(RNS)—James C. Dobson, a psychologist who advocated a “family values” brand of conservative Christian morality on his popular radio shows and in his bestselling books, died Aug. 21. He was 89.

“Dr. Dobson was a pioneer—a man of deep conviction whose voice shaped the way generations view faith, family and culture,” said Gary Bauer, senior vice president of public policy at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.

“His bold leadership, integrity and compassion helped equip countless families to thrive in a world of shifting values. He was a mentor, a counselor and a steady voice of truth in turbulent times.”

A child psychologist by training, Dobson founded Focus on the Family in 1977 to promote conservative views on parenting, defending thespanking of children as a means of discipline.

The nonprofit, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., became hugely influential, first among evangelical Christians and then among a broader public thanks to his internationally syndicated radio programs.

Dobson was heard on more than 4,000 North American radio stations and his show was translated into 27 languages in more than 160 countries, according to the website of the institute.

His parenting precepts were further outlined in Dare to Discipline, a book first published in 1970, and its many sequels. Dobson ultimately wrote more than 70 books.

Gained political influence

As Dobson’s popularity with cultural conservatives grew, political leaders sought him out. In the 1980s Dobson regularly was invited to the White House to consult with President Ronald Reagan and his staff. In 1985, Dobson was appointed to Attorney General Edwin Meese’s Commission on Pornography.

In 1983, Dobson and Bauer started the Family Research Council in Washington to advocate for pro-family policies.

Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse, who said Dobson died after a brief illness, hailed Dobson’s almost five decades of ministry.

“Dr. Dobson was a staunch defender of the family and stood for morality and Biblical values as much as any person in our country’s history,” Graham, a son of evangelist Billy Graham, wrote in a Facebook post. “His legacy and impact for Jesus Christ will continue on for generations.”

Dobson’s unflinching conservatism rankled some Republican leaders at the height of his influence. During the 1996 presidential campaign, for instance, Dobson warned that any attempt to water down the anti-abortion plank in the GOP platform would result in widespread defection from Republican ranks by evangelical voters. He also objected to suggestions that the party’s presidential nominee, Bob Dole, choose a running mate who backed abortion rights.

But Dobson’s mark on conservative thought and evangelical Christian politics continues to this day. In 1994, he was one of the co-founders—along with evangelical figures such as Bill Bright and D. James Kennedy—of the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal organization now known as Alliance Defending Freedom.

The ADF at one point employed Mike Johnson, who has since become U.S. House speaker, and it was a key proponent of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which resulted in the overturning of Roe v. Wadein 2022.

“The world has lost a mighty voice for truth and an incredibly influential servant of Christ today,” said Kristen Waggoner, ADF CEO, president and chief counsel. “Dobson’s bold leadership and commitment to the gospel shaped the lives of so many and will continue to do so many years after his passing.”

Child rearing and political themes

A Shreveport, La., native, Dobson grew up in Texas and Oklahoma, the son of an evangelist and pastor in the Church of the Nazarene. After graduating from a Nazarene college in California, Dobson earned a doctorate in child development from the University of Southern California. He then joined the pediatric faculty of USC’s medical school, where he taught for 14 years.

Dobson left academia in 1976, and the next year he launched Focus on the Family, beginning from a two-room suite in Arcadia, Calif. As Dobson’s radio show and the organization swelled in popularity, he increasingly became a force among conservative opinion-makers.

Dobson eventually moved the organization to Colorado Springs, a conservative, largely Republican, city, where he built an international organization with a staff of more than 1,300 employees.

In addition to the radio show, the center attracted 200,000 visitors a year and opened an $8.5 million welcome center where films, videotapes and books espousing Dobson’s worldview could be purchased.

In addition to discussions of child rearing, conservative political themes quickly became a staple of the radio show.

Discussing the state of higher education, for instance, Dobson said on one episode, “State universities are breeding grounds, quite literally, for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, homosexual behavior, unwanted pregnancies, abortions, alcoholism and drug abuse.”

Yet, unlike prominent televangelists such as Pat Robertson, who ran unsuccessfully for president, and Jerry Falwell, a longtime conservative activist, Dobson initially focused on the power of persuasion and his listening audience, which at one time swelled to an estimated 200 million in 95 countries.

Unlike religious conservative activists such as Bauer, who would run for president as a Republican, and onetime Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, Dobson spoke less often to the secular media, an institution he blamed in part for what he deemed society’s moral decay.

“What is tragic and yet curious about the period between 1965 and 1975 is that the radical left had virtually no organized opposition. The media was entirely sympathetic towards its point of view,” said an authorized biography, Turning Hearts Toward Home, written by Focus on the Family official Rolf Zettersten.

Controversial view on spanking

But on his radio shows, Dobson easily switched from political topics to cultural and religious-based ones, always centering his concern on how Americans were raising their children.

“There is nothing more important to most Christian parents than the salvation of their children,” he once said. “Every other goal and achievement in life is anemic and insignificant compared to this transmission of faith to their offspring.”

Many of Dobson’s teachings about child rearing, on spanking in particular, were questioned at the time, and even younger evangelicals have pushed back on his thinking in recent decades.

“Dobson taught people, spank your kid, but sit them down and put them on your lap and hug them,” therapist Krispin Mayfield said in 2024 about Dobson. This combination of pain and affection, Mayfield told Religion News Service, can shape how children view parents and authority figures and can impact their view of God.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which countered Dobson’s statements and actions for decades, criticized his stance on spanking when he was appointed in the 1990s to a federal child welfare commission: “James Dobson deserves a ‘Time Out,’ not political favors.”

In reaction to his death, the foundation said in a posting on X: “James Dobson’s legacy isn’t ‘family values’—it’s intolerance. He blamed mass shootings on LGBTQ rights & abortion and reduced marriage to a sexist bargain. FFRF will keep fighting the Christian nationalism he championed.”

Left Focus on the Family in 2009

Dobson left Focus on the Family in 2009—some reports at the time said he was pushed out—and launched the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute and “Family Talk,” a new nationally syndicated radio broadcast.

“One of the common errors of founder-presidents is to hold to the reins of leadership too long, thereby preventing the next generation from being prepared for executive authority,” Dobson said in a statement when his resignation was announced.

Dobson last recorded a broadcast in March and it aired in April, according to the public relations agency representing his family and the institute.

Dobson also turned his energy toward the imaginary, supporting an “Adventures in Odyssey” radio drama series with Focus on the Family and co-authoring the 2013 dystopian novel Fatherless, in which parents of more than two children are pejoratively dubbed “breeders,” reflecting the anti-family sentiments he sought to counter.

“In 1977 I founded what became a worldwide ministry dedicated to the preservation of the home,” he told RNS shortly after the novel was published.

“That effort placed me in one cultural skirmish after another, unwittingly confronting forces much darker than I knew. I don’t pretend to comprehend what occurs in the unseen realm. But I know that we all live in what C.S. Lewis called ‘enemy-occupied territory.’”

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Shirley Dobson.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The 7th paragraph was edited after the article first was posted to correct a date.

PHILADELPHIA (BP)—Nearly half of American Christians, 45 percent, have not attended church in the past six months, the American Bible Society said in its latest release from the 2025 State of the Bible report.

About two-thirds of American adults—64 percent—say they are Christian, but of those, only 55 percent attend church, the society reported.

The American Bible Society polled church attendees to determine levels of church engagement, viewed as involvement in the life, mission and community of a local church.

Church engagement linked to human flourishing

But for Christians who attend church, accounting for 35 percent of Americans, higher church engagement led to higher human flourishing.

Researchers gauged levels of engagement by asking if attendees had opportunities to learn and grow in their faith, had a best friend at church, whether someone at church encouraged their spiritual development, whether the pastor or another church leader seemed to care about them as a person, and if they had opportunities to use their spiritual gifts at church.

“People’s lives improve when they engage with their church—not just attending, but using their gifts, developing relationships, and taking advantage of opportunities to grow spiritually,” said John Plake, chief innovation officer at the American Bible Society and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series.

