NASHVILLE (BP)—At 92, Kenny Knox’s social circle revolves almost exclusively around activities at church.

“Other than attending (church), I don’t have a lot of contact with others,” he said.

But like many others, Knox’s congregation, West End Baptist Church in Columbia, Tenn., has suspended public meetings to comply with government recommendations on social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. West End’s worship services temporarily have moved to an online streaming format.

Unable to access online worship

For Knox and some other senior adults, though, that’s not a solution.

Without a cell phone or computer or access to the internet, Knox said he’ll watch preachers on TV or listen to sermons on the radio. But it is not the same as attending services at his own church, either virtually or in person, he added.

Similarly, 89-year-old Ruth Brinkley, a member of First Baptist Church in Oglesby, Texas, has been left without connection to her church’s services. While Knox, a retired farmer, said he’s used to being alone a majority of the time, Brinkley said the sudden loss of social interaction has been difficult.

“My experience has been one of almost feeling alone,” Brinkley said. “But I just take one day at a time and just make the best of it.”

As thousands of churches and their members adapt to participating in church online, it’s likely Knox’s and Brinkley’s predicament is shared by other elderly members.

“Most senior adults don’t have smartphones,” said Jeremy Sanders, Brinkley’s pastor at First Baptist Oglesby. “They still use either a home phone or just a simple phone or don’t have the capability or the knowhow to get online via computer to even watch” a livestream worship service.

Sense of isolation and loneliness

Sanders knows that without weekly church services and the personal connection those provide, senior adults could feel a sense of isolation and loneliness like Brinkley expressed. He said keeping in touch with older members is a priority, and he has encouraged other church members to reach out to the older members.

Because of the higher risk for older people who contract the coronavirus, personal interaction is not advisable. Instead, Sanders suggested, members should call them. And Sanders said he has also encouraged his congregation to call at the church’s service time and play the livestream over the phone.

“If we know that somebody has that elevated risk, call them and allow them to listen to it via phone,” Sanders said. “You can play it or have it streaming and can set a phone close to wherever you’re playing it from and allow them to hear it during the service.”

In addition to streaming services, options for churches could include conference calls accessible to members who either don’t have internet access or aren’t tech-savvy.

‘Not like meeting with a group of people’

Knox’s wife died of Alzheimer’s in 2003. But Knox said he is in reasonably good health and is able to live alone and support himself.

“I’ve been pretty much a loner for a long time,” he said.

He said he’s never seen the need for a cell phone or computer.

“I’ve gotten by all these years,” Knox said. “You get set in your ways when you get my age.”

For now, that means watching other churches’ services on TV or listening on the radio. Brinkley’s options are likely the same.

“It’s not like meeting with a group of people, but it’s the next best thing,” Brinkley said.

Brinkley has had issues with her back and already was limited in her ability to get around. But attending church has long been a priority.

“I miss being with my friends,” Brinkley said. “I love our Sunday school class, and I miss that too.”

Be intentional about staying in contact

Sanders said he views this time as an opportunity to mobilize the church in a new way. Increased communication among church members—and to those who are in need—is critical, he said. But he also noted that if members are intentional and consistent about reaching out to senior adults, some might experience more contact, even if by phone, than was routine before the pandemic.

Brinkley said she appreciates how consistently Sanders and others from Oglesby First have been in contact with her.

“People have been super about calling to check on me and calling to tell me they’re bringing me something for lunch,” Brinkley said. “So, I’m still keeping in touch with people. I have one lady that calls me every morning. She calls and checks on me, and if she sees anything out of the ordinary, she calls.”

But both Brinkley and Knox said they look forward to when the church can meet again in person.

“I just have to pray that we will be able to,” Brinkley said. “It would really be something I would definitely miss if we didn’t get to start meeting back pretty soon.”

CALVERT CITY, Ky. (RNS)—When it came time for worshippers to welcome each other at Pathway Baptist Church, Senior Pastor Mike Donald didn’t hesitate.

“Everybody, wave to the right,” Donald said.

In response, the hundreds of people at the Calvert Drive-in Theatre in Calvert City, Kentucky, turned to their right and waved to the people sitting in the cars next to them.

There was a smattering of honks in place of applause between songs like “Power in the Blood” and “Victory in Jesus” and some prolonged blasts to express appreciation for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and the owners of the theater.

Worship leaders bundled in winter coats stood six feet apart from each other beneath the blue awning, and a deacon in a yellow safety vest led prayers.

“What a sight!” Donald said as he looked out across the cars parked at the theater. The church later counted 134 in aerial photos. “The church has left the building.”

The Calvert Drive-In Theatre has hosted two weddings and a number of concerts, Donald said.

But it hadn’t hosted a church service until March 22, when Pathway Baptist Church—like so many others across the United States—was forced to get creative amid social distancing precautions put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Coming together without coming into contact

Some drive-in theaters—a popular fad in the 1950s but more recently seen as novelties—are reporting a swell of popularity during the pandemic as people look for entertainment that gets them out of their houses but also keeps them a safe distance from others.

Bob Kemp-Baird, pastor of the Daytona Beach Drive-in Christian Church in Daytona Beach, Florida, told Christianity Today he’s been getting questions from churches across the country interested in bringing the past to their present situation.

“Churches are trying to find any way they can to gather people together,” Kemp-Baird told the evangelical Christian magazine. “They’re really feeling from their congregants: ‘We want to come together to worship, but we recognize the health risks. So what do we do?’”

Congregations from a variety of denominations in Kentucky, Texas, Washington and Minnesota are among those taking the drive-in approach at their churches, encouraging members to park their cars on church property and tune in to the service—broadcast on a low-frequency transmitter—on their radios.

At least one Roman Catholic priest in Maryland even set up a drive-thru to hear parishioners’ confessions—what some on Twitter have jokingly termed a “dashboard confessional.”

Separated by car widows but united

Donald admits drive-in church isn’t a new idea.

He grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and remembers churches meeting at drive-ins in the 1970s, he said. He’s familiar with drive-in churches like Kemp-Baird’s in Florida or Robert Schuller’s since-closed drive-in church in Southern California that once boasted the tagline, “Come as you are in the family car.”

That gave him the idea to reach out to the Calvert Drive-In Theatre.

