TruthBook Religious News Blog

Robert P. Jones and Daniel Cox

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Just a generation ago, mainline Protestant clergy were made up almost exclusively of men. Over the last two decades, the number of women clergy in the mainline increased nearly three-fold, from only 7% in 1989 to 1-in-5 (20%) in 2008. While still a minority in the church, as the percentage of women in the ministry continues to grow, female clergy have the potential to dramatically shift the balance of opinion of mainline churches and denominations on a variety of key issues. They will also increasingly influence mainline congregants, who make up nearly one-quarter of all voters and 18% of the general population--an estimated 40.7 million Americans.

The Clergy Gender Gap on Social Issues

Consider the stark gender differences on the volatile issue of same-sex marriage, which most mainline denominations have been fiercely debating over the last few years. Nearly 6-in-10 (58%) female clergy believe that gay couples should be allowed to marry, compared to only about one-quarter (27%) of male clergy--a gap of more than 30 points.

This clergy gender gap is more than three times as large as the gender gap among all Americans. One-third of all women support allowing gay couples to be married legally, compared to one- quarter of men, an 8-point gap. Among all mainline Protestants, the gap between men and women is even smaller at 5 points (31% to 36% respectively).

This pattern is also clear on the issue of abortion, where the clergy gender gap is 34 points. Nearly 8-in-10 (78%) female clergy say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared to only 44% of male clergy. Among all Americans, the gender gap is only 5 points on this issue, and among mainline Protestant laity, the gap is only 3 points.

The Clergy Gender Gap on Economic Issues, Priorities, and Political Identity

But this fault line between male and female clergy is not just confined to social issues. We found double-digit gender gaps also on key economic issues and issue priorities as well.

For example, 9-in-10 female clergy say that the federal government should do more to solve social problems such as unemployment, poverty, and poor housing. Among male clergy, about three quarters (76%) agree. More than 8-in-10 female ministers say that more environmental protection is needed, even if it raises prices or costs jobs, compared to two-thirds of male ministers. And 85% of female clergy support the government guaranteeing health insurance for all citizens, even if it means raising taxes, compared to about 6-in-10 (63%) male clergy.

Female clergy also hold starkly different issue priorities than their male colleagues. Half of all female clergy say that social welfare problems, like poverty, education and health care are the most important issues in the country that the church should address, compared to only about one-third (34%) of male clergy. Male clergy are more than twice as likely to cite cultural issues like abortion or same-sex marriage as most important (12% to 5% respectively).

These different issue positions, not surprisingly, lead to divergent political identities. More than three-quarters of female pastors identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared to half of all male clergy. Male clergy are about four-times more likely to identify with the Republican Party (40% to 11% respectively). Likewise, nearly three-quarters (74%) of female ministers identify as liberal, compared to about 4-in-10 (42%) male ministers.

Here, as above, the clergy gender gap far exceeds the gender gap in the general population. Overall, women are only slightly less likely than men to identify as Republican (25% vs. 30% respectively), and the proportions of women and men overall who identify as liberal are nearly identical (24% vs. 25% respectively).

Labels: clergy, Daniel Cox, gender, Mainline Protestant Clergy Voices Survey, protestants, Robert P. Jones

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Friday, March 06, 2009

ASKING THE CLERGY: Is there a relationship between art and religion?

February 28, 2009

Rabbi Johanan Bickhardt, Congregation Beth Sholom, Long Beach:

Without question, there is a powerful relationship between art and religion. Scripture tell us in Genesis 28:2: "You shall make Holy Vestments ... for honor and splendor." The direct commandment to create vestments that are enticing and aesthetically pleasing were to provide splendor into the holy service and bring honor to the office to those who held it. Houses of worship through the centuries always have had an eye for adornment and to create an atmosphere that was spiritually uplifting... In the words of the great 20th century writer Franz Werfel (1890-1945); "Religion is the everlasting dialogue between humanity and God. Art is its soliloquy."

Pastor James Lupis, Grace and Truth Church, Coram:

Since the beginning of time, there has always been a relationship between art and religion. Before the written word, man communicated what he felt and believed by art. I believe that in this world today, which has become mostly visual, art can be a great way to communicate our belief in God...Jesus painted pictures in the minds of men and women in the form of parables. The relationship of art and religion has never been stronger or more important than the time in which we are living. I believe that men and women and especially children can effectively communicate and minister their personal belief in God through art, and more importantly, glorify him in the process.