“Our survey shows that church-engaged Christians have significantly less stress, less anxiety, less loneliness and more hope. For years now, we’ve seen these same effects with Scripture engagement, but the church provides a living environment where these factors can play out. The pairing of church and the Bible is a powerful force.”

Among attendees, 62 percent of those who ranked high in church engagement also ranked high in human flourishing, 40 percent of those with average church engagement scores ranked high in human flourishing, and only 23 percent of those who ranked low in church engagement scored high in human flourishing, researchers said.

Those who attended church frequently experienced greater engagement, but researchers made no conclusions on whether the opportunities to be engaged drove attendance, or whether engagement was a result of attendance.

“We expect those who attend weekly to be the most engaged at church, but the striking detail here is the relatively small difference between monthly attenders and those who attend maybe twice a year,” researchers wrote.

“Some churches consider people ‘regular’ attenders if they show up once a month, but here we see data to dispute that. Whether we’re talking about pastoral care, the use of gifts or growth opportunities, weekly attenders are more than twice as likely to respond enthusiastically.”

Among weekly attendees, 59 percent expressed opportunities to learn and grow in their faith in the past year, compared to 22 percent of monthly attendees.

More than one-third—35 percent—had a best friend at church, compared to 15 percent of monthly attendees. More than half—55 percent—said someone at church encouraged their spiritual development, compared to 24 percent of monthly attendees.

Six out of 10—61 percent—said a pastor or another leader seemed to care about them as a person, and 44 percent had opportunities to use their giftings, compared to 17 percent of monthly attendees.

Demographic differences noted

Demographically, Generation Z—ages 18-28—scored consistently lowest in church engagement in all questions asked, researchers said, with scores varying in other demographic groups including Millennials (ages 29-44), Gen X (ages 45-60) and Baby Boomers (ages 61-79).

Only 1 in 5 among Gen Z felt strongly they can use their gifts at church, compared to 1 in 3 across all other generations, and only 1 in 4 of Gen Z felt strongly their church encourages their spiritual development.

Evangelical Protestant church members expressed higher levels of church engagement, researchers said, but acknowledged that various denominations have different rules determining appropriate engagement.

Specifically, 39 percent of Evangelical Protestants expressed high engagement, followed by 30 percent of Mainline Protestants, 19 percent of Historically Black Protestants and 12 percent of Roman Catholics.

“We recognize that our selection of the church engagement items may reflect an evangelical bias and that other groups may have different beliefs about what a church should be or do, so we’re careful in evaluating these numbers,” the researchers wrote.

Among other findings regarding church attendees:

• 46 percent felt strongly that their pastor, or another church leader, cared for them as a person; 48 percent agreed with the sentiment but not as strongly, and 6 percent disagreed.
• 92 percent of attendees agreed to some extent at least that church gave them opportunities to learn and grow in their faith, while 8 percent said they did not.
• 33 percent agreed strongly they have opportunities to use their gifting at church, 55 percent agreed or somewhat agreed, and 12 percent disagreed.
• 27 percent felt strongly or somewhat strongly they have a best friend at church, 38 percent agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement, and 35 percent disagreed.

Research findings are gleaned from a nationally representative survey performed for the American Bible Society by NORC at the University of Chicago, using their AmeriSpeak panel. The data came from 2,656 online interviews conducted Jan. 2-21 with American adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Few pastors leave the pulpit each year, but most of those who do say it was a personal decision.

A Lifeway Research study of former senior pastors in four Protestant denominations who stepped down before retirement age revealed 4 in 5 (81 percent) felt sure during most of their ministry at their last church that they could stay there as long as they wanted.

About 1 percent of U.S. Protestant pastors leave the ministry each year, according to the most recent Lifeway Research study. Among pastors from four denominations who step down, 2 in 5 (40 percent) say it was related to a change in their calling.

Other leading causes they cite are conflict in a church (18 percent), burnout (16 percent), family issues (10 percent) and personal finances (10 percent).

Some point to an illness (6 percent), being a poor fit with a church (6 percent), not being able to find a church that was a good fit (4 percent), denominational issues (4 percent), or the church closing or issues related to the pandemic (3 percent). Only 1 percent blame a lack of preparation for the job.

While pastors stepping down for a moral or ethical issue garners the most headlines, only 3 percent are connected to that. Some say another reason (6 percent) and none of these (3 percent).

“Because social media tends to spread current stories that are far from normative, we run the risk of becoming convinced of falsehoods about pastors today,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.

“This research study provides uncommon access to a reliable sample from four denominations of those who left the pastorate early, and the most frequent reason for stepping away from the senior pastor role is God’s leadership to do so.”

Who are former pastors?

While some pastors left the pulpit only a few years short of retirement, others had just begun life in the ministry when they quit. A third (33 percent) left when they were between 55 and 66, but similar percentages left when they were 45 to 54 (35 percent) and 44 or younger (32 percent).

More than 2 in 5 (43 percent) never made it to a second church, leaving pastoral ministry entirely after their first. The same percentage (43 percent) served as a senior pastor for 10 years or less, including 21 percent who served five years or less.

Around a third (32 percent) were a senior pastor between 11 and 20 years, while a quarter (25 percent) stood behind the pulpit for more than 20 years.

For 3 in 4 former pastors, their last stop, whether it was their first or not, didn’t last long. Almost three-quarters (73 percent) served as a pastor at their last church for 10 years or less, including 45 percent who were there for five years or less.

One in 5 (20 percent) were at their last church between 11 and 20 years before leaving the ministry. Just 7 percent say their last tenure lasted 20 or more years.

Despite stepping away from the pulpit, half (53 percent) of former pastors are still working in the ministry in a role other than pastor. A third (32 percent) work in a non-ministry role.

Few took early retirement (7 percent), disability (3 percent), are currently looking for work (2 percent) or have some other employment situation (2 percent).

“It’s not surprising to see the majority of former pastors still working in ministry,” McConnell said.

“In addition to many feeling called to their new role, the majority of current Protestant pastors say they have limited non-ministry work experience, with 6 in 10 having worked outside of ministry for 10 years or less before becoming a pastor.”

Half experienced significant conflict

Conflict, the second-leading reason pastors become former pastors, is a reality in many congregations, but for some leaders, it becomes too much.

Almost half (45 percent) of former pastors say they experienced significant conflict in their church during the last year they served as pastor.

Additionally, 9 in 10 (87 percent) faced conflict at some point in their last congregation, most commonly over changes they had proposed (56 percent).

Half of former pastors had conflict with lay leaders (50 percent) or said they experienced a significant personal attack (49 percent).

Around 2 in 5 saw conflict over expectations about the pastor’s role (40 percent) or their leadership style (38 percent).

Close to a quarter experienced conflict related to national or local politics (27 percent) or doctrinal differences (22 percent). One in 8 (12 percent) say none of these.

“The experiences of those who left the pastorate early include more conflict than the typical current pastor has,” McConnell said.

“Among evangelical and Black Protestant current pastors, only 19 percent experienced significant conflict this last year, while 45 percent of former pastors from these four denominations had significant conflict their last year as pastor.”

It’s not as though former pastors were blindsided by the existence of conflict. Nine in 10 (92 percent) say they expected there would be a need to confront conflict in their church.

Almost as many (86 percent) say they consistently listened to people in their church for signs of conflict.

Similarly, 84 percent invested in processes and behaviors to prevent conflict. Additionally, most (55 percent) say their training prepared them to handle the people side of ministry.

Family issues a factor for some

One in 10 former pastors (10 percent) say family issues contributed to their leaving the pulpit, but most tried to prioritize family life.

More than 2 in 3 (68 percent) say they consistently put their family first when time conflicts arose.

Still, 50 percent believe the demands of ministry kept them from spending time with their families, and 41 percent believe their families resented the demands of pastoral ministry. Additionally, 3 in 4 (73 percent) were often concerned about the financial security of their families.