Calvert City is a small town, and, he said, “Everybody knows everybody around here.” That includes the owners of the popular theater, where Pathway was already planning a family night for the fall.

Historically, churches never have run away in fear but, rather, have found ways to gather, Donald said. Like many pastors across the country, he had livestreamed a service the weekend before from a church conference room for congregants to watch safely at home.

“There’s still something to be said about being in the vicinity, in the presence of another believer, and we experienced that. That’s what we experienced that day” at the drive-in, he said. “Even though there were car windows that separated us, we were gathered as a body of Christ.”

Donald said Pathway hopes to meet at the drive-in again but will change those plans as needed. The church is paying close attention to guidance from Gov. Beshear, who, Donald said, is doing “a great job.”

Theater owner “really excited’

Paula Harrington’s husband, John, runs the Calvert Drive-In Theatre. His 108-year-old grandmother, Evelyn, built the theater with her husband in the 1950s and still owns it, she said.

Harrington, a children’s minister at a Church of Christ congregation in nearby Paducah, said they’ve always talked about hosting a church service at the theater.

They never imagined it would be under these circumstances.

Harrington said they thought it was “neat” when Pathway asked to use the drive-in for its service this past Sunday.

But they started to question their decision to make the theater available to the church after hearing about another church in Kentucky that had continued to meet after the governor recommended all churches in the commonwealth cancel services.

The comments online about the church were negative, she said. One visitor at the church tested positive for COVID-19. They worried something similar might happen if people didn’t stay in their cars and respect social distancing during the drive-in service.

Then Beshear was asked during his daily updates on the commonwealth’s response to the coronavirus about churches planning to host drive-in services.

“I believe that this is a creative solution as long as there is the distancing between those cars,” he said. “Again, we want to see creativity. We want to see ways we can continue to connect. But they have to make sure they follow that guidance.”

To Harrington’s relief, Kentucky’s commissioner of public health concurred with the governor on live TV.

After that, she said, they were “really excited.”

“It is just so thinking outside the box, and that’s what the church really needs to do. Even though change is so scary, it is imperative that we kind of shift with the times just in order to meet people’s needs,” Harrington said.

‘Be strong and of good courage’

During Sunday’s service at the Calvert Drive-In Theatre, Donald said he was asked if Pathway would still be collecting an offering.

“I said, ‘Are we going to have a Baptist meeting?’” he said.

The church set out buckets for people to drop off their tithes, as well as a specially marked bucket for people to drop off donations to support the 87 restaurant workers who depended on tips in Calvert City now that restaurants were closed.

The pastor isn’t sure how much they’ve raised yet—they won’t touch the money for 72 hours to be safe, he said.

Donald preached on the life of Joshua, who led the people of Israel through uncertain times into the Promised Land after the death of Moses.

“Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,” God tells Joshua in the Bible.

The pastor urged the car-bound congregation to be courageous and to be “the light to the world,” to check on their neighbors in the midst of similarly uncertain times and find ways to be generous.

He ended his message with what normally would be an altar call.

“COVID-19 is real, but the sin in your heart is real also,” Donald said. “And the only remedy for the sin in your heart is Jesus Christ. I encourage you to trust him.”

Instead of calling people to the altar to express that trust, though, he encouraged them to call the church office on the phone. Someone would return their call and pray with them, he said.

WACO—While a huge focus is on health and mortality during the coronavirus outbreak, not to be forgotten are those who are grappling with death from natural causes, diseases, accidents and crime. Funerals and visitations are the customary means of support for friends and loved ones—but restricted travel and social distancing poses challenges.

Here are suggestions for grieving during the “new normal” from Candi Cann, associate professor in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core of the Honors College and author of Virtual Afterlives: Grieving the Dead in the Twenty-first Century; and Bill Hoy, clinical professor of medical humanities and author of Do Funerals Matter: The Purposes and Practices of Death Rituals in Global Perspective.

Q: Funerals and visitations are such a time of hugs, hand-holding, prayers, closeness—simply being there. How might travel restrictions, social distancing and concerns for personal health interfere—and how can family and friends be supportive?

CANN: I think live-streaming of funerals is a great option and allows people to be present from a distance. Most companies also offer virtual guestbooks where one can leave a teddy bear or flowers, light candles, etc., online in honor of the person. Many cemeteries are also moving online so that each gravestone will have a corresponding virtual memorial, filled with the deceased person’s playlist, videos, pictures and memories. Of course, as with all technology, the capability of funeral homes varies from business to business, but my guess is that from an industry perspective, we are going to see a jump in virtual and online offerings as the funeral industry tries to stay relevant and contemporaneous.

Also, if presence is important, one can choose disposal options that allow for the return of the deceased into the home, such as being cremated into cremains, or made into a diamond that one wears, or a record that one plays. You can insert cremains into the vinyl and make a record, or a glass sculpture with the cremains mixed into the glass. So, you don’t have to be separated from the dead.

HOY: I agree that live-streaming may have to suffice, but our experience shows it is a poor second choice. From time immemorial, we have seen that physical presence is vital, and I think that is what is so alarming to me about some of the current discussion in our culture. I was taking care of AIDS patients in Los Angeles in the 1980s when we saw some of the same disenfranchisement of grief, requiring direct cremation of the body and in some cases, forbidding the gathering of people in funeral rituals. It did not turn out to be a psychosocially sound practice and is creating a high level of concern on the part of my clinical colleagues.

Q: Have there been times in history when this has been an issue as well when it comes to contagious disease? Have people taken safeguards before?

HOY: Two notable examples were the 1918-19 influenza epidemic—unfortunately misnamed Spanish Flu—and the 2014-15 Ebola crisis in West Africa. In both cases, high numbers of dead coupled with high levels of contagion caused health authorities to create quarantines and eliminate gatherings such as funerals. Recent research out of the Ebola epidemic indicates that at least in some cases, these measures were counterproductive in that “secret” burials took place and those who had money were able to bribe officials to look the other way. I think we want to be especially vigilant to make sure we are being economically and socially just in the policies we put in place.

Fortunately, we do have media to help bridge those gaps now that were not available in those other events, so that will almost certainly help. I am going to stop far short, however, of suggesting that media even approaches a point of providing the same psycho-social-spiritual benefit that sharing a space, rubbing shoulders and sharing tears do.

