1. Protestant Pastors Views on the Pulpit and Politics Survey of 1,000 Protestant Pastors

2. 2 Methodology  The telephone survey of Protestant pastors was conducted in May 2012  The calling list was randomly drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Up to six calls were made to reach a sampled phone number  Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called  Responses were weighted to reflect the geographic distribution of Protestant churches

3. 3 Methodology Continued  The completed sample is 1,000 phone interviews  The sample provides 95% confidence that the sampling error does not exceed +3.2%  Margins of error are higher in sub-groups

4. Survey Responses

5. 5 Over two-thirds of pastors disagree that Christians are too involved in politics. 4% Not sure Q.: “Christians are too involved in politics.” Among Protestant Pastors

6. 6 Almost 80% of pastors disagree this political election cycle has been too religious. 5% Not sure Q.: “This political election cycle has been too religious.” Among Protestant Pastors

7. 7 The majority of pastors disagree they endorsed political candidates for public office this year, outside of church role. 4% Not sure Q.: “I personally endorsed candidates for public office this year, but only outside of my church role.” Among Protestant Pastors

8. 8 Nearly 90% disagree they believe pastors should endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit. 3% Not sure Q.: “I believe pastors should endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit.” Among Protestant Pastors

9. 9 Significant Differences Church Size Region Pastor Age Education Level Church Location Evangelical or Mainline Political Affiliation

10. 10 Significant Statistical Differences  Comparisons were made to determine if there are any significant statistical differences among church sizes, region of the country, and pastor age. Each category was divided into four groups. Church SizeRegionPastor Age 0-49 attendeesNortheast18-44 50-99 attendeesSouth45-54 100-249 attendeesMidwest55-64 250+ attendeesWest65+ Notes: Church Size is based on the average weekly worship attendance Region is defined by US Census locations

11. 11 Significant Statistical Differences  Comparisons were made to determine if there are any significant statistical differences among education level, evangelical or mainline, church location, and political affiliation. Each category was divided into groups. LocationEducation LevelSelf-IdentifyPolitical Affiliation Large CityNo College DegreeEvangelicalDemocrat Small CityCollege DegreeMainlineRepublican SuburbsIndependent Rural Area

12. 12 “Christians are too involved in politics.” Pastors in the South (41%) are more likely to “Strongly disagree” compared to pastors in the Northeast (30%) and West (31%) Pastors age 65+ (16%) are more likely to “Strongly agree” than pastors age 18-44 (9%) Pastors age 18-44 (23%) are more likely to “Somewhat agree” than pastors age 55-64 (15%) and 65+ (14%) Pastors age 18-44 (36%) are more likely to “Somewhat disagree” than pastors age 55-64 (28%) and 65+ (25%) Pastors age 18-44 (30%) are less likely to “Strongly disagree” than pastors age 55-64 (40%) and 65+ (43%) Pastors with a college degree are Less likely to “Somewhat agree” (17% to 24%) More likely to “Somewhat disagree” (32% to 20%)

13. 13 “Christians are too involved in politics.” continued Evangelical pastors (39%) are more likely to “Strongly disagree” compared to Mainline pastors (32%) Democrats (17%) are the most likely to “Strongly agree” compared to Republicans (10%) and Independents (10%)

14. 14 “This political election cycle has been too religious.” Pastors in the South (40%) are more likely to “Strongly disagree” compared to pastors in the Northeast (28%) Pastors age 65+ (9%) are more likely to “Strongly agree” than pastors age 18-44 (4%) Pastors age 18-44 (16%) are more likely to “Somewhat agree” than pastors age 45-54 (10%) Pastors age 18-44 (45%) are more likely to “Somewhat disagree” than pastors age 65+ (34%) Pastors age 18-44 (30%) are less likely to “Strongly disagree” than pastors age 45-54 (41%) and 65+ (40%) Pastors with a college degree are More likely to “Somewhat disagree” (43% to 27%) Less likely to “Strongly disagree” (34% to 53%)