Ministry wasn’t all negative for the pastor’s family. Two in 3 (65 percent) former pastors say their last congregation regularly provided their families with genuine encouragement.

Four in 5 (80 percent) were able to take a vacation with their families for at least a week away from their church work.

Former pastors believe their spouses were on board with church life. More than 4 in 5 (83 percent) say their spouses were very satisfied with their marriages.

Almost 3 in 4 (72 percent) say their spouses were enthusiastic about their life in ministry together. Also, 59 percent planned a date night alone with their spouse at least once a month.

“While it can be true in any occupation that your personal wellbeing and family can impact your job, the roll of pastor amplifies the importance of balance among these. Desiring to do more ministry is a noble compulsion, but not at the expense of health and family,” McConnell said.

Ministry problems identified

As former pastors reflected on their time in the ministry, they highlighted many areas of concern. Many felt pressure from the congregation. Most (53 percent) felt the church had unrealistic expectations of them. And around a third (35 percent) didn’t feel free to say no when expectations of them were unrealistic.

Four in 5 (80 percent) felt they had to be “on-call” 24 hours a day. Most (53 percent) often felt the demands of ministry were greater than they could handle, while almost 2 in 3 (64 percent) frequently felt overwhelmed with the role of pastor.

More than 2 in 5 (42 percent) don’t feel the search team or leaders accurately described their last church before they arrived.

As this pressure built on former pastors, more than 1 in 3 (37 percent) frequently became irritated with people at their church. More than 2 in 3 (68 percent) felt isolated as pastors.

“A church functions a lot like a team, and on a team, each player has a role to play. When the pastor’s role and responsibilities are not clear, it creates unfair strain,” McConnell said.

Still, most pastors were able to find time for themselves and with God during the week. More than 2 in 3 (68 percent) were able to unplug from ministry work at least once a week.

Three in 4 (73 percent) had personal time with the Lord, outside of sermon or lesson preparation, five or more times a week.

Advice for current pastors and churches

Looking back on their time in the pulpit, former pastors have some suggestions for current pastors and their congregations.

When asked what advice they have for current pastors to help them thrive in ministry, former pastors are most likely to tell those still leading churches to prioritize marriage and family (20 percent), spend time with God and read the Bible (16 percent), and remember their calling and trust God (14 percent).

Around 1 in 10 former pastors advise current pastors to pray (9 percent), take time away (8 percent), surround themselves with trustworthy people and friends (8 percent), love God and love others (8 percent), put God first (8 percent), care for themselves (7 percent), and meet with a mentor (7 percent).

Close to 1 in 20 say those still in the ministry should connect and meet with other pastors (6 percent), not go it alone (4 percent) and meet with a counselor (4 percent).

Fewer former pastors say to set boundaries (3 percent), have caution with the denomination (3 percent), learn how to deal with conflict (3 percent), have patience (3 percent), develop leaders (3 percent), listen to and communicate with the congregation (3 percent), be honest (2 percent), don’t give up and remain strong (2 percent), and work on financial planning (2 percent).

One percent or less advise current pastors to preach biblical sermons (1 percent), serve bivocationally (1 percent), display humility (1 percent), be sure the search committee represents a church accurately (1 percent), focus on obedience (1 percent), serve in elder-led congregations (1 percent), avoid politics (less than 1 percent), and be authentic or genuine (less than 1 percent). Only 1 percent didn’t offer any advice.

Even among former pastors, just 2 percent tell current pastors to leave the ministry (2 percent).

 “It is important to notice what former pastors do not give as advice: They do not encourage pastors to do more themselves,” McConnell said. “Trusting in God and taking time to care for their family and themselves make up most of the advice.”

When offering advice to churches on how they can best help their pastor thrive in ministry, former pastors give fewer options.

At least 1 in 10 say congregations should love and respect their pastor’s family (14 percent), pray for their pastor (14 percent), give them time off and protect it (12 percent), encourage and care for them (11 percent), be supportive (10 percent), and have clear and realistic expectations (10 percent).

Slightly fewer advise churches to respect and honor their pastor (9 percent), provide for them (8 percent), remember pastors are human (7 percent), serve or volunteer (7 percent) and love them (7 percent).

Few say to invest in their pastor (4 percent), cooperate with them (3 percent) or move to be elder-led (less than 1 percent). Only 2 percent offered no advice to churches.

“Former pastors’ requests for how churches should treat their pastors are not lengthy. Most listed only one piece of advice, with many focusing on the personal elements of love, care, prayer, respect and encouragement,” McConnell said.

“On the practical side, former pastors encourage churches to have realistic expectations of their pastors, with more mentioning appropriate time off than financial provision.”

The study—sponsored by Houston’s First Baptist Church and Richard Dockins, M.D.—was conducted May 6 to July 6, 2025. The sample lists were created and invitations sent by four Protestant denominations: Assemblies of God, Church of the Nazarene, The Wesleyan Church and Southern Baptist Convention.

Each survey was completed by an individual who has served as a senior (or sole) pastor but stopped serving as senior pastor prior to age 67. The completed sample is 730 former pastors.

While most Americans remain distrustful of the church, a growing number say they have confidence in the institution. Currently, 36 percent say they trust the church, according to Gallup’s annual tracking poll.

For the past three years, the percentage of U.S. adults who said they had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the church or organized religion has hovered near record lows. In 2022, trust fell to 31 percent of Americans and has been at 32 percent the last two years.

For the first time since 2020, however, the church has experienced a significant jump in trust. In 2025, 36 percent say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the church as an institution. The church was last that high in 2021 (37 percent).

Gallup began tracking U.S. adults’ confidence in the church as an institution in 1973. In 1975, 68 percent expressed a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the church.

After a downward trend, the church experienced a boost of confidence in 2001, as did most other national institutions after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The church rebounded to 60 percent for the first time since 1987. That year marked the last time at least 3 in 5 Americans had confidence in the church.

More than half of U.S. adults (52 percent) said they had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the church as an institution in 2019, the last year a majority held that belief. In 2018, confidence levels fell below 40 percent for the first time.

They edged above that mark in 2020, only to drop back below in 2021 and even further in 2022. Despite the 1-point increase in 2023 and the steady percentage in 2024, those years still marked the second-lowest percentages ever.

Political differences

The increase since last year was driven primarily by a jump among Republicans. Compared to 2024, Republicans’ trust in the church increased by 15 points, from 49 percent to 64 percent this year.

With the election of President Donald Trump, Republicans grew in their trust of every institution measured in 2024 and 2025, except for the Supreme Court, which remained statistically flat by falling 1 percentage point.

Trust of the church among political independents grew by 2 percentage points—28 percent to 30 percent. Democrats’ confidence in the church hovered around 1 in 5, falling 1 point to 21 percent.

As churchgoers increasingly say they prefer to be part of a congregation that shares their politics and non-Republicans are most likely to never attend church, congregations may grow politically segregated and struggle to reach those who aren’t GOP voters.

Demographic distinctions

In addition to Democrats and independents, other demographics also report lower levels of confidence in the church.

Black (31 percent) and Hispanic Americans (33 percent) are less likely than white Americans (37 percent) to express a great deal or quite a lot of trust in the church or organized religion. Last year, however, just 30 percent of all non-white Americans said they trusted the church. Many groups that have previously had low levels of trust in the church grew in their confidence in 2025.

While Americans 55 and older are the most likely to express high trust in the church, all age demographics increased in their confidence. Older Americans grew from 39 percent to 42 percent, those 38 to 54 increased from 28 percent to 31 percent, and young adults had the highest jump, moving from 26 percent to 32 percent.

Other segments that saw increases since last year are those who attended some college but didn’t graduate (25 percent to 36 percent), those with annual household income of $50,000 or less (31 percent to 39 percent), and those with household incomes more than $100,000 (29 percent to 36 percent).

Also, men stayed statistically the same (36 percent in 2024 and 37 percent in 2025), but women jumped from 28 percent to 36 percent.