CANN: The most recent epidemic in the United States was the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. By October 1995, there were over half a million cases of people with AIDS, and many people did not know how to treat or interact with those who were infected. And just this month, a second person was cured of HIV with a stem cell transplant. I have lots of faith in our scientists and that they will be able to create an effective vaccination or cure for COVID-19.

Q: Besides finding new or different ways to express support and love to others, what about oneself? We hear about self-isolation—what about self-comfort and self-care in other ways?  

HOY: This is a great time for self-reflection. What I am doing for myself are the things I recommend to others. Besides being vigilant about what I eat and getting out in the fresh air, I am taking care of myself by limiting my exposure to media. I have not been a big user of social media anyway, but I recommend to folks to be very careful about that because the COVID-19 misinformation is rampant. Instead, I check the National Institutes of Health website once each day for scientific updates, and I have taken all the news update alerts off my phone. Instead, I am trying to give more time to talking with family and friends by phone and video conferencing, journaling and reading. Of course, like other Baylor professors, I am spending time talking with students and getting ready to take my classes online. … In my personal Bible study time, I decided I would spend some time looking at Scripture passages that address fear and have particularly enjoyed hearing God’s perspective on this.

CANN: I think one of the hardest things about death is that life goes on without the dead. The birds keep chirping, the flowers keep blooming, people keep being worried about the most mundane matters—and that’s difficult when a part of our world has stopped. But this is also what is beautiful about death. It forces us to see life all around us—its fragility, its constancy and its beauty. So, for me, self-care in grief is talking about death, talking with others about the one we lost and living again—in honor of the person who died who doesn’t get to be here living anymore.

As we embrace life, I strongly recommend that people reach out to friends and family. Social distancing does not need to mean social isolation. I’m also going on regular walks and spending time outside. We need to stay healthy and in shape during this time. Some people are finding it fun to do group-gaming and discovering new ways to spend time with family and friends either virtually in games or via video. Catholic churches are offering drive-through Eucharist and confession, Protestant churches are live-streaming their services and youth groups, Islamic mosques are live-streaming prayers and Buddhist temples are live-streaming meditation sessions.

WACO—With schools closed and many parents working remotely to halt the spread of COVID-19, families can incorporate a variety of activities to keep kids engaged and ready to continue learning when they return to school, family experts at Baylor University noted.

“Life will look a little different over the next few weeks” amid the social distancing recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Karen K. Melton, assistant professor of child and family studies in Baylor’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences.

“For the next few weeks, we are going to get to spend extra quality time with our loved ones at home, likely resulting in more laughs and tears. A sense of routine can help us stay calm and keep moving forward.”

How to be intentional about family time

Families can make the time better by focusing intentionally on three factors: schedules, screen time and social connectedness.

Schedules

Schedules can take time and effort to create, but once established, they will help reduce stress, Melton said.

“You can create a full-day schedule or just a morning/afternoon schedule when you need to get other work done. By providing a family’s schedule, you will reduce boredom and anxiety while increasing a sense of belonging and competency. Some families may allow kids to watch TV in the morning and then work through their schedule. If they complete all their activities, then they can earn additional screen time in the late afternoon.”

Some schedule suggestions:

• Art and/or music
• Outdoor play
• Free play
• Learning activities/educational worksheets
• Reading
• Chores
• Board games
• Screen time

Screen time

“Your kids will likely have more screen time than usual,” Melton said. “For older children, limit screen time so that it does not replace physical activity, sleep or other healthy behaviors. Parents also may want to consider that all screen time is not equal, not only by the ways we interact — smartphones, tablets, computers, gaming devices and televisions — but by different categories for screen time use.”

Among those:

• Watching educational shows versus watching entertaining shows
• Playing educational games versus playing entertainment games
• Constructive social media versus destructive social media use

Social connectedness

Apps and other technology offer ways to stay connected with those outside the home. But each day of the week also provides opportunities for meaningful moments with family at home, said Nicole McAninch, clinical associate professor of child and family studies, who co-directs the Intentional Family Project at Baylor.

Some ideas:

• Dust off the board games.
• Teach your kids a family recipe.
• Have a family dance party.
• Play a video game as a family.
• Have a family movie night.

“Life will be a little crazier than usual over the next few weeks,” Melton said. “Remember, we are all in this together. We will all need to sacrifice and be more flexible. If we spend a little time being intentional with schedules, screen time and social connections, then we can look back at this time, having created meaningful moments that help our family thrive.”

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Every week at University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, worshippers come forward for Communion. But in light of concerns about the novel coronavirus, the church has ordered boxes filled with hundreds of prepackaged cups and wafers.

“In a variety of ways, we’re just minimizing the level of physical touch that’s happening in the life of the church while still trying to continue somewhat normal activities,” said Pastor Justin Coleman, who is coordinating with his staff and communicating with fellow clergy in his area about best practices for corporate worship under the new circumstances.

“What we’re saying related to Communion is that what we’re trying to do is minimize any kind of unnecessary touch here.”

Coleman said the purchase of the special cups is part of a “proactive way of thinking about our adjusting practices moving forward” along with changing how people greet one another, fill out registration cards to note their presence and contribute to the weekly offering.

Some suppliers report spike in sales

His historic church of some 1,800 members—with children’s and youth ministries as well as a significant percentage of senior adults—is far from the only one considering such packaged products for a sacred tradition across a range of Christian churches.

“Yes, we have seen a tenfold increase in sales of these items,” said Audrey Kidd, an executive of the United Methodist Publishing House, when asked if the church supplier Cokesbury had received more requests for the packaged option for Communion.

A spokesperson for LifeWay Christian Resources said it has seen a slight increase in the sale of Fellowship Cups, pre-filled Communion cups that come packaged with both juice and a wafer, but it is unknown how long or if that trend will continue.

Celebration Communion Cup, a Florida-based manufacturer of a similar product, has also seen a recent spike in interest.

“We did see an increase of about 8 percent in sales closing out the month of February,” said Robert Johnson, president of the company that started in the 1990s and sells between 40 million and 50 million cups annually to suppliers, churches and individuals.

