Recent polling finds evangelical leaders’ recent support for reform has strong backing in the pews

Full religion, values, and immigration poll report and topline questionnaire available here.

(WASHINGTON, DC) Evangelical leaders’ recent show of support for comprehensive immigration reform has strong backing from white evangelical Americans, according to March 2010 national poll on religion, values, and immigration reform.  The poll was sponsored by the Ford Foundation and conducted by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent research organization.

“American evangelicals are strongly in favor of comprehensive immigration reform,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI.  “Pro-reform evangelical leaders have powerful support from people in the pews.  Our survey refutes suggestions by some critics that pro-reform leaders are out of sync with their congregants.”

The PRRI poll shows that while white evangelicals overwhelmingly support a practical approach to reform that includes not only stronger border and workplace enforcement, but also an earned path to citizenship for immigrants now in the country illegally.  When asked to choose between a comprehensive approach to immigration reform that includes an earned path to citizenship over alternative approaches that emphasize enforcement only, evangelicals choose the comprehensive approach by approximately a two-to-one margin (61% vs. 30%).

In fact, nine-in-ten white evangelicals favor an earned path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who are already in the country, with fully two-thirds saying they strongly favor it.   And 83% of white evangelicals - and a nearly identical number (84%) of Americans generally - say that the American economy would benefit if current illegal immigrants became taxpaying citizens.   A majority (56%) of white evangelicals, like most Americans, think the current immigration system is either mostly or completely broken.

Evangelicals are also comfortable with their leaders speaking out on the issue.  White evangelicals say they are very or somewhat comfortable with clergy speaking out about immigration in a local community meeting (78%), in the local media (76%), in adult education classes (74%), in the congregational newsletter or website (58%), and from the pulpit (54%).

Among white evangelicals, this strong support for comprehensive immigration reform coexists with concerns about immigration. For example, evangelicals are more likely than Americans overall to register concerns about the impact of immigrants on the country. A majority (54%) of evangelicals say immigrants are a burden on the country because they take American jobs, housing, and healthcare, compared to 31% who say immigrants strengthen the country because of their hard work and talents.  Americans overall are nearly evenly divided on this question (45% to 43%). It is notable that the number of evangelicals saying immigrants are a burden has dropped 10 percentage points since the question was asked on a Pew Research Center poll in 2006.

“The fact that evangelicals have concerns about the impact of illegal immigration, however, doesn’t mean they don’t support comprehensive reform,” noted Jones.  “They believe the system is broken, that reform should be guided by deeply held values, and that comprehensive reform is the way to fix it.”

Like other religious groups in the country and the general population, evangelicals say four values are very or extremely important as guides for immigration reform policy: enforcing the rule of law and promoting national security (89%), ensuring fairness to taxpayers (86%), protecting the dignity of every person (81%), and keeping families together (79%). White evangelicals are somewhat more likely to say that the biblical value of welcoming the stranger is an important moral guide than other religious groups (65% vs. 53% of the general public).

The full survey report is available at www.publicreligion.org/research/?id=279

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SURVEY SHOWS LUTHERAN CLERGY SUPPORT

ORDINATION OF GAY AND LESBIAN CLERGY

SURVEY SHOWS ELCA CLERGY SUPPORT PERFORMING SAME-SEX MARRIAGES WHERE LEGAL

Contact: Dr. Robert P. Jones, President, 202-425-0277, rjones@publicreligion.org
For the PDF version of this press release, click here.

A majority of clergy who belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) support ordination of gay and lesbian clergy, and a plurality (46%) support performing same-sex marriages in states where they are legal, according to a recent national survey by Public Religion Research. The Clergy Voices Survey is the most in-depth study ever conducted of Mainline Protestant clergy and contained nearly 60 questions related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues in the church and society.

“ELCA clergy are generally supportive of a range of rights for gay and lesbian people both inside and outside the church. Nationwide, a majority of ELCA clergy support ordaining gay and lesbian clergy, and only a minority of ELCA clergy opposes performing same-sex marriages in the states where they are legal,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, President of Public Religion Research, who conducted the study. “ELCA clergy also strongly believe that the gospel message requires full inclusion of gay and lesbian members in the life of the church, and support for ordination and participation in marriage ceremonies of gay and lesbian parishioners are concrete expressions of that theological conviction.”

Seven-in-ten ELCA clergy say that the gospel message requires full inclusion of LGBT people in the church, and a majority of ELCA clergy supports ordination of gay and lesbian clergy . A solid majority (54%) of ELCA clergy says that gay and lesbian people should be eligible for ordination with no special requirements. About one-third (32%) says that gay and lesbian people should be eligible for ordination only if they are celibate, and only 14% say gay and lesbian people should not be eligible at all.

A plurality of ELCA clergy support performing civil marriages where legal. By a significant margin, ELCA clergy disagree with the statement, “Even if it were legal, I would not be willing to perform a civil union or marriage for a same-sex couple” (46% disagree vs. 37% agree). As a matter of public policy, the overwhelming majority of ELCA clergy support either same-sex marriage (37%) or civil unions (44%), and only 1-in-5 (19%) says there should be no legal recognition for same-sex relationships. ELCA clergy are also strongly supportive of other rights for LGBT families and individuals, such as adoption rights, hate crimes laws, and workplace discrimination protections.