Church in second tier of trusted institutions

In the most recent findings, only three institutions—small businesses (70 percent), the military (62 percent) and science (61 percent)—have the trust of a majority of Americans. The church is among the next tier, including the police (45 percent), higher education (42 percent), the medical system (32 percent), the presidency (30 percent) and banks (30 percent).

Fewer Americans say they trust the public schools (29 percent), the Supreme Court (27 percent), large tech companies (24 percent), newspapers (17 percent), the criminal justice system (17 percent) or big business (15 percent). The least trusted institutions are television news (11 percent) and Congress (10 percent).

In general, Americans have grown less trusting of institutions. The increases in confidence among Republicans have been largely offset by declines among Democrats.

“The significant party shifts in confidence this year largely cancel each other out in the aggregate, and thus, Americans’ confidence in most institutions is unchanged or statistically similar to last year,” according to Gallup.

For example, while confidence in the presidency grew 73 points among Republicans since last year, trust in the institution fell 58 points among Democrats. Overall, trust in the presidency grew slightly from 26 percent in 2024 to 30 percent in 2025.

“While the loss of faith in key U.S. institutions may be hard to ever recover among political independents, partisans’ confidence is easily restored when their political party controls the institution. The flip side, of course, is that the confidence of the other party’s supporters declines when their party loses power,” wrote Megan Brenan in Gallup’s report.

“This suggests that confidence in U.S. institutions may be less about how well the institution performs its societal functions and more about who has the power to influence what the institution can do.”

The public’s average confidence level in the 14 institutions rated each year by Gallup since 1993 remains near historic lows. On average, 28 percent of U.S. adults currently have high levels of trust in those institutions, the same as 2024.

(RNS)—After Becky Hope left the evangelical church she had been attending in Portland, Ore., four years ago, she began watching online services at an ecumenical church in New York City—just for a little while, she figured, until she found something closer to home.

But after a few months, Hope, 40, found the digital experience was as fulfilling as any she had, especially after the church—Good Shepherd New York—began a small group for people watching online from the Pacific Northwest.

“I just fully fell in love and found a community within the digital space, which was not expected,” said Hope, describing Good Shepherd as a place where she felt “seen and known.”

Even so, Hope, an educator who was raised Catholic, missed receiving the Eucharist. For that, she began attending Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Portland in person every Sunday, as well.

“It really matters to me to be physically partaking in Eucharist with people sitting next to people,” she said.

For Hope, participating in multiple churches neatly fills her needs. And it is increasingly common for others, too.

Rising numbers participate in multiple churches

A recent survey conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research found nearly half of American churchgoers—46 percent—attend church services in multiple locations in person and/or online.

The survey of 24,000 churchgoers found increased online access as a result of the coronavirus pandemic may have driven up multiple church attendance. But the survey also shows most people who attend multiple services do so both in person and online.

“I do think for some people the behavior has changed because of the pandemic,” said Scott Thumma, the lead researcher for the Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations survey.

But, he said, it’s possible it began even before the pandemic. No earlier nationally representative data exists as a comparison.

Clearly, COVID-19 allowed worshippers to church-hop from the comfort of their couch, revealing a far greater variety of services. It made them savvier about finding other options, whether online or in person.

Young people more likely to seek out multiple churches

The younger the churchgoer, the more likely they were to seek out multiple church homes. The survey found that 63 percent of churchgoers aged 18 to 34 said they attend multiple churches, and that percentage drops the older the churchgoer is. Only 34 percent of churchgoers older than 65 participate in multiple church services.

That aligns with the collapse of loyalty to religious institutions and institutions generally. Younger people in particular are unlikely to stick with one church, one denomination or even one faith their entire lives.

That doesn’t mean their religious impulse has vanished. Younger people still search for ultimate meaning and transcendence. But they may feel less burdened by tradition or expectations to stick with one church.

Black churchgoers, the survey found, are especially open to attending multiple churches, with 75 percent of African Americans saying they attend multiple churches.

Bronze Adams, a 35-year-old African American graduate school student, attends two predominantly Black churches in the Washington, D.C., area. She likes the variety, she said, and appreciates different things about each church.

“At First Baptist, I know I’m going to get a great word,” she said. “The message is going to be direct. It’s going to be clear. There’s going to be four points. And then at Union, the same thing, but sometimes the topics are more relatable, might be a little more current.”

Her attendance has been a mix of in-person and online worship, but lately it’s mostly been online because of work, school and motherhood. She is caring for her 5-month-old baby.

So most Sundays, Adams starts out at 8 a.m. watching First Baptist Church of Glenarden International, a megachurch in Upper Marlboro, Md. At 10:15 a.m., she then tunes into services at Union Church, a multisite church based outside Baltimore.

“While the service is going on, I’ll have a pen and paper, I’ll just jot down what the pastor is preaching on and take a little shorthand, some notes, to refer back to for later,” Adams said.

“I’m definitely singing, standing up, even at home, hands up, worshipping. And then my Bible is on my phone. I do have a physical Bible, though, but I do read from my phone.”

Checking out services online before attending

Michael Woolf, senior minister of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Ill., a congregation affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA, said most people who consider joining his church have watched several of the services online before ever attending in person.

“People are better consumers than they used to be, as far as being able to understand keywords and how churches position themselves, what they talk about on the website, what they talk about in service,” he said.

More recently, church members will—sometimes sheepishly—admit they attend elsewhere and explain why.

“They’ll say, ‘This church does this well, that church does that well, and we’re going to put them together to make the more fulsome religious experience we want,’” Woolf said.

The 35-year-old pastor said competition for church attendance is so stiff, he’s happy to have people at any level—even if it’s only 10 percent of their churchgoing habits. He’s recently added eight new members to the congregation’s 250. With membership, participants get to vote at church meetings and serve on church boards.

In some more conservative evangelical churches, an exclusive membership to one church is still highly valued as commitment to a “covenant community,” one that holds members accountable to one another.

Changing expectations regarding church members

But increasingly, large churches, and especially megachurches, have relaxed those expectations.

Jack Landis and his wife, June, both served as missionaries for Child Evangelism Fellowship of Chester County, Penn. Now retired and living in Carlisle, Penn., they attend two churches in person: Carlisle Evangelical Free Church, a large church with three campuses, and Community Christian Fellowship, a small church June attended as a child.

They appreciate the contemporary style of Carlisle, but they want to stay connected to family members and friends at Community Christian.

“We spent 27 years traveling from church to church to church and loved it. So this was not like an adjustment for us to go to two churches at one time,” Jack Landis said.

He wanted to be up-front about it, though, so he approached the lead pastor of the larger church to explain that he and his wife were also participating in another church.

“Before I even got to really say much, he said, ‘Well, you don’t have to join to serve,’” Landis recalled his pastor saying. “I said, ‘That was my next question.’ He got it out before I even asked it.”

For many retirees who have recently moved, attending a new church and an old church is common, pastors said.

‘We kind of get a double dose on Sundays’

Cindy and David Jackson raised their three children in the Dallas suburb of Bedford, where they attended Martin United Methodist Church. When two of their children moved to North Carolina, for work and school, Cindy and David followed.

The retired couple attend the early worship service at The Peak Church, a United Methodist congregation in Apex, N.C., in person. Afterward they go home, log onto Zoom and participate — and take turns teaching — their old Sunday school class back in Texas. The Sunday school class began meeting online during COVID-19 and hasn’t stopped since.

“We kind of get a double dose on Sundays,” said Cindy Jackson, a 74-year-old retired speech pathologist.

There are, of course, drawbacks when online participation is the main source of community. When Hope moved to a different house in Portland, she recognized that members of her New York City church wouldn’t be there to help her.

“I think there is something lost in that,” she said. “But I think we find it in new ways.

“For example, she said, the Pacific Northwest members have a WhatsApp group chat where members will text “grace and peace” to each other during the part of the service where in-person attenders greet one another.