‘Not touched by human hands’

He said his customer service representatives have reported that coronavirus is “at the top of mind” of callers who are concerned about what they are touching during Communion.

“We always tell people our product is aseptically prepared, meaning it’s not touched by human hands during the process,” Johnson said. “It’s completely automated.”

The exception to that rule is when gloved staffers are involved in the quality control inspection of products, he said.

Celebration Communion Cup products use a two-seal process, with a top cellophane-like seal over the wafer that sits on top of a foil lid covering the container of grape juice. Though some customers use the products for visits to sick and shut-in members or on retreats, Johnson said they are primarily used in traditional worship services.

His website on March 11 was selling boxes of 100 cups for $22.99 and 500-count boxes for $87.99, prices he said were reduced for pre-Easter, and not coronavirus concerns. Fellowship Cups currently sell for $22.99 for 100 on LifeWay Christian Resources’ B&H Publishing website and $23.99 on Cokesbury’s website.

Proper disposal also a concern

Coleman, whose church ordered some 10 boxes of Fellowship Cups—each with 500 of the juice/wafer sets—from Cokesbury, said his church staff is still figuring out the best way to safely use—and dispose of and recycle—the special cups that resemble single-serve coffee creamers at fast-food restaurants.

“Now you have contact with lips and you have extra juice in a little cup that’s left over,” he said, noting that issues of sterility go beyond just receiving Communion. “You’ve got to be careful there as well.”

Amy Behrman, a member of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation and a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said it is wise for churches to be considering how best to offer Communion at a time when the country is dealing with flu and coronavirus cases.

“I certainly think that communal meals and Communion in particular is an opportunity for us to avoid potentially infecting each other by sharing objects, much less sharing food or drink directly,” said Behrman, who attends Overbrook Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

She said Communion is one of the times when churches can work to reduce risks of cross-contamination through what people eat or drink or through “fomites” that can transfer a virus.

“For instance, if I had influenza and I drank out of a cup or even used a cellphone, like I’m using right now, and then you picked it up and then you touched your mouth, you could be infected from me, even though you and I never actually were close to each other physically,” Behrman said.

Coleman, the senior pastor in Chapel Hill, said his church also is considering how it might offer “pre-blessed” prefilled Communion cups and wafers to members to take home if they have to suspend in-person worship services for a time and worship via the church’s livestreamed service.

“When they engage with us virtually, they will already have been blessed,” he said of the Communion elements. “We are thinking about this taking place on a livestream, so that people at the given moment in the service could partake.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Virtually every Protestant pastor and churchgoer believes a person with a disability would feel at home at their church, but fewer are taking active steps to make sure this is the case.

A new survey from LifeWay Research asked Protestant pastors and churchgoers about their church and individuals with disabilities.

Nearly every pastor (99 percent) and churchgoer (97 percent) says someone with a disability would feel welcomed and included at their church.

Good intentions not enough

As a mother of a son with cerebral palsy, Jamie Sumner said every church has the possibility to be welcoming to those with disabilities, but it takes intentional actions to convince families impacted by special needs that a church wants to accommodate them.

“Until you have a plan in place that accommodates those with special needs all the way from nursery-age to senior citizen, then you can’t accurately make this claim,” said Sumner, author  of Eat, Sleep, Save the World, a book for parents of children with special needs.

When her son was born, Sumner said, her church built a program for him when one didn’t exist. “They hired a team, did research, brought in volunteers and changed the layout of their Easter egg hunts and all of our other get-togethers in order to accommodate those with extra needs,” she said.

In the past seven years, Sumner’s church has built a ministry from the ground up, which she said is the best-case scenario.

“They asked us what we needed and started slowly. Now we serve many families with children with special needs,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, but it has changed our lives.”

Pastors recognize need

Pastors seem to agree churches should make adjustments for individuals with special needs.

Almost all pastors (99 percent) say local churches should make necessary facility modifications to become more accessible to people with physical disabilities, even when it is not required by law.

Three-quarters of Protestant pastors (76 percent) say local churches have a responsibility to provide financial resources and support to individuals with disabilities and their families.

“Jesus’s parable of a shepherd leaving the 99 to pursue one lost sheep demonstrates the priority churches must place on providing access to everyone,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research.

“It may inconvenience the current flock by moving a teaching location or changing activities, but pastors and churchgoers say they see the need to do so. They believe creating access for everyone to hear the gospel and participate in the body of Christ matters.”

What churches are doing

Almost every pastor (95 percent) says their church is involved in at least one of five different ways to care for those with disabilities and their families.

Three in 4 pastors (75 percent) say their church encourages volunteering in community events, like the Special Olympics, for people with disabilities.

Most say they provide financially for families with ongoing needs (70 percent) or provide respite for family caregivers to give them a break (60 percent).

Half of churches (50 percent) provide an additional teacher to aid a person with special needs in a class.

Fewer pastors (29 percent) say their church provides classes or events specifically for people with disabilities.

Larger churches are more likely than others to say they help in many of these specific ways. That gap is particularly pronounced when examining which churches provide an additional teacher for the individual with special needs.

While three quarters (75 percent) of churches with worship attendance topping 250 say they provide such assistants, 54 percent of churches with 100 to 249, 46 percent of churches with 50 to 99, and 35 percent of churches with less than 50 say they do the same.

“Many churches likely won’t have the resources to provide classes or events specifically designed for only those with disabilities, but they will still have opportunities to help those individuals participate in the life of their church,” McConnell said.

What churches need to do

While some churches may believe it is a matter of attitude or politeness, that isn’t what matters most to those with disabilities and their families.

Sumner says the churches that have been less welcoming to her family haven’t necessarily been less friendly than others, but those churches simply didn’t consider the needs of her son or their family.

“You have to make an extra effort,” she said. “If that isn’t done, we don’t go back.”

For Sumner, this is a vital issue because “everyone deserves a church home.”

“Jesus asks us to care for those in need, not only those in poverty, but those in need of fellowship, friends and support,” she said.

“We must show those who walk through the world differently from us that we have thought about them and have made room for them. It’s not their job to pave the way. It’s our job to make the way easier for them first.”

Churches seeking to provide a welcoming place for people with disabilities should begin by finding out from those with experience how they can improve.