Pastor Joseph Costa, Blessed Hope Baptist Church, Coram:

...Art, as well as other forms of creativity, such as music or writing, can be a great way to connect with faith. I also am aware that art does not necessarily have to express anything other than that which its author intended. Some art has certain appeal to some, while it may actually be viewed as offensive to others. My church has sponsored a cable show the past seven years, called "Drawing Men to Christ," where a gospel preacher draws as he preaches. It has proved to be successful in that he keeps the attention of his audience by his artwork while at the same time his message of either salvation or sanctification settles into the soul of the listener.

The Rev. Richard Lehman, director of pastoral care, Long Island Council of Churches, Hempstead and Riverhead:

Art is often expressed in religious ideas and symbols...I think it is great to have art in the church. Art is an expression of a person's creativity. The church should always encourage creativity. I'm a musician, which is another creative expression. Some of the greatest music there is was written for the church. Christmas without "The Messiah" would be a distinct loss. The church would be very much at a loss without music and art.

Labels: art, church, clergy, music, Rabbi Johanan Bickhardt, religion, worship

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Poll: Only 3 Percent of Teens See Clergy as Role Models

By Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Feb. 18 2009

Out of 100 American teens, only three are likely to say they see members of the clergy as role models, according to a survey on teens and ethical decision making.

Scarcely any teens (those under age 18) view their pastors, priests, rabbis or imams as role models. Instead, many reported seeing their parents as role models (54 percent), the survey conducted by Junior Achievement and Deloitte showed.

Friends (13 percent), teachers or coaches (6 percent), and siblings (5 percent) also beat out clergies as role model figures.

Just slightly more than one in ten (11 percent) say they don’t have any role models.

But the poll’s major finding is that although the overwhelming majority of teens (80 percent) believe they are ethically prepared to make moral business decisions, nearly 40 percent believe they need to “break the rules” in order to succeed.

More than one in four teenagers (27 percent) think behaving violently is sometimes, often or always acceptable, according to the poll. One in five teens (20 percent) reported to have personally behaved violently toward another person in the past year.

Furthermore, among those who say they are ethically prepared for business, nearly half (49 percent) say lying to parents and guardians is acceptable. More than three out of five teens (61 percent) say they have lied to their parents or guardian this past year.

As part of the solution to the problem, Junior Achievement and Deloitte developed “JA Business Ethics,” which provides hands-on classroom activities and real-life applications to foster ethical decision making before students enter the workforce. The students compare how their beliefs measure up to major ethics theories and learn the benefits of having a code of ethics.

The youth-oriented organization commented that the results also raise the question of why adults are not viewed as role models by more American teens and what can be done to change this.

Junior Achievement, the world’s largest organization working to prepare youths to succeed in the global market, conducted the survey on 750 teens across the United States on Oct. 9-12, 2008, with the help of Deloitte, an international network of consulting firm

Labels: business, clergy, Deloitte, Junior Achievement, role models, teenagers, violence

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Thursday, November 27, 2008

Clergy invited to participate in unprecedented survey

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, November 24, 2008
[Episcopal News Service] All ordained women in the Episcopal Church -- and 1,500 male clergy -- are beginning to receive invitations to participate in what is one of the comprehensive studies of female clergy by any denomination in recent years.

Every ordained woman -- deacon, priest, and bishop -- will be asked about her aspirations, needs, and experience of how ministry is lived out through her life. The Called to Serve survey is unprecedented in the Episcopal Church for its attempt to obtain responses from those in both paid and unpaid ministry, those actively engaged in ministry, those who are taking time out, and who are retired. It also seeks the input of young new clergy, second-career clergy, those ministering in two-career families, and those ministering as single parents or caregivers.

Inclusion of both women and active and retired men is meant to give comparative data on careers, and men's needs for family leave as well as retirement. It is also meant to help the church understand the way the call to ministry is being lived out in 2008.

The survey is "the first to include and hear the voices of those in non-institutional and non-traditional ministries" in the same survey as those serving in traditional ministries, according to the Rev. Paula Nesbitt, one of two research consultants working on the project.

Nesbitt said her conversations with research colleagues show that the scope of the Called to Serve project is also unprecedented among denominations.

Researchers want to learn about how ordained women and men have ministered in the past, what they think their ministry might be like in the future, and what constraints on their choices they experience, he said.

The survey will consist of a combination of check-the-appropriate-box questions and questions for which people can write fuller answers. The two types of questions are meant to give a more complete picture of ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church, Price said.

There also will be opportunities to volunteer for a confidential research interview.

