42 Percent of Southern Baptist Churchgoers Reject the ‘Republican’ Label

  • Michael Foust CrosswalkHeadlines Contributor
  • Updated Apr 26, 2024
42 Percent of Southern Baptist Churchgoers Reject the ‘Republican’ Label

The Southern Baptist Convention remains an overwhelmingly conservative denomination, but new data suggests the people in the pews are more politically diverse than is commonly assumed. The Lifeway Research survey, sponsored by the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, found that 75 percent of SBC pastors and church leaders identify with the Republican Party compared to 58 percent of laity. 

Although only 7 percent of Southern Baptist pastors and leaders consider themselves to be Democrats, 26 percent of SBC lay people do. Further, laity are more likely to identify as Independent than are pastors and leaders (15 percent for laity, compared to 11 percent for pastors/leaders).

All combined, the data suggests that 42 percent of Southern Baptist laity don’t identify with the GOP, compared to 25 percent of pastors and leaders who reject the Republican label. SBC laity are three times more likely than SBC pastors and leaders to identify as moderate/middle of the road, with 22 percent of churchgoers identifying with that label and only 7 percent of pastors/leaders doing so. While 80 percent of pastors/leaders consider themselves either conservative or very conservative, 56 percent of laity do. About 2 percent of pastors/leaders and about 15 percent of laity call themselves liberal. 

The data was included in a new survey that found that SBC pastors/leaders and laypeople reject key principles of Christian nationalism. According to the survey, 62 percent of SBC pastors and leaders and 58 percent of SBC church members agree that the “government should not favor any specific religion or religious belief.” Additionally, 85 percent of pastors/leaders and 81 percent of church members say the “government should not give one religion preference over another religion.” Meanwhile, 95 percent of SBC pastors/leaders and 92 percent of church members agree that “religious liberty is a principle that should apply to all persons and religions,” the survey found. 

The poll was conducted in January.

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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.