“Consider all the areas that must be met—spiritual, physical, social and emotional—and then ask special needs coordinators at other churches how they meet those needs at every age level,” she said. “Bring in experts and be willing to listen to their feedback.”

The phone survey of Protestant pastors was conducted Aug. 30 to Sept. 24, 2019. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches, with quotas used for church size. Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Analysts weighted responses by region to reflect the population more accurately. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys, providing 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.3 percent.

The online survey of American Protestant churchgoers was conducted Sept. 20-27, 2019, using a national pre-recruited panel. Quotas and slight weights were used to balance gender, age, region, ethnicity and education to reflect the population more accurately. The completed sample is 1,002 surveys, providing 95 percent confidence the sampling error from the panel does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent. In both surveys, margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—When traveling to church, most people have company, but a significant number say they make the trip alone.

A new study by LifeWay Research found one in five Protestant churchgoers (19 percent) say they typically travel to church alone.

Most travel to church with their spouse (54 percent), while close to a third say their child or children ride with them (31 percent).

Fewer say they typically travel to church with another family member besides their parent or grandparent (18 percent) or a friend or acquaintance (11 percent).

A small percentage say they travel with a grandchild (4 percent) or someone from their church who lacks transportation (3 percent).

“Many weeks, it’s hard enough for attendees to get themselves to church, so it’s not surprising few are stopping to pick up a neighbor,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research.

“The reality is, if every Christian driving or riding to church this week used the extra vehicle seats around them to bring other people, churches would likely not be able to contain the crowds.”

Men (64 percent) are more likely than women (46 percent) to say they travel to church with their spouse, which indicates wives are more likely to go to church without their husbands than vice versa.

Women (36 percent) are also more likely than men (24 percent) to say their children travel with them to church.

African American churchgoers are the least likely to say they travel to church with their spouse (31 percent) but are more likely than white churchgoers to say they go to church with their children (40 percent to 24 percent).

African Americans (16 percent) are also twice as likely as white churchgoers (8 percent) to say they travel to church with a friend.

Younger churchgoers (22 percent) are the most likely to say they typically go to church with a friend.

Protestant churchgoers 50 and older (23 percent) are more likely than those 18 to 34 (13 percent) to say they attend church alone.

Childhood church trips

For three-fourths of current Protestant churchgoers (76 percent), a parent typically took them to church as a child.

One in five (20 percent) say they went with a grandparent, while 1 in 10 (10 percent) say it was another family member.

Few churchgoers say they went alone (6 percent), with a family friend their age (5 percent), rode a church bus (5 percent), or went with someone they knew primarily from church (4 percent).

Among those regular church attenders today, 6 percent say they did not typically attend church as a child.

“The legacy of grandparents taking their grandkids to church has been impressive,” said McConnell. “Yet today far fewer churchgoers are taking grandkids with them—even when looking only at older attendees.”

African Americans are more likely to say they were taken to church as a child by a grandparent (32 percent) or another family member (20 percent).

Regular Protestant church attenders in the West (11 percent) are more likely to say they typically did not attend church as a child than those in the South (4 percent).

The online survey of 1,002 American Protestant churchgoers was conducted September 20-27, 2019, using a national pre-recruited panel. Respondents were screened to include those who identified as Protestant/non-denominational and attend religious services at least once a month.

Analysts used quotas and slight weights to balance gender, age, region, ethnicity and education to reflect the population more accurately. The completed sample is 1,002 surveys, providing 95 percent confidence the sampling error from the panel does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

WACO—With more than a quarter of adults in the United States now having tattoos—and nearly half of millennials sporting them—only a handful of studies have focused on religious tattoos.

But a new study by researchers at Baylor University and Texas Tech University analyzes faith-centered tattoos and is the first to use visual images of them.

The study, published in the journal Visual Studies, analyzed 752 photos of tattoos taken at a Christian university in the United States and found that nearly 20 percent of those were overtly religious in content.

“The embrace of tattoos in the United States reflects a generational shift toward greater individualism and self-expression,” said lead author Kevin Dougherty, associate professor of sociology at Baylor University.

“Americans born since the 1970s have increasingly embraced tattoos as an acceptable means to communicate identity and belonging, whereas previous generations of Americans largely did not. Today, men and women in the United States are equally likely to have tattoos.”

A 2016 Harris Poll showed 29 percent of American adults had at least one tattoo—up from 14 percent in 2008.

Religious tattoos personal but not private

“An interesting discovery in our research is that the religious tattoos of college students are more likely than non-religious ones to face inward, toward the owner (such as one on the inner wrist),” Dougherty said.

“We speculate that religious tattoos may serve a different purpose than do tattoos of favorite sports teams, occupations or hobbies. While any visible tattoo is a public proclamation, tattoos oriented toward the owner represent a personal reminder of identity or affiliation. In this way, religious tattoos are personal but not private. They may encourage individuals to live in accordance with their religious beliefs.”

The study also found some evidence that a generally visible tattoo may be conceptually different from tattoos hidden by clothing, said co-author Jerome R. Koch, professor of sociology at Texas Tech University. He has studied body art on college campuses for more than a decade.

“Generally visible tattoos seem intended more toward stories of life and remembrance, which the wearer may be willing to openly discuss,” Koch said. “Tattoos which are only visible, say, to someone else with whom they are intimately involved may be more closely tied to sense of self, private memories and/or emotional conflicts.”

Photos used in the study were taken by sociology students as part of a semester-long research project. Researchers analyzed 752 photos by owners’ gender; whether the tattoos were religious in nature; and tattoo size. The study also examined whether the tattoo faced the owner or faced out; and whether those with religious content featured an image, text or both image and text.

The analysis found:

• Overt religious content appeared in 145 photos (19 percent of total sample).
• More men in the photos (23 percent) had religious tattoos than women (17 percent).
• Of the religious tattoos on women, most (69 percent) were small (no larger than one inch by one inch) and in more easily concealed locations. The most frequent sites of their religious tattoos were the wrist (23 percent), foot (18 percent) and back (18 percent).
• Men’s religious tattoos were more likely to be large (greater than 3 inches or covering more than a quarter of an arm or leg) than non-religious ones (61 percent compared to 44 percent). Most prevalent sites for men’s religious tattoos were upper arm (26 percent), forearm (21 percent) and back (19 percent).
• Half of the religious tattoos were images—the most common being the cross. More than one quarter were text, often Bible references, with a slight majority being New Testament references. But the Old Testament book of Psalms was most popular. Images with text comprised 21 percent of religious tattoos.
• Religious tattoos were more likely than non-religious ones to face the owner, with 26 percent facing inward, in contrast to 18 percent of non-religious tattoos.