Coming as it will during Advent, Price said he hopes clergy will consider the survey as a chance to reflect on their vocation, and take the opportunity to share part of that reflection with those who will be influencing ministry policies and ordination preparation in the church. The study is expected to help the church analyze, improve and sustain ordained ministry as a vocation.

Called to Serve is the third survey of Episcopal Church employees that has been conducted during the 2007-2009 triennium. An earlier survey considered lay employee demographics, the exercise of authority in the employment setting, and compensation and benefits. The second survey studied the way the church provides health care coverage to its employees and the feasibility of changing current structures.

A letter was recently sent to the Episcopal Church's 4,026 ordained women and 1,500 ordained men. The letter says participants will soon receive an email with a link to the online version of the survey. Participants can request a paper copy of the questionnaire. All responses will be anonymous and confidential.

Women clergy who do not receive the letter by December 1 or the e-mail invitation by December 8 should request a link or paper copy by contacting CalledToServe@cpg.org or calling Andrea Van Zile at the Church Pension Group (800-223-6602 x9474). If people think the Church Pension Group may not have their correct mailing or email address, they can also contact customer service at 800-223-6602 to update that information.

Labels: Called to Serve, clergy, Mary Frances Schjonberg, ministry, vocation, women

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Halo 3: Effective Outreach Bait or Not Fit for Church?

By Nathan Black
Christian Post Reporter

Mon, Oct. 08 2007

Another massively popular Halo video game is out, which means another controversial opportunity for churches to outreach to youth.

Already passed $300 million in sales, Halo 3 is being picked up by some churches to draw youth, causing some Christians to shake their heads.

Five years after Halo 2 was released, Halo 3 gives loyal gamers answers to what happens in the end with all those angry aliens and to the game's mysterious, armor-clad protagonist.

Microsoft Corp. announced last week that Halo 3 has become a global phenomenon and the game is one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.

Given that, hundreds churches are utilizing Halo as an effective tool for outreach.

“We play Halo, take a break and have something to eat, and have a lesson,” said Austin Brown, 16, of Sweetwater Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., explaining that the pastor tried to draw parallels “between God and the devil."

Youth ministries specialist Lane Palmer of the ministry Dare 2 Share says the game speaks to the very real spiritual war going on today.

Dare 2 Share encourages youth to use Halo 3 as conversation starters to witness to their friends.

Studies have shown the negative influence of media, including video games, on young people. A recent Barna Group poll revealed that American children will have seen countless murders among the more than 30,000 acts of violence that they are exposed to through television, movies and video games.

But youth workers say churches need to be up-to-date on the latest cultural trends especially something that young people are inevitably going to participate in.

An Ellison Research study found that churchgoers and pastors are not very familiar with video and computer games. Half of lay people are not informed and more than 70 percent of clergy are disengaged from that area of culture.

"Pastors need to be informed about what’s out there in order to understand how the culture is influencing the people they are trying to reach," said Ellison Research President Ron Sellers.

But how relevant is too relevant especially when it involves killing?

Halo 3, for example, is rated “M” for mature audiences.

Still, Christian gamers online say "it's a way to fellowship."

And others call it a fishing hook.

"Teens are our fish," Gregg Barbour, youth minister of Colorado Community Church in the Englewood area of Denver, told the Times. "So we’ve become creative in baiting our hooks."

Since the Sept. 25 launch of Halo 3, more than 2.7 million people have logged on to Microsoft's online service, Xbox Live, to collectively play 40 million hours of "Halo 3" with other gamers, Microsoft reported.

In the game's first 24 hours on sale in the United States, sales hit $170 million, the company added.

Labels: Barna Group, church, clergy, Halo, Nathan Black, youth

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Thursday, September 06, 2007

They can pray; can they lead?

September 4, 2007
Sandy Sasso

This past summer a survey by the Pew Research Center highlighted those characteristics that would make a person less likely to support a presidential candidate. Some of the results were heartening. The majority of respondents said that it made no difference if the candidate were black, Hispanic or a woman. When race, ethnic background and gender no longer determine a person's electability, then we have reason to celebrate.

Such knowledge about the American electorate might help to refocus the questions addressed to candidates. We can stop worrying about whether a person is black enough or woman enough or charismatic enough and start focusing on whether an individual is wise enough, visionary enough and knowledgeable enough to be president.

The survey offered other good news. More than half the people questioned indicated that it made no difference if a candidate were divorced or even had an extramarital affair. Perhaps this is an indication that Americans have decided it is time we stopped prying into candidates' private matters and making soap operas out of the lives of politicians. There is too much at stake for our country and the world.

