was.
Only 7% of Southern Baptist pastors and leaders consider themselves Democrats, while 26% of SBC members identify as Democrats. Furthermore, laity are more likely to identify as independent than pastors/leaders (15 percent for laity and 11 percent for pastors/leaders).
Put all this together, the data suggests that 42 percent of Southern Baptists do not support the Republican Party, while 25 percent of pastors and leaders reject the Republican label. SBC congregants are three times more likely to identify him as centrist/moderate than SBC pastors and leaders, even though 22 percent of his church members identify with that label. In contrast, only 7 percent of pastors/leaders feel this way. Eighty percent of pastors and leaders consider themselves conservative or very conservative, while 56 percent of their congregations consider themselves conservative. About 2 percent of pastors/leaders and about 15 percent of their congregations call themselves liberal.
This data was included in a new survey that revealed that SBC pastors/leaders and members reject key principles of Christian nationalism. According to the survey, 62% of SBC pastors and leaders and 58% of SBC church members agree that “the government should not support any particular religion or religious beliefs.” Furthermore, 85 percent of pastors/leaders and 81 percent of church members say that “the government should not favor one religion over another.” Meanwhile, the survey found that 95% of SBC pastors/leaders and 92% of church members agree that “religious freedom is a principle that applies to all people and religions.”
The poll was conducted in January.
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Michael Faust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years.His story is published below baptist press, Christianity Today, christian post, of leaf chronicle, of toronto star And that Knoxville News Sentinel.