Researchers said they have no way of knowing if these findings apply to all students at the university or to students at other universities. They also say it is probable they undercounted religious tattoos, in part because tattoos may have religious or spiritual connotations but not be recognized as such.

Take research to the next level

Dougherty and Koch are expanding their research to a national level with random samples.

“So far, all our work has involved college students as respondents,” Koch said. “Since we know tattoos tell life stories, broadening our respondent base is the next logical step. How might life stories expressed through body art—religious and otherwise—differ by wider differences in the race, age and social class?”

Researchers have a study in progress on religion and tattoos in a national sample of U.S. adults, Dougherty said.

“Our research question is: Do religious people in the United States today get tattoos? We also have plans for a national survey on religious tattoos,” he said. “This will allow us to determine the percentage of Americans with religious tattoos and how they differ from other Americans without a tattoo or with tattoos that have no religious significance.”

Future research also might examine how tattoos are viewed in other parts of the globe, Koch said.

“It would be interesting to compare and contrast the path toward legitimation of tattoos in different parts of the developed Western world,” he said. “We have some information from other scholars that, for example, conservative Catholicism in Latin America may continue to stigmatize tattoo wearers. So broader religious/folk culture may be in play where there is greater antipathy or stricter cultural norms against body art. Conversely, some of our students have reported that the fact their tattoo was religious lent legitimation with their families more than a tattoo of another type might.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Abuse survivor and activist Rachael Denhollander brought her advocacy to presidents of evangelical colleges, urging them at their annual conference to not discount sexual abuse but to instead support survivors who report it.

“As Christian institutions you are the most equipped to condemn sexual abuse and objectification,” she told dozens of attendees of the Presidents Conference of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities on Jan. 31. “You are the most equipped to help survivors to understand and teach your students to understand this is wrong. It is evil. And it matters to me because it matters to God.”

Denhollander is a lawyer and former gymnast who was the first woman to publicly accuse former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexual assault. She has been encouraging denomination leaders and churches to increase their attention and response to sexual abuse and has recently wrote the book What Is a Girl Worth?

“What you need to understand is that when you do not do this with your policies, your counseling programs, your classes and how you are educating the next generation, when you do not do this, you are not in agreement with what God says, you are not properly portraying the character of an all-holy God.”

Timed to coincide with Title IX changes

Shirley V. Hoogstra, CCCU president, introduced Denhollander to the conference, a three-day gathering of 100 presidents of evangelical higher education institutions, and affirmed the need to address the issue with faith and compassion.

“Human beings take advantage of others for their own purpose, but, because of our faith, we can actually look unsparingly at these events,” said Hoogstra, whose organization timed the discussion to pending changes in Title IX regulations that govern how colleges address sex discrimination. “We can face the real facts and potentially be a redemptive force amid human failing.”

Kathryn Nash, a higher education attorney with the firm Lathrop GPM, joined Denhollander and Hoogstra for the plenary titled “The Lion and the Lamb: How Christian Theology Shapes Our Approach and Response to Abuse.”

Nash stressed the necessity for sufficient training not only of Title IX investigators on college campuses but anyone to whom a student may reveal an allegation of sexual abuse.

“Who is most likely to get the report from one of your community members? I hope it’s your Title IX coordinator, but it’s probably not your Title IX coordinator,” she said. “It’s an RA (resident assistant). It’s a professor. Are they trauma-informed? They’re probably not.”

Call to repentance

Nash said any first responder to abuse should be well-equipped.

“We don’t want to make this terrible situation any worse for a victim or a survivor,” Nash said.

Denhollander said institutions, including faith-based ones, should worry less about reputation and more about repentance.

“If we truly believe in the power of repentance and the importance of truth, then our Christian institutions should be the first to repent of where we have erred,” she said. “We should be the first to acknowledge and pursue the truth when it looks like something might have been handled wrong. But more often than not the immediate response is to clamp down and protect liability and reputation at the expense of the victim and justice.”

Both Denhollander and Nash have addressed questions of sex abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention as it has started grappling with reports of abuse. At a Southern Baptist conference in October that focused on sexual abuse, Denhollander criticized that denomination’s leaders for not doing enough to aid abuse survivors and urged an independent review “not only of the abuses that occurred, but why those abuses were covered up.”

Nash has worked with the SBC, leading a team involved in an external review of its International Mission Board’s handling of sexual harassment and child abuse allegations.

LAURENS, S.C. (AP)—Not many years ago in a small, rural South Carolina town stood The Redneck Shop—a racist emporium and Ku Klux Klan museum housed in an old theater, where white supremacist neo-Nazis gave heil-Hitler salutes and flaunted swastikas and Rebel flags.

That building, once the property of the Klan, now belongs to a black preacher and committed foe of racism who fought the group for more than 20 years. Pastor David Kennedy plans to transform it into a shrine of reconciliation.

How Kennedy, whose great-great-uncle was lynched in the community, got ownership of the old Echo Theater building from an ex-Klansman—a man who once contemplated murdering Kennedy—is the subject of a movie that could end up raising funds for that transformation.

“It symbolizes right now in the shape it’s in—hatred,” Kennedy said. “But we hope we can turn it into a building of love.”

White supremacist store and KKK museum

A decade ago, the white supremacist store in Laurens was a place where one of the few shirts sold without an overt racial slur said, “If I had known this was going to happen I would have picked my own cotton.” The World Famous Ku Klux Klan Museum with its racist meeting place was in the back.

The KKK had put the title in the name of a trusted member, Michael Burden. Burden said other Klan members once suggested that he kill Kennedy, and he considered it. Kennedy didn’t know that when he saw Burden, hungry, poor and full of hate, and took him to a buffet to fill his stomach, then to a hotel so his family wouldn’t have to sleep on the street.