“A lot has changed,” she said. “There’s a psalm that says, ‘Sing to the Lord a new song,’ and it feels like God is singing a new song.”

BRENTWOOD, Tenn.—As students head back to the classroom, they’re likely to see the impact of local churches in their schools this year, new research reveals.

A Lifeway Research study shows 4 in 5 U.S. Protestant pastors identify at least one way their congregations have engaged with local public schools in the last year.

Only 18 percent of churches say they weren’t involved with area schools. The average congregation is connected with schools in more than two ways.

“Every community has public schools, and the opportunities to serve them vary,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “There are opportunities for churches to provide volunteer labor, help needy families or just thank those investing in the next generation.”

About two-thirds of Protestant pastors (65 percent) say their churches provided school supplies for students in the last year.

Around 2 in 5 provided supplies for teachers (41 percent), assisted a school with volunteers for events they conduct (41 percent) or provided tangible appreciation to teachers at a school, such as gifts, food or cards (38 percent).

A quarter (26 percent) assisted the school with volunteers for their tutoring or reading program. Around 1 in 6 (16 percent) conducted a Bible club at a school.

Churches also said they helped a local school in the last year in other ways, including 8 percent who said they donated something to students, like clothing, food or scholarships. One in 10 pastors (10 percent) specified another form of assistance as a way they’ve helped, including allowing the school to use their facilities, providing enrichment events for students in the summer and praying for teachers.

“At a time of year when churches are kicking off many of their own activities, it’s noteworthy that so many churches are making time to donate supplies for students and teachers and committing to serve their local public schools in other ways,” McConnell said.

Demographic differences noted

Different types of churches are more likely to help local schools in different ways. Generally, however, larger congregations with additional people and resources are more likely to engage area schools.

Churches with 250 or more in worship attendance are the most likely to say they have provided school supplies for students (80 percent), provided tangible appreciation gifts for teachers (63 percent), assisted with volunteers for school events (62 percent), provided supplies for teachers (58 percent), assisted with volunteers for tutoring or reading programs (43 percent) and conducted a Bible club at a school (38 percent).

Congregations of fewer than 50 are statistically the least likely to engage their local schools in any of those ways except conducting a Bible club. They are also most likely to say they haven’t helped a school in the last year (25 percent).

“Helping schools requires resources in the form of volunteer hours or donations. Larger churches have been given more resources, and they are applying them to serving their local schools,” McConnell said.

Churches in the South are more likely to be engaged with their local schools. Pastors in this region are the most likely to provide school supplies for students (74 percent), provide supplies for teachers (56 percent) and provide tangible appreciation gifts for teachers (52 percent).

Southern churches are also among the most likely to assist with volunteers for school events (47 percent) and provide volunteers for tutoring and reading programs (31 percent).

African American pastors are the most likely to say they have provided school supplies for students (80 percent) and are among the most likely to assist with tutoring or reading volunteers (41 percent).

Denominational differences observed

Mainline churches are more likely than evangelical congregations to say they have provided school supplies for students (76 percent v. 62 percent) and provided supplies for teachers (47 percent v. 39 percent). Evangelical pastors are more likely to say they have conducted a Bible club in a school (20 percent v. 11 percent).

Denominationally, Methodist pastors are the most likely to say their church provided school supplies for students (81 percent). They are also among the most likely to provide supplies for teachers (59 percent), assist with school event volunteers (52 percent), provide tangible gifts to teachers (47 percent), assist with tutoring and reading volunteers (41 percent) and provide donations for students (10 percent).

Lutherans (14 percent) and Presbyterian/Reformed (11 percent) are also among those more likely to say their church donates items to help students.

Nondenominational pastors are among the most likely to help with volunteers for tutoring and reading programs (30 percent) and conduct a Bible club at a school (28 percent). Pentecostal pastors (45 percent) are among the most likely to say their churches provide tangible teacher appreciation gifts.

“Local government and nonprofits may have opportunities for a church to serve people in their community in tangible ways, but churches are guaranteed to find needs they can help with at their local public school. And it is often easier to ask members to volunteer or donate to help kids than adults,” McConnell said.

The phone survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors was conducted Aug. 8 to Sept. 3, 2024. Responses were weighted by region and church size to reflect the population more accurately. The completed sample is 1,003 surveys, providing 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.3 percent. This margin of error accounts for the effect of weighting. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

(RNS)—At Celebration Church, a Portuguese- and English-speaking Baptist congregation in the Boston area, the benevolence fund is supposed to be there to help church families meet basic needs, such as food, clothing and heat, throughout the year.

But in April, three months into President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport undocumented immigrants, the money already had been almost completely spent.

“If a family member has been detained, the church tries to mobilize to help the families in need,” said Celebration’s pastor, Josias Souza, adding that many other immigrant congregants are afraid to show up to work.

“If a person doesn’t work, they don’t get paid,” Souza said.

Lecio Dornas, lead pastor to the Brazilian members of Our Family, a multilingual church in the Orlando, Fla., area, said fear of raids at workplaces or of being stopped while commuting has been the biggest impact of the crackdown on his community, too.

The resulting hit on members’ incomes on one hand lowers offerings, Dornas said, and on the other, it creates greater need for assistance.

As their congregants live in fear of being detained and deported, pastors of churches serving immigrant populations across the country not only are searching for ways to reassure their congregations, but also how to care for them and sustain their churches financially.

Fundraiser takes a hit

At the oldest standing house of worship in Texas, San Antonio’s Catholic San Fernando Cathedral, rector Carlos Velázquez said the tension over potential detention or deportation is thought to have caused lower attendance at Fiesta San Fernando—part of an annual citywide festival, Fiesta San Antonio, that dates back to 1891.

“ We’re attributing (that to) the fact that people don’t want to go out right now,” Velázquez said. “They’re scared.”

The people who attended spent less, which Velázquez attributes to their economic uncertainty.

The 287-year-old cathedral stands about three blocks from the U.S. Justice Department’s San Antonio Immigration Court. Immigrants’ deportation cases increasingly are being dismissed at the behest of government lawyers, allowing them to be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for expedited removal outside the courtroom. The archdiocese is working to inform immigrants of their right to request a virtual hearing to remove the risk of an ICE arrest at court.

Normally one of the year’s biggest fundraisers, Fiesta San Fernando came up short, and Velázquez said he probably will defer maintenance on the 22-year-old building he lives in, where moisture is creating cracks in the roofline.

“ It’s pretty major, but it’s something that we’re going to have to put aside,” he said.

At St. Thomas the Apostle, one of the largest Catholic parishes in Los Angeles, Pastor Mario Torres decided to postpone the parish’s early July St. Thomas fiesta to early September, because about half of those he spoke to said they were scared to attend.

Torres preaches to nearly 10,000 families at Mass most weekends.

“Even though it’s a difficult time, let’s not allow the fear to control us,” he tells them during homilies, where he has drawn on Jesus’ words, “peace be with you.”

But he told RNS the festival is different from Mass.

“ Here in the church, I could protect you,” Torres said. “For example, if ICE shows up at the church, I could close the doors, and I don’t think they’ll come in.”

Amid the carnival rides, “outside, I can’t really protect you,” he said, imagining ICE could carry out detentions without him even being aware.

Torres said he isn’t worried about the church’s finances because “poor people are the ones that are the most generous.” The priest said he is telling families to “pray for those who have more fear than you” and help those they know in need.

“Don’t be selfish,” he said he has instructed, citing Jesus’ teachings. “Somebody else is being affected. You have to support that person, help that person.”

The heavy emotional strain

Pastor Sergio Elias of the Brazilian Free Methodist Church in Connecticut said the emotional strain on congregations is a major issue, even as leaders provide pastoral care.

“We have people who are locked in their homes out of fear, or only leaving to go to work. No leisure, no outings with their families, no vacations—sometimes not even coming to church. … They are terrified,” he said.

The immigrant experience, especially as immigrants seek legal status, never has been easy, he added.