A majority (53%) of ELCA clergy report that their views on LGBT issues are more liberal today than they were a decade ago. One-third (33%) says their views have not changed, and only 14% say they have become more conservative.

The Clergy Voices Survey was conducted by mail among a national random sample of senior clergy serving congregations in the seven largest Mainline Protestant denominations. The survey contained over 250 separate questions and generated 2,658 respondents with a response rate of 44%. The findings represent the opinions of senior Lutheran clergy currently serving congregations. The study included a national random sample of 387 Lutheran clergy with a margin of error +/- 5.5%. The Clergy Voices Survey was funded by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Full results of the study, including a full top line questionnaire and detailed methodology, can be found at http://www.publicreligion.org/research/?id=208.

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SURVEY SHOWS PRESBYTERIAN (USA) CLERGY SUPPORT LEGAL RECOGNITION OF GAY COUPLES’ RELATIONSHIPS, ORDINATION OF GAY AND LESBIAN CLERGY

SUPPORT CHURCH DOING MORE TO HELP MEMBERS CONSIDER GAY AND LESBIAN ISSUES

Contact: Dr. Robert P. Jones, President, 202-425-0277, rjones@publicreligion.org

For the PDF version of this press release, click here.

In recent years, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been debating a number of policies related to the place of gay and lesbian people in society and in church life. The 2008 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) authorized the formation of a special committee to study the place of covenanted same-gender partnerships in the Christian community. The committee is currently collecting opinion from members and clergy on this important issue.

This release reflects findings from the 2008 Clergy Voices Survey (CVS). CVS, conducted by Public Religion Research, is the largest public opinion survey of Mainline Protestant clergy ever conducted. Because of the prominence of debates over gay and lesbian issues in Mainline Protestant denominational meetings in recent years, CVS included nearly 60 questions on gay and lesbian issues related to both public policy and church policy. The findings below represent the opinions of Presbyterian senior clergy currently serving congregations. The study included a national random sample of 411 PCUSA clergy; the Research Services Office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) provided the sample.

Gay and Lesbian Members, Conversations about LGBT Issues in Church

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of PCUSA clergy report that they have lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) members in their congregations. Only 1-in-10 (11%) reports that they are not aware of LGBT members, and one-fourth says that they do not know.

Like other Mainline Protestant clergy, the vast majority of PCUSA clergy (96%) say that LGBT persons are welcome in their church. However, there is less consensus about whether “welcome” is equivalent to “full inclusion.” A strong but smaller majority (61%) of PCUSA clergy agrees that the gospel message requires the full inclusion of LGBT people in the church, while slightly less than a third (30%) disagree.

A strong majority (58%) of PCUSA clergy thinks that their church should do more to help members think carefully about LGBT issues. However, a majority (54%) also reports that their congregation has difficulty talking about LGBT issues. Barriers to better conversations are both theological and practical. On the one hand, there is considerable diversity of opinion among clergy on basic issues such as whether the Bible addresses what we understand today as sexual orientation; a majority (53%) says it does not, while 42% affirm that it does. On the other hand, clergy are weighing pastoral concerns. Clergy report that the top two barriers to having conversations about LGBT issues are concerns about creating divisions within the congregation (38%) and congregational discomfort with sexuality issues in general (31%).

Gay and Lesbian Church Leadership

PCUSA clergy strongly support LGBT persons in lay leadership roles, and generally support the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy with some caveats. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of PCUSA clergy agree with the statement, “Qualified LGBT persons should be eligible for lay leadership positions in our church,” compared to 29% who disagree (Note: The survey did not distinguish between ordained and non-ordained lay leadership positions).

Half of PCUSA clergy favor ordaining lesbian and gay clergy without any special requirements, and an additional one-third supports the ordination of lesbian and gay clergy only if they are celibate. Only 15% oppose the ordination of lesbian and gay persons under any circumstances.

Marriage and Civil Unions

More than three-quarters of PCUSA clergy support some legal recognition of gay couples’ relationships. Thirty-eight percent support same-sex marriage, and 38% support civil unions for gay couples. Only about 1-in-4 (24%) say there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship.

When clergy are offered a religious liberty reassurance that the law would guarantee that no church or congregation would be required to perform marriages for same-sex couples, support for marriage increases 14 points to majority support (52%), support for civil unions falls to 24%, and the same number say there should be no legal recognition for same-sex couples (24%).

With regard to clergy roles in same-gender relationship recognition, PCUSA clergy are divided over whether they would be willing to perform a civil union or marriage for a same-sex couple even if it were legal in their state. A plurality (49%) says that they would not be willing, compared to 44% who say they would be willing. Seven percent say they are unsure.

Adoption

Approximately 6-in-10 (61%) PCUSA clergy believe that otherwise qualified gay people should be able to adopt children. Only 1-in-4 disagrees, and 14% say they are not sure. PCUSA clergy are somewhat more supportive of adoption rights for gay and lesbian people than Mainline Protestant clergy overall.