Burden’s girlfriend at the time kept urging him to leave the Klan, and in 1997, he did. He also bestowed ownership of the old theater building upon Kennedy for $1,000.

But there was a twist. Under the agreement, John Howard, who owned The Redneck Shop, would be allowed to stay and run his store as long as he lived.

Howard abandoned the store years ago, ignoring maintenance. Duct work and piping were ripped from the walls. He died in 2017, giving Kennedy complete control over the building.

Kennedy estimates it needs at least $500,000 in repairs that must be done carefully because of the theater’s age and historic location. That seems impossible for the minister, whose New Beginning Missionary Baptist Church congregation meets in a converted gun store several miles west of Laurens.

Unlikely friendship subject of new movie

But a movie may provide a Hollywood ending.

The story of the unlikely friendship between Kennedy and Burden has been made into a film called Burden, scheduled for national release Feb. 28. Starring actor Forest Whitaker as Kennedy, it was shown at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

101 Studios, which distributed it, has promised Kennedy it will help repair and reopen the theater. They have created a website at rehabhate.com to accept donations and tell more people about the project.

“The South cannot rid itself of its past. But we could rid ourselves of the Redneck Shop,” Kennedy said.

The studio is getting companies to donate materials and time and is selling commemorative bricks that can be placed  at the theater.

The movie’s director, Andrew Heckler, first entered The Redneck Shop in the late 1990s after reading a short article about Kennedy’s fight. He knew it had to be a movie and finished the screenplay in 2001, finally getting the green light from 101 Studios to make the film a few years ago.

‘Not giving up’

“I knew this story would mean something to people. Three people in the middle of nowhere South Carolina did something that would be meaningful to all people,” Heckler said. “There is a pathway for fighting hate. It’s not easy. It’s love, faith and not giving up.”

Kennedy knows about not giving up. He protested when a South Carolina county refused to observe the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and he helped lobby to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome.

In his church office, he keeps a poster-size photo of a lynched black man swinging at the end of a rope. It is his great uncle, killed more than 100 years ago by a white mob in Laurens County.

Kennedy also has a photo of white people about 15 years ago in the back of the theater, wearing uniforms with a Nazi swastika and raising their arms and hands in a white power salute.

“Racism is a strange kind of organism. It is systemic. And it probably will not go away in our lifetimes,” Kennedy said.

Burden and Kennedy remain friends, though not as close as they once were. Burden got married, turned his life around and now drives a truck across the country.

“When I changed my lifestyle, I buried that guy,” Burden said of his racist past.

Burden cautiously shares his story with those he thinks need to know that change is possible.

The movie named after him is a way to do that on a larger scale.

“I’m willing to go through this again,” Burden said. “Am I happy about it? Some days yes, some days no.”

Kennedy recently gave a tour of the theater to a few visiting reporters. Through the soft winter afternoon sunlight, faded two-story paintings of Nazi and U.S. flags can still be seen on a wall. A Confederate flag remains on the theater marquee.

The images are deteriorating, but they linger.

“Racism and hatred, they are both destructive and they have no future,” Kennedy said. “But love, forgiveness and mercy will always have a future because they are constructive.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—In the aftermath of several high-profile church shootings, most Protestant pastors say their congregations have taken some precautions to protect those in attendance.

Since 2000, 19 fatal shootings have taken place at Christian churches, while gunmen also have taken lives at other religious sites like Jewish synagogues, a Sikh temple and an Amish school. They include First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs in November 2017 and West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement last December.

Four out of five Protestant pastors (80 percent) say their church has some type of security measure in place when they gather for worship, according to a survey from LifeWay Research.

“Churches are some of the most common gatherings in any community, and that makes them targets,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. “Most churches understand this and have responded in some way.”

The most common form of preparation is making an intentional plan. About two out of three pastors (62 percent) say their church has an intentional plan for an active shooter situation.

Church size and ethnicity matter

The more people who show up to worship services each week, the more likely the church is to have made plans for a potential gunman.

Pastors of churches with 250 or more in attendance (77 percent) and those with 100 to 249 (74 percent) are more likely to have an intentional plan than those with 50 to 99 in attendance (58 percent) or those with fewer than 50 in their worship service each week (45 percent).

More than a quarter of churches (28 percent) have radio communication among security personnel.

African American pastors (47 percent) and pastors of other ethnicities (46 percent) are almost twice as likely as white pastors (25 percent) to take this step.

Guns in church?

The question of guns in church is very much a live debate among pastors, as close to half of pastors (45 percent) say part of their security measures include having armed church members.

Combining this with the percentages who say they have uniformed police officers or armed security personnel on site, 51 percent intentionally have firearms at their worship services as part of their security measures.

Evangelical pastors (54 percent) are more likely than mainline pastors (34 percent) to say they have armed church members.

Half of pastors in the South (51 percent) and West (46 percent) say this is the case, compared to a third of those in the Northeast (33 percent).

Pentecostal (71 percent), Baptist (65 percent) and Church of Christ pastors (53 percent) are also more likely than Methodist (32 percent), Lutheran (27 percent) and Presbyterian or Reformed pastors (27 percent) to say they have armed church members as part of their security measures.

Some adopt no-firearms policy

Other churches place their emphasis on keeping all guns away from the worship service.

More than a quarter (27 percent) have a no-firearms policy for the building where they meet and 3 percent have metal detectors at entrances to screen for weapons.

African American pastors are the most likely to implement these strategies, with 50 percent saying they have a no-firearms policy and 8 percent deploying metal detectors.

One pastor in five (18 percent) says his or her church has taken none of the precautions asked about in the survey, while 2 percent aren’t sure.

“While methods vary, most churches start with the resources they have to prepare for what they hope will never happen,” McConnell said. “With planning, a church can be prepared without being distracted or paralyzed by the threat. Pastors are trying to balance two responsibilities—protect those on the inside, while being as welcoming as possible to those on the outside.”

In the survey, which took place prior to the West Freeway Church of Christ shooting, close to a quarter of Protestant pastors (23 percent) say they have armed private security on site. Additionally, 6 percent say they have uniformed police officers on site as an added security measure.

How do churchgoers feel?

For the vast majority of churchgoers (73 percent), the presence of a uniformed policeman or security guard at church makes them feel safer, with 37 percent saying they feel much safer.