The truth is that a person who might not be a good choice for a spouse might just be a great president. The truth is that we might just have more people interested in running for office if they had to worry less about skeletons in their home closets and more about domestic and international issues that will affect how secure we feel in our own homes.

But the survey pointed to some reasons for concern. The majority of respondents, 63 percent, indicated that they would be less likely to support a candidate who did not believe in God. That figure is more than 20 percent higher than the 46 percent of people who would be less likely to support a candidate who had no college education. And while Americans seem less concerned than in the past about what particular faith an individual politician affirms, a significant 39 percent would be more likely to support someone who is Christian.

There is reason to worry when issues of faith trump education, when what individuals believe is more important than what they know, when praying is of greater significance than learning.

Those running for office are well aware of the American predilection for belief in God. So they clamor to outdo one another in showing just how pious they are. They know that they have to be religious enough to get elected.

I am a member of the clergy, but I do not feel any more confident in a candidate's ability to run our country when I see him or her coming out of church, synagogue or mosque fresh from worship.

There is no doubt that belief in God can be good. It can be the foundation of moral character, responsibility and compassion. It can be a bulwark against complacency, selfishness and greed. But it isn't always. We all know of those who have professed belief in God and lived immorally. Everywhere in the world, there are people who oppress and go to war in God's name.

Religion can make good people better, but it can also make bad people worse by allowing them to believe without question that their decisions are already endorsed. The results of bad religion continue to make headlines in acts of terrorism, bigotry and violence.

We shouldn't be judging candidates by their professed belief in God or how many times they are seen attending worship services. It doesn't really tell us anything about how they would lead our country. We should rather be examining what policies they endorse, what they have to say about health care, education and poverty, about terrorism, international diplomacy and peace. In the end, that will tell us more about what they really believe in and what kind of leaders they will be.

Labels: clergy, God, leadership, Pew Research Center survey, politics, religion, Sandy Sasso

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Thursday, May 10, 2007

Higher pay, lower satisfaction

Modestly paid clergy rank at top in job happiness.

By Barbara Rose
Originally published May 2, 2007

The old saw "money can't buy happiness" apparently holds true when it comes to work.

Highly paid professionals such as doctors and lawyers didn't make the cut when researchers set out to find the most satisfied workers.

Clergy ranked tops in both job satisfaction and general happiness, according to the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

Physical therapists and firefighters were second- and third-ranked in job satisfaction, with more than three-quarters reporting being "very satisfied."

Other occupations in which more than 60 percent said they were very satisfied included teachers, painters and sculptors, psychologists and authors.

"The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits," said Tom W. Smith, director of NORC's General Social Survey, a poll supported by the National Science Foundation.

The worker satisfaction study, released last month, is based on data collected since 1988 on more than 27,500 randomly selected people.

For the most satisfied workers, intrinsic rewards are key, the study suggests.

Clergy ranked by far the most satisfied and the most generally happy of 198 occupations.

Eighty-seven percent of clergy said they were "very satisfied" with their work, compared with an average 47 percent for all workers. Sixty-seven percent reported being "very happy," compared with an average 33 percent for all workers.

Jackson Carroll, Williams professor emeritus of religion and society at Duke Divinity School, found similarly high satisfaction when he studied Protestant and Catholic clergy, despite relatively modest salaries and long hours.

"They look at their occupation as a calling," Carroll said. "A pastor does get called on to enter into some of the deepest moments of a person's life, celebrating a birth and sitting with people at times of illness or death. There's a lot of fulfillment."

Others in helping professions also describe their work as a calling. "I believe I was probably put on this earth to make someone's life a little easier, that's what I get out of my job," said Gina Kolk, an Oak Park, Ill., physical therapist who has practiced 23 years. "I love my job. I think it's because I see results very quickly. I see positive things happen to people very quickly. I get rewarded every day by what I do."

Satisfaction generally rises with social status, and higher status often goes hand in hand with higher pay, Smith said. An exception is doctors, a high-paying profession that ranked No. 1 in occupational prestige.

General practitioners earn more than twice as much as physical therapists, averaging $140,370 annually compared with $65,350, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet doctors scored lower in satisfaction and happiness.

Occupations with the least satisfied and happy workers tended to be low-skill manual and service jobs, Smith found.

Roofers, waiters and laborers ranked at the bottom in job satisfaction, with as few as one in five reporting they were very satisfied.

Bartenders, known for listening to other people's troubles, apparently need sympathetic ears: Only 26 percent said they were very satisfied.

Barbara Rose writes for the Chicago Tribune

Labels: Barbara Rose, clergy, happiness, job satisfaction, professions, workers