“The fear of deportation has always been part of the undocumented immigrant experience, even under other administrations,” Elias said.

“But what makes the current moment unique is how openly and aggressively the Trump administration has approached the issue as an explicit political platform.

“Before, deportations happened, but without this tone of declared targeting. This posture has quietly legitimized hostile attitudes among people who already held anti-immigrant views, making everyday discrimination more common.”

Pastor Manoel Oliveira of New Life Church in Massachusetts pointed out even immigrants with legal status are affected.

“It’s not just undocumented immigrants who are being impacted emotionally. Those who have documents often have a friend or family member who doesn’t, and they share in that suffering,” he said.

Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, said pastors in Florida have reported cases of longtime members of their congregations who have no criminal records and deep ties to their communities being detained and deported.

They include a small-group leader in her 60s, a worship team guitarist, the wife of a pastor, parents of young children and many others.

These are people who attend immigration hearings to regularize their status, Salguero said.

“While we support due process and the deportation of violent criminals, we oppose this indiscriminate approach that targets mothers, elders and faith leaders. We are concerned that there are still some apologists who continue to say that’s not happening when we know it is happening, and we’ve seen it.”

Agustín Quiles, president of Mission Talk and board member of the Fraternidad de Concilios y Entidades Evangélicas, based in Florida, said many pastors themselves “are going to need counseling on how to deal with so many broken families and even with the law.”

He adds: “It’s real pain. Some pastors are describing heartbreaking scenes of children screaming scared, and homemaker mothers left to care for their children alone, without a source of income or community stability.”

Growing frustration among Latino evangelicals

Amid the crisis, there is growing frustration among Latinos with the broader evangelical establishment.

“There’s a sense of abandonment from the white evangelical community,” said Quiles.

“The councils and denominations are growing because of the membership numbers that come from the Latino church, yet they are silent, turning their backs to their Latino Christian sisters and brothers. We need to find a bridge there. There should not be two different gospels.”

Quiles said the moment demands unity. “There are a lot of heroes on the ground,” said Quiles. “The Latino church is vibrant and rising, and these leaders and communities are at the forefront, thinking creatively on how to protect their immigrants, how to serve their immigrants despite the threats that are coming from this administration.”

What has been helping Dornas get through this situation, said the Florida pastor, is the strong sense of solidarity in his Brazilian community. His congregants are raising funds to help pay bills and buy medication for those in need—even buying plane tickets for those who, out of fear, choose to return to their countries of origin.

“Solidarity requires effort and sacrifice,” Dornas said. “Either we do it, or no one will.”

PORTRUSH, United Kingdom (BP)—Success and Scottie Scheffler have become practically synonymous lately. Yet, it’s the world’s top-ranked golfer’s comments on what constitutes true meaning—and, more to the point, what doesn’t—that keeps grabbing attention.

Sheffler, a graduate of Highland Park High School and the University of Texas, cruised to a four-stroke win in The Open Championship with a 17-under performance.

The 29-year-old joins Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as the only golfers to win The Masters, PGA Championship and The Open before turning 30.

He played with little pressure as the world’s No. 1. Perhaps because, as he told reporters on July 15, it’s just another tournament.

“If I win, it’s going to be awesome for about two minutes, and then we’re going to get to the next week and it’s going to be like: ‘Hey, you won two majors this year. How important is for you to win the FedEx Cup playoffs?” he said on July 15 of next month’s tournament in Memphis. “And just like that, we’re back here again.”

‘The highs are ephemeral’

Scheffler was clear in that pre-tournament press conference as well as the one July 20 that featured the Claret Jug to his side: He gets a tremendous amount of joy and satisfaction out of the sport. He has played literally since he was a toddler. However, it’s not where he gets his fulfillment.

George Schroeder—now pastor of First Baptist Church in Fairfield, spent nearly 30 years in sports media. That included stints as senior writer at USA Today and nine Associated Press Editor awards covering national college sports.

In his experience, it’s rare for athletes to have such moments, he said. Those admissions on the fleeting happiness with a win usually come in private conversations.

“The highs are ephemeral. And they’re not nearly as important as they—and we—so often make them out to be,” Schroeder said.

The overwhelming majority of the July 15 press conference addressed the course at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland and the upcoming tournament. The last questioner, however, asked Scheffler to comment on the longest he has celebrated something or to describe his most crushing loss.

Known for his Christian testimony, Scheffler’s thoughts came with a heavy tone out of Ecclesiastes and covered the final five minutes of the press conference.

“I love putting in the work. I love being able to practice. … I love the challenge. I love being able to play this game for a living. It’s one of the greatest joys of my life,” he said. “But does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not.”

‘Family is my priority’

That comment brought an off-mic question: “What do you find fulfilling?”

Scheffler reaffirmed his love for playing golf and competing, but also the love of being a father and taking care of his wife and son, of being able to provide for them.

“Family is my priority,” he said. “If golf ever started affecting my home life … that’s going to be the last day I play out here for a living.”

A priority on faith has always been part of Scheffler’s career. Earlier in last week’s press conference he was asked about the books, particularly those on golf, he was currently reading. There’s a devotional he reads on his iPad, he said, alongside another “spiritual” book that’s “definitely not” about golf. Then there is his Bible.

On Sunday, he said again how his “greatest priorities” are faith and family.

“Golf is third. I’ve said it for a long time. Golf is not how I identify myself,” he said.

Scheffler’s message on the importance of family caught Nike’s eye, as shown in an ad that offered another definition of winning.

“It’s so refreshing that he values his family and specifically spoke of his desire to be a good father more than any and every success in golf,” Schroeder said.

“He clearly loves golf and winning. But having been to the top of the mountain, he’s recognized how unfulfilling that actually is, and how it pales in comparison to the joys of life with Christ, and as he talked about, life with his family.”

A way to bring glory to God

Schroeder went on to describe Scheffler’s self-evaluation in real time in front of reporters “a good, clean fight to have with oneself,” and one we should never back down from.

“Do I prize something else more than the treasure of Jesus? It’s like the parable Jesus told in Matthew 13. He has found a treasure in a field and he’d be willing to sell everything he’s achieved—the Claret Jug, green jacket, the No. 1 ranking—to have that treasure.”

Scheffler’s comments on enjoying the work he puts in every day also leaves something for believers to examine.

“It’s not drudgery for him, but a joy,” said Schroeder, who referenced Tim Keller’s book Every Good Endeavor, which connected practice, or work, to worship.

“It’s not compartmentalized away from his faith. It’s a way to bring glory to God,” he said. “I’m not talking about thanking and praising God when he wins a tournament, though he does, but more about seeing every day as a way to bring glory to God by striving for excellence in his work. We can and should do the same.”

As someone who has written about or commented on college sports most of his life, Schroeder has an eye on the high stakes leveled at athletes as young as 17 in the era of Name, Image and Likeness. The pressure has never been higher. Statements like Scheffler’s on what really matters are important for athletes, and fans, to remember.

“We so often see athletes as two-dimensional. Even those who don’t have Scheffler’s foundation of faith in Christ, or who haven’t achieved his level of success, struggle with recognition that even the highest level of achievement does not provide ultimate fulfillment,” he said. “Sadly, many know nothing beyond sports, or winning – and so they keep chasing those highs.

“As fans we need to recognize that our heroes are human. We’re so often so invested in our teams that we lose sight of that—or never see it to begin with. Win or lose, they’re quite often going through the same struggles as we are.

“If we see them through that lens—as people—we probably won’t direct so much adulation toward them when they win big, or vitriol when they don’t meet our expectations.”

CEDAR HILL—While leading worship for children’s camps such as Mt. Lebanon Baptist Encampment in Cedar Hill, the husband-and-wife worship duo Dave and Jess Ray—otherwise known as “Doorpost Songs”—seek to influence the rising generation by developing Scripture-based songs and resources to help children easily remember key passages.

Their name is based on Deuteronomy 6, and their primary desire is to help families become rooted in Scripture through the songs they sing and teach their children. As the parents of three children, this is especially close to their hearts.