15. 15 “This political election cycle has been too religious.” continued Pastors in rural areas (3%) are less likely to “Strongly agree” compared to pastors in large cities (9%) and small cities (7%) Pastors in small cities (15%) are more likely to “Somewhat agree” compared to pastors in suburbs (6%) Pastors in suburbs (49%) are more likely to “Somewhat disagree” compared to pastors in large cities (35%) Pastors in small cities (3%) are less likely to select “Not sure” compared to pastors in suburbs (7%) Evangelical pastors are less likely to “Strongly agree” (3% to 9%) but more likely to “Strongly disagree” (39% to 25%) Democrats (16%) are the most likely to “Strongly agree” while Republicans (1%) are the least likely with Independents (5%) in between. Republicans (8%) are the least likely to “Somewhat agree” Democrats (18%) are the least likely to “Strongly agree” while Republicans (45%) are the most likely with Independents (35%) in between.

16. 16 “I personally endorsed candidates for public office this year, but only outside of my church role.” Pastors of churches 0-49 (26%) are the most likely to “Somewhat agree” Pastors of churches 0-49 (23%) are less likely to “Strongly disagree” compared to pastors of churches 100-249 (38%) and 250+ (35%) Pastors in the West (41%) are more likely to “Strongly disagree” compared to pastors in the South (32%) and Midwest (31%) Pastors age 65+ (39%) are more likely to “Strongly agree” compared to pastors age 18-44 (22%) Pastors age 45-54 (22%) are the most likely to “Somewhat agree” Pastors age 65+ (24%) are less likely to “Strongly disagree” than pastors age 18-44 (39%) and 55-64 (33%) Pastors with a college degree (15%) are less likely to “Somewhat agree” compared to pastors without a college degree (23%) Pastors in small cities (35%) are the most likely to “Strongly agree”

17. 17 “I personally endorsed candidates for public office this year, but only outside of my church role.” continued Evangelical pastors (20%) are more likely to “Somewhat disagree” compared to Mainline pastors (14%) Differences by political affiliation Independents (23%) are the least likely to “Strongly agree” compared to Democrats (39%) and Republicans (31%) Republicans (19%) are more likely to “Somewhat agree” than Independents (11%) Democrats (8%) are the least likely to “Somewhat disagree” compared to Republicans (20%) and Independents (21%) Independents (42%) are more likely to “Strongly disagree” than Republicans (26%)

18. 18 “I believe pastors should endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit.” Pastors of churches 0-49 (7%) are the most likely to “Strongly agree” Pastors in the South (6%) are more likely to “Strongly agree” compared to pastors in the Midwest (2%) Pastors age 65+ (7%) are more likely to “Strongly agree” compared to pastors age 18-44 (2%) and 55-64 (3%) Pastors age 55-64 (75%) are more likely to “Strongly disagree” compared to pastors age 45-54 (67%) Pastors with a college degree are Less likely to “Strongly agree” (3% to 7%) Less likely to “Somewhat disagree” (15% to 22%) More likely to “Strongly disagree” (73% to 62%) Pastors in large cities are Least likely to “Strongly agree” (0%) Least likely to “Somewhat disagree” (6%) Most likely to “Strongly disagree” (81%) Most likely to select “Not sure” (7%)

19. 19 “I believe pastors should endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit.” continued Evangelical pastors as compared to Mainline pastors are More likely to “Somewhat agree” (8% to 4%) More likely to “Somewhat disagree” (17% to 9%) Less likely to “Strongly disagree” (68% to 83%) Differences by political affiliation Republicans (5%) are more likely to “Strongly agree” than Democrats (1%) Republicans (10%) are more likely to “Somewhat agree” compared to Democrats (1%) and Independents (5%) Democrats (8%) are less likely to “Somewhat disagree” compared to Republicans (20%) and Independents (16%) All three groups “Strongly disagree” at significantly different levels; Republicans (62%), Independents (74%), Democrats (90%)

20. Protestant Pastors Views on the Pulpit and Politics Survey of 1,000 Protestant Pastors