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TechnoratiWhen citing possible causes of membership losses, 46 percent of mainline clergy disagree that mainline churches are declining because they are becoming theologically liberal; 38 percent agree. American Baptist clergy (51 percent) are the most likely mainline group to credit the decline to theological liberalism in the church while only 19 percent of UCC clergy agree.
The report also breaks the stereotype that mainline Protestants are more focused on social justice and sociopolitical action than individual morality and evangelism.
According to the survey, 69 percent of mainline clergy believe that religious communities should concentrate on fostering both social justice and individual morality. Only 19 percent say religious communities should focus more on social justice; 12 percent say they should concentrate more on individual morality.
Also, 51 percent of clergy say both sociopolitical action and evangelism are equally important. Thirty-nine percent say evangelism is more important and 10 percent say sociopolitical action is more important in the mission of the church.
Other findings:
• 51 percent of all mainline clergy support the legality of abortion in all or most cases
• 65 percent support either same-sex marriage or civil unions
• 54 percent do not support the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in public school biology classes
• 43 percent disagree that evolution is the best explanation for the origins of life on earth
• 78 percent agree that the federal government should do more to solve social problems
• 67 percent agree that government should guarantee health insurance for all citizens, even if it means raising taxes
• 65 percent agree that the U.S. should maintain a strict separation of church and state
• 81 percent say they often publicly expressed their views about hunger and poverty in the last year
The Mainline Protestant Clergy Voices Survey builds upon earlier studies of mainline clergy in 1989 and 2001.The sample was generated by obtaining a random sample of 1,000 senior clergy from each of the seven largest mainline Protestant denominations. The survey was mailed to clergy between March 3 and September 15, 2008. The final data was based on 2,658 respondents.
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