“Hearing the words of Scripture in the voices of children will never get old,” Dave Ray said. “What an incredible blessing to help create those moments.

“Doorpost Songs began almost by accident. At the first church we served, our children’s minister asked me to write a song for their fall memory verse. I wrote the song and actually liked it, and then I realized that we could do more.”

Ray wrote enough Scripture-based songs for an album, and then he gathered a group of instrumentalists to record the tracks and a children’s choir to sing them.

Fulfilling a sacred command

“Once the album was complete, we needed something to call it,” he said. “Because the focus was Scripture and family, we were immediately drawn to Deuteronomy 6: ‘And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. … You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.’

“Ultimately, the purpose of these songs is to help God’s word become a part of our family life. It’s a way of fulfilling this sacred command.”

Dave and Jess Ray both have fond memories of growing up in church and crafting their musical skills at an early age.

Jess Ray played bluegrass and gospel music with her family, while also singing while playing the piano, mandolin and cello.

Dave Ray began learning to play the piano as a child, along with singing, and then he started playing the guitar at age 13.

Today, the duo leads worship for a variety of conferences, camps and family worship events around the country.

“We love getting to partner with churches to create fun worship nights that bring the whole family together,” Dave Ray said. “So often, each age group is separated on Sundays, and when we come together, not only can it be incredibly fun but also incredibly meaningful both for parents and kids.

“We also want kids and families to have a deeper love for God’s word. For many of us, God’s word is an afterthought when it should be our lifeblood.”

Encouraging parents to be spiritual leaders

The Rays want to encourage parents to fulfill their role as spiritual leaders.

“It’s not an easy role, but it’s such an important calling,” Dave Ray said. “We can trust that as we seek to faithfully live out God’s calling, he’ll be with us every step of the way.”

The inspiration for their songwriting process comes directly from reading Scripture passages and putting them to music. However, they admit it can sometimes be a challenging task.

“Most of the Bible was not written to be a song,” Dave Ray said. “It doesn’t have rhyme or meter or symmetry. Even the poetry in Scripture is different from the kind of poetry we use.

“So, a big part of the process is just sitting with a bunch of different verses and testing them musically: ‘Can we find a melody that fits the syllables? Are there rhyming words that we can figure out how to pair? And most importantly, will a kid love singing this?’”

Their ultimate goal is to create songs filled with rich, biblical truths that will help shape young hearts and minds with the gospel.

“Teaching our kids to be worshippers is one of our most important tasks,” Dave Ray said. “We spend so much time trying to get our kids to obey God and much less time teaching them to love God. But love for God is where true obedience comes from. If our kids are going to love God deeply, they must learn to be worshippers.”

(RNS)—Faith Radio President Scott Beigle’s quest for Christian radio started with 1070AM, a former CNN news station in Tallahassee, Fla.

After moving from northern Alabama to the Florida Panhandle with his wife and three kids, Beigle, who is Baptist, noted the lack of Christian radio stations in the area and felt compelled to change that.

Months later, on Oct. 6, 1997, that calling became a reality as the Faith Radio Network’s blend of evangelical Christian music and teachings hit the airwaves on 1070AM.

Nearly three decades later, the nonprofit network has grown to include 12 other Christian radio stations. Their flagship station, 1070AM, has been converted to a Spanish-language Christian station to meet the needs of Latino Christians in the region.

“There was no one doing that in our area,” Beigle told RNS.

But in recent years, the future of 1070AM has become uncertain, even as Beigle said its message has become more vital.

“A lot of them, especially now with the immigration and all, they’re scared,” Beigle said of 1070AM’s Spanish-speaking listeners. “

And we understand they’re scared to go out, but they’re not scared to listen—to turn that AM radio on to hear their language, and to hear how God can change their life.”

AM radio being phased out by automakers

In recent decades, AM radio, known especially for talk radio, has faded in popularity with the arrival of the clearer but more limited reach of FM signals, in addition to streaming and satellite radio.

A 2025 survey from Barna Group and the National Religious Broadcasters found listeners access Christian radio from multiple sources, with 68 percent saying they listen to FM stations, 57 percent a website or app, 38 percent satellite radio and 37 percent AM stations.

AM radio stations remain a smaller but consequential part of America’s radio landscape. The National Association of Broadcasters reports 80 million Americans still listen to AM radio each month on over 4,000 AM stations

However, AM radio now faces an existential threat: removal from cars. Citing dwindling audiences and technological clashes with electric vehicle equipment, automakers such as Ford, Volkswagen, Tesla and BMW have begun phasing out AM radio in some newer vehicles.

Advocating for AM radio

A diverse coalition of stakeholders linked with conservative talk shows, foreign language stations and religious broadcasters is teaming up in the halls of Congress, advocating to salvage AM radio’s spot on the nation’s dashboards, at least temporarily.

For many Christian stations, the legislative effort has spiritual stakes.

“We’re in the hope business—to see their lives changed,” Beigle said.

The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act is the latest iteration of a bill that would require United States automakers to include AM receivers in new vehicles for the next 10 years.

Though the bill has already gained broad bipartisan support—with at least 218 co-sponsors of the House version and 61 of the Senate—the House version is still in committee, while the vote on the Senate version has yet to be scheduled.

“We have more than enough votes to pass it in the House right now, but to make it a priority in a moment where there’s just a whole lot of four- and five-alarm fires you have to put out, it’s hard to do something that’s more of a long-term concern,” said Mike Farris, legal counsel for the National Religious Broadcasters.

The NRB, a multimedia association founded by evangelical Christian broadcasters in the 1940s, has more than 120 AM stations among its members and has been one of several groups advocating for the legislation.

A public safety issue

Proponents of AM radio say the medium has long been a key source of emergency communication. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s warning system relies on AM stations for emergency alerts, and local AM stations are known for distributing critical updates in a crisis—particularly in more rural areas, where AM is sometimes the only signal available.

Carolyn Cassidy, a regional general manager for Christian media conglomerate Salem Media Group, said her stations give AM listeners in Tampa, Fla., information on how to prepare for, ride out and recover from severe storms during hurricane season.

“It’s a First Amendment issue, it’s a religious issue, but it’s also a public safety issue, because AM radio is the backbone of the Emergency Alert System,” said Nic Anderson, vice president of government affairs for Salem.

Anderson fears excluding AM radio from cars is a move toward giving automakers control over what drivers can listen to.

Known for promoting Christian and conservative values, Salem Media Group owns and operates roughly 80 stations, 84 percent of which fall on AM, Anderson said. The group also has about 3,000 affiliate stations that are owned locally but carry Salem programs—and of those, 900 are AM stations.

PSAs tout value of AM radio

In addition to advocating on Capitol Hill, Salem has been raising awareness among listeners by distributing prerecorded, pro-AM radio public service announcements from evangelical Christian leaders and influencers such as Focus on the Family President Jim Daly and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

“For generations, AM radio has brought the hope of the gospel, biblical teaching and encouragement right into our homes and cars, especially in times of crisis,” Kirk said in one of the announcements.

“But now, some automakers want to eliminate AM radio from new vehicles. Let’s stand together and protect this ministry lifeline.”

Broadcasters say one reason Christian stations are especially available in the AM format is because it’s a more affordable option than FM, making it more accessible to smaller, niche stations of all stripes, including farming and foreign language stations.

“AM allows for certain formats that can’t command the bigger dollars from agencies. They have more of a local appeal,” said Orlando Boyd, general manager of The Gospel Nashville, which offers a mix of music and talk shows that cater to Christian audiences.

“It’s really to get that foot in the door … for people trying to break into the radio business.”

Boyd said The Gospel Nashville began as an AM station and later added an FM translator, which “piggybacks” on the AM station to play the same content on an FM frequency.

But the AM station is still a key part of the branding and reach. It’s vital, he said, for listeners in remote settings and is often the first choice for those over age 40.