One in 5 (20 percent) is unsure and 8 percent say it makes them feel less safe.

African American pastors are the most likely to say they have both armed private security personnel (41 percent) and uniformed police officers (18 percent) on site.

However, non-white churchgoers are more likely than white churchgoers to say they feel less safe at church seeing those individuals during worship services.

Ten percent of non-white churchgoers say they feel less safe with uniformed police and security guards at church, compared to 6 percent of white churchgoers.

Female churchgoers, on the other hand, are more likely than their male counterparts to say those visible individuals make them feel safer (75 percent to 69 percent).

Churches with 250 or more in attendance are the most likely to say they have armed private security personnel (43 percent) or uniformed police officers (26 percent).

Those who attend such churches are also the most likely to say seeing police officers and security guards at church make them feel safer (83 percent).

“Any organization that has relatively large gatherings of people has a responsibility for the safety of those gathered,” McConnell said. “In considering security, church leaders have to consider methods, costs, risks and how those safety measures potentially impact their ministry.”

Researchers conducted a phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors from Aug. 30 to Sept. 24, 2019. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Analysts used quotas for church size. Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Analysts weighted responses by region to reflect the population more accurately. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.3 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

An online survey of 1,002 American Protestant churchgoers was conducted Sept. 20-27, 2019 using a national pre-recruited panel. Respondents were screened to include those who identified as Protestant/non-denominational and attend religious services at least once a month. Quotas and slight weights were used to balance gender, age, region, ethnicity and education to reflect the population more. The completed sample is 1,002 surveys, providing 95 percent confidence that the sampling error from the panel does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

For more information on crisis response plans and church security teams, see a related article here.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Like many Americans, Protestant pastors in the United States may be watching the recent events related to Iran closely, as well as monitoring other developments in the Middle East, but probably not because they think it has anything to do with Christ’s return.

Pastors are more than three times as likely to believe Christians can speed up the return of Christ by the spread of their faith than by backing certain geo-political changes, according to a new study from LifeWay Research. But those who think evangelism can hasten Christ’s return still represent a minority of all Protestant pastors.

“While Scripture specifically says we cannot know the day or the hour of Jesus Christ’s return, we were interested in pastors’ views on whether Christians can play a role in bringing about that return any sooner,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research.

Around one in eight Protestant pastors (12 percent) believe Christians can speed up the second coming of Jesus by supporting geo-political changes they see in the Bible, with 5 percent strongly agreeing.

Four in five pastors (80 percent) don’t believe their support will have an impact on the timetable of Christ’s return, including 61 percent who strongly disagree.

During heighted conflicts with Syria, a 2013 LifeWay Research study found many Americans were likely to link global conflict with end times.

Almost one in three saw the conflict as part of the Bible’s plan for the end times. One in four thought a U.S. military strike in Syria could lead to Armageddon. And one in five believed the world would end in their lifetime, including 32 percent of evangelicals.

“A large majority of pastors do not see biblical prophecies about future changes among nations as a roadmap for advocating specific international engagement,” McConnell said.

In the most recent study of Protestant pastors, there is no significant difference between mainline and evangelical pastors regarding their views about international political affairs speeding up the return of Christ. There are, however, differences among other demographics.

White pastors (11 percent) are less likely to believe backing geo-political events will hasten Jesus’ second coming than African American pastors (20 percent) or pastors of other ethnicities (22 percent).

Pastors 65 and older (16 percent) are more likely to agree than those 18 to 44 (9 percent).

Additional education decreases the likelihood a pastor agrees that support from Christians of geo-political events will speed up the return of Christ. Pastors without a college degree are more than twice as likely to agree than those with a bachelor’s or master’s degree—22 percent to 10 percent.

Evangelism to end times

In what Christians call the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), Jesus tells his followers to “make disciples of all nations,” which often is understood as a command to spread the faith to all distinct people groups. Matthew’s Gospel also records Jesus telling his followers the “good news of the kingdom” will be preached in all the world, “and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

Protestant pastors are split, on whether Christians actually can speed up the return of Christ by helping to share the gospel with all people groups.

Close to two in five (41 percent) believe Christians can hasten Jesus’ second coming through world evangelism, while around half (54 percent) disagree.

“The Great Commission was a task Jesus gave his followers to be doing while he is gone,” McConnell said. “Four in 10 pastors believe the pace of sharing the message of what Jesus has done will impact the timing of Christ’s return. Presumably many of those who disagree would assert exclusively divine control over Christ’s return.”

Denominationally, Pentecostal pastors (66 percent) are the most likely to agree Christians can speed up Jesus’ return by sharing the gospel with all people groups.

Those with no college degree (56 percent) are more likely to agree than those with additional degrees.

Pastors 65 and older are the age group most likely to agree (52 percent).

White pastors are more likely than African American pastors to disagree that the second coming of Christ can be sped up by global evangelism—55 percent to 43 percent.

Immoral until the end?

Whenever the second coming of Christ may be, most Protestant pastors believe immorality will be more common until Jesus returns.

More than two-thirds (68 percent) agree “culture will increasingly get less moral until Jesus Christ returns.” Around a quarter (26 percent) disagree.

Evangelical pastors (80 percent) are far more likely to agree than mainline pastors (51 percent). Pastors 45 and older (71 percent) are more likely to agree than younger pastors (62 percent).

Again, education plays a role in pastors’ likelihood to agree. Those with no college degree (90 percent) or a bachelor’s (81 percent) are more likely to believe immorality will increase until the return of Jesus than those with a master’s (61 percent) or a doctoral degree (63 percent).

Baptist (86 percent) and Pentecostal (84 percent) pastors are more likely to agree than Church of Christ (67 percent), Lutheran (59 percent), Methodist (48 percent), or Presbyterian and Reformed pastors (45 percent).

“On the surface, the responses of most pastors could be described as feeling helpless regarding these specific aspects of the future,” said McConnell. “Yet the persistence of their faith amidst a lack of control points to an even greater level of hope.”

Researchers conducted the phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors from Aug. 30 to Sept. 24, 2019. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Quotas were used for church size.

Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Analysts weighted responses by region to reflect the population more accurately. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys, providing 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.3 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.