Protestant Pastors Disapprove of President's Performance

(below from FotF's Pastor's Weekly briefing)

A new survey released this week by LifeWay Research shows that 61 percent of Protestant pastors do not approve of President Obama's job performance. According to the Gallup Poll, currently 56 percent of all Americans do not approve of the president's performance.

The research also revealed that:

• Forty-seven percent of pastors who identify themselves as Democrat, strongly approve of the president's performance.
• Three percent of Republican pastors and 10 percent of Independent pastors strongly approve of the president's performance.
• Fifty-five percent of pastors who consider themselves evangelical, strongly disapprove of the president's job performance, compared to 34 percent of mainline pastors.

The same study also asked the pastors about their opinions relating to endorsing candidates from the pulpit. Only 16 percent agreed, either strongly or somewhat, with the statement, "I believe pastors should endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit."

"We know that pastors have strong feelings when it comes to political candidates and their job performance," said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research. "But each week when they step into public pulpits in front of sometimes thousands of congregants, the vast majority of those pulpits remain silent on advising others how to vote. They may not approve, but they do not plan to tell."

The survey, which was conducted October 7-14 of this year, was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 senior pastors of Protestant churches. For the complete report, please visit LifeWay Research.