Pastors Not Aligned: A new survey found that 4 out of 10 of the nation’s Protestant pastors don’t agree with their denomination on political and theological matters. Ellison Research found that 19% of pastors are more liberal theologically than their denomination, 23% are more conservative and 59% say their views align with their denomination’s teachings. Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, notes other differences between evangelical pastors and those in mainline denominations in regard to politics. “60% of all evangelical pastors say that they are on the same page as their denomination politically, compared to only 45% of pastors in mainline Protestant churches. As a matter of fact, over 1/3 of pastors in mainline Protestant churches say that their denomination is more politically liberal than they are.” Denominational leaders need to understand that, when espousing a position on something political, it may be hard to maintain an official position if popular support is lacking among many of the pastors and the laity of the denomination. (PWB 1/10/03)
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