80% of Protestant churchgoers want pastors to address hot topics: survey

October 24, 2024

A new Lifeway Research report shows that four out of five Protestant churchgoers in the U.S. say they think pastors should address current issues.

The Christian Post reports that the study, released on Tuesday, indicates that 80% of those surveyed “believe a pastor must address current issues to be doing their job,” while 16% say they don’t and another 4% say they’re unsure.

62% of the respondents said that their pastor addressed current issues either “every week” or “almost every week,” with 23% indicating that they spoke of them “at least once a month.” Only 12% of those surveyed said their pastors spoke of current issues “rarely” or “several times a year.”

Scott McConnell is the Executive Director of Lifeway Research and is quoted in the report as saying that as, “culture increasingly includes fewer overtly Christian elements and more non-Christian ideas, churchgoers are hungry to know what the Bible says about life’s issues.”

McConnell explained: “Churchgoers notice that most pastors are not just preaching from the Bible as a historical document. Pastors seek to explain the original meaning and context, but then apply those principles to issues and situations today. Such application of the biblical text helps churchgoers recognize its relevance.”

According to the Christian Post, the report shows that Methodists and members of Restorationist Movement churches were most likely to believe pastors should talk about current issues while churchgoers 65 and over were most likely to be opposed to the idea.

The report surveyed 1,008 U.S. Protestant Churchgoers online and was conducted in September of 2023.

Photo: top, Credit: Getty Images