Changing Views on LGBT Issues

More than 4-in-10 (43%) PCUSA clergy report that their views on LGBT issues have become more liberal over the past decade. Nearly an identical number (44%) report that their views have not changed over this period. Only 13% say their views have become more conservative.

About the Clergy Voices Survey

The Clergy Voices Survey (CVS) is the largest survey of Mainline Protestant clergy ever conducted. CVS was conducted by mail between March 3 and September 15, 2008, by Public Religion Research and funded by a grant from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Dr. Robert P. Jones and Daniel Cox served as the principal researchers for the study. The margin of sampling error for the Presbyterian subsample is +/- 5.3%. The full report can be accessed at http://www.publicreligion.org/research/?id=208.

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I wanted to flag this new article I have up on Religion Dispatches. The full text is available here.

The familiar story about religion in public life is populated with stock characters repeating conservative diatribes and constructed from worn plot lines that circle endlessly around wedge issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion. A recent AP story titled “Christians Optimistic but Disappointed in Obama” largely followed this script, focusing heavily on evangelicals, just one slice of the diverse Christian family.

But now, as the late Paul Harvey would say, we are getting “the rest of the story,” as more diverse religious voices are entering the public sphere. What might be surprising to many Americans is the existence of a large number of Christian clergy who are liberal-minded, politically engaged, and eager to be more involved in public debates on social justice issues.

These clergy, who are more concerned with the common good than with sectarian strife, are signs of hope for our troubled times. President Obama’s faith was nurtured in a mainline Protestant denomination—the United Church of Christ—and the data shows that he’ll find in mainline clergy a deep well of support on many of the defining issues of the day. While many conservative religious leaders and pundits continue a tired refrain, mainline Protestant clergy are widely supportive of energetic government action to tackle economic problems like unemployment, environmental protection, and the catastrophe of millions of Americans who lack access to adequate health care.

More than three-quarters of mainline clergy today agree that the federal government should do more to solve broad societal problems like unemployment, poverty, and poor housing. Almost 70 percent say the government should do more to protect the environment, even if it raises prices and costs jobs. And more than two-thirds agree that the government should guarantee health insurance for all citizens, even if it means higher taxes.

This very different public face of Christian clergy is documented in a recently-released extensive survey conducted by Public Religion Research among clergy from the seven largest mainline denominations: United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, American Baptist Churches USA, Presbyterian Church USA, Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This isn’t a homogenous group, and there are some significant differences across denominational lines, but support for an activist, justice-seeking government that works for the common good cuts across all of them….

Continue reading the complete article at Religion Dispatches here.

Wanted to flag this article from The Christian Century covering Public Religion Research’s Mainline Protestant Clergy Voices Survey.  The full article is available here.

Mainline called uncounted force for change

by John Dart

The White House has an oft-overlooked religious ally for solving the country’s social problems through greatly expanded government programs, if a new survey of senior pastors in mainline Protestant churches is a good indication…Though mainline Protestants, declining in numbers, no longer enjoy the political and cultural prominence they had in the 1950s and early 1960s, they should not be counted out, Jones said.

Mainline Protestants make up 18 percent of all Americans and nearly a quarter of all voters, he said, adding that main line clergy are “an important swing constituency that has been moving slowly but steadily away from the GOP since the early 1990s.” At the same time, the clergy reflect the American diversity of opinion on several controversial issues [read the highlights of these findings here]…

Conservative Protestants and think tanks on the right “like to portray [mainline clergy] as ideological leftists, [but] ‘Clergy Voices’ does not find them so,” said religion historian Martin E. Marty in his online “Sightings” commentary March 9. “They have voices in public affairs, but rarely and mildly try to project or enforce social justice ‘dogma.’”

“Politicians who would organize and exploit them, as they do some other religious groups, would have difficulty doing so,” said Marty, a Century contributing editor, because of regional and denominational differences. “Yes, half call themselves ‘liberal,’ because they are not afraid of the label, but a third are ‘conservative.’”

Public Religion Research’s Jones, a visiting fellow at The Third Way, a progressive think tank, said mainline churches value unity in diversity, which amounts to “a real strength” in an increasingly polarized society…

Continue reading the complete article from The Christian Century.

See the full results of the survey from Public Religion Research here.

Mainline Protestants make up nearly 1-in-5 American adults. In 2004, they accounted for nearly a quarter of the total electorate and split their vote between Bush and Kerry. Yet despite this they are too often ignored by much of the mainstream press. On March 6, Public Religion Research released the 2008 Clergy Voices Survey, the broadest survey of mainline clergy every conducted. The survey revealed levels of political engagement among clergy during the 2008 election season, attitudes on social and economic issues, and the public role of the church.

Among the wealth of details revealed by the survey. We found that mainline clergy are strong proponents of amore active role for government. Nearly 8-in-10 clergy say that the federal government should do more to solve social problems like unemployment, poverty and poor housing. More than two thirds agree that government should guarantee health insurance for all citizens, even if it means raising taxes. And nearly 7-in-10 say more environmental protection is needed, even if it raises prices or costs jobs.

To read the full report, click here.