Pastors have the opportunity to connect with young people over politics and to inform how Gen Z shows up as Christ’s ambassadors.
By Kevin Singer
To what extent a church can engage with political campaigns, and how publicly supportive a pastor can be of a particular candidate, is a matter of ongoing debate. In 2020, Lifeway Research found that while just 1% of pastors endorsed a candidate for public office during a church service that year, around a third of pastors (32%) personally endorsed political candidates outside of their church role, a 10-point jump from 2016.
Often, conversations about pastors’ political influence are clipped at whether or not, and in what settings, they endorse candidates. After all, endorsing or opposing candidates is of most interest to IRS laws. “Church leaders have two choices when it comes to elections:
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