Sheila Brown, who owns two AM radio stations—WUFO (1080AM) in Buffalo, N.Y., and WIGO (1570 AM) in Atlanta—said listeners on the east side of Buffalo and the south side of Atlanta especially depend on these stations’ unique blend of R&B, gospel and talk shows to reflect their interests and experiences.

“We’re running our own narrative when it comes to our talk shows, our music, our format. No one else in either city has the formats that we have,” Brown said.

Brown started her career in an entry-level position at WUFO in 1986 and worked her way up to become owner and CEO in 2013. She went on to purchase WIGO in 2022.

While WUFO in Buffalo has since added a translator to air its content on an FM signal, WIGO in Atlanta is a standalone AM station.

Brown’s stations feature daily gospel music and sermon segments, and on Sundays, they play religious content all day. That’s why for the lifelong member of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Buffalo, the fight for AM radio is a matter of faith.

“You have so many people that are sick and shut in, who can’t get out to their churches like they used to,” Brown said. “But when they turn to us, they’ll get the same singing, ministry, preaching that they would if they would be at their church.”

A network of Ascent-related seminaries, including Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, will launch a pilot program this fall hoping to open the door to theological education to a cohort of students for whom “taking the first step” has been an obstacle.

Ascent is a newer cooperative missions movement comprised of theologically centrist congregations of varying denominational backgrounds, several of which are BGCT-cooperating churches.

The group’s First Seminary Initiative will utilize a graduate theological education exchange model, offering up to 18 credits—six courses—of graduate-level courses over the course of a year.

“It’s a pilot program to try and mobilize more people toward theological education,” Ascent senior director Chris Backert explained.

“One of our statements or axioms about this is that the church in North America needs more theological education, not less,” he said. “It just needs to be delivered differently.”

The classes, digitally distributed, are the same courses generally offered during the first year of theological studies in traditional campus-based seminaries, Truett Dean Todd Still explained.

A sampling of seminaries

He said teaching responsibilities will be shared among professors from Truett Seminary; Winebrenner Theological Seminary in Ohio, associated with the Churches of God denomination; Northern Seminary in Illinois, historically American Baptist; and Missio Seminary in Pennsylvania, which in addition to its Philadelphia campus cooperates to offer theological education digitally through Kairos Seminary. Kairos opened an extension campus through San Antonio Baptist Association last year.

All of the participating institutions are Association of Theological Schools accredited, and all will accept coursework completed through the program toward a degree at their respective seminaries, offering students a chance to sample a variety of seminaries to determine which is best suited to complete their studies, Backert explained.

A student is not obligated to continue studies at any of the institutions, but these courses taught by these professors will give a good sense of what each school offers, he noted.

Still said Truett’s contribution will be Introduction to Christian Mission and Witness, taught by Truett’s longest-tenured professor, Mike Stroope.

Prospective students will apply to the pilot program and take as few or as many of the courses, offered in mini terms, as they are interested in taking at the affordable cost of $300 per month. That cost is intended to get people “off of a zero, and into a ‘yes’” to pursuing theological education, Backert said.

Then, at the Ascent summit next March 10-12, “there will be a convening of everyone” who participated.

Still noted, of the participating institutions, only Truett Seminary offers primarily an in-residence university-based seminary. The other three schools offer degrees that could be completed virtually. Truett offers one digitally distributed degree, the Master of Arts in Theology and Sports Studies.

The seminary is trending in a positive direction, he said, with more Baptists in-residence pursuing a Master of Divinity degree. Enrollment is trending toward a record number of students this fall, he added.

The challenge, Still noted, for theological schools is “to innovate, without forgetting the thing that you’ve done best since the beginning,” which for Truett has been and continues to be the Mastery of Divinity degree, he said.

While Ascent hopes to see the seminary network grow to include other schools, Still said, “it’s the start that stops most from beginning seminary.”

The Ascent related seminaries don’t want “the ideal, or the perfect, be the enemy of the good.”

So they asked themselves, “How can you create something that is accessible, something that is affordable, something that is flexible, so that students” through the one-year pilot program can take a step into theological education.

They decided to offer two classes in the fall, two classes in the winter and two in the late spring, early summer.

“We’re playing a small part in something that is larger than we,” Still said. “The idea is that as you take these courses, we will be an option among other options.”

He noted Dennis Wiles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Arlington and several other Texas Baptists pastors and congregations have strong buy-in to the Ascent movement.

“We feel like we’re serving in concert with our primary constituency, Texas Baptists,” Still said, but Truett also has much in common with Virginia Baptists, who helped launch Ascent.

So, participating in the program to offer to students “a taste” of several schools, seemed a good opportunity to try, he said.

“That’s why we’re calling it a pilot,” he said, noting none of the participating schools has “any grand ideas” about where the program will lead.

The classes do not constitute a micro-degree of any sort. They are a “suite of standalone courses” that can go toward a degree.

Stepping into theological education

“We’re trying to get people interested in theological education,” he said.

Many churches have said seminary is optional or that it isn’t needed anymore, Still observed.

“What we’re saying is a call to ministry is a call to prepare for ministry, and this is the next faithful step,” he said.

Still acknowledged this program is one pathway to theological training among many and emphasized they “are piloting it to see if it really is viable.”

The initiative represents “a good faith attempt to do something together” with the great hope it will “introduce people who sense both interest and call to theological education, so that they can begin the journey.”

Backert added: “Our main heart is we’re trying to propel people to say: ‘OK, I can take a jump into seminary education. It’s affordable. It’s accessible, and still quality.’”

So, the students can feel good about deciding where they’re going at the end of the year.

“The journey begins with a single step,” Still noted. “We’re eager to see if there are some students out there who might think this is a suitable and doable way to start.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—“Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a hymn many African Americans of older generations just know.

They’d sung it in church, learned it in school and stood for what is dubbed the unofficial Black national anthem just like they might for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“Lift every voice and sing/’Til earth and heaven ring/Ring with the harmonies of Liberty,” it begins.

“Let our rejoicing rise/High as the list’ning skies/Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.”

Courtney-Savali Andrews, an assistant professor at Oberlin College’s Conservatory of Music in Northeast Ohio, was born in the mid-1970s in Seattle, where the song—which turns 125 years old this year—was a staple at her Baptist church and in the wider Black community.

“It was impressed upon me, particularly from the ministers of music and the pastor, that not only did I have to sing the song with a full-heartedness, I also had to memorize all of the words,” she recalled in mid-June at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

“And so, it was one of those items that you did not want to be caught, specifically by your peers, looking into the hymnal.”

Andrews, who studies African American and African diasporic music, was one of a dozen speakers at a daylong symposium on “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” on June 12 at the museum.

Background of the song

The song first was publicly  by a group of 500 Black schoolchildren in 1900 in Jacksonville, Fla., to commemorate the birthday of President Abraham Lincoln.

Its words were written by educator and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson for the occasion, and his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, set them to music.

“They both saw artistic and cultural excellence as a major key to Black advancement in America,” said Theodore Thorpe III, a Virginia church musician and high school choral director, and the symposium’s keynote speaker.

“The hymn continued to resonate and reverberate, even beyond the expectations of the Johnson brothers.”

In its early years, it was pasted on the back of hymnals, Bibles and schoolbooks and was sung regularly at NAACP and other organizational gatherings.

Words from its second stanza were recited in the benediction of President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, and in the sermon at the inaugural prayer service the next day: “God of our weary years/God of our silent tears,/Thou who has brought us thus far on the way.”

In February, Grammy Award-winning vocalist Ledisi performed the anthem with 125 high schoolers during the Super Bowl pregame ceremony to mark the 125th anniversary.

During his remarks, Thorpe ticked off a range of artists who have recorded versions—some known for gospel music and some not—Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys and Mary Mary.

“‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ remains one of the most powerful symbols of the Civil Rights Movement,” he said. “It is featured in over 40 different Christian hymnals and sung in churches all across America, not just during Black History Month or Juneteenth.”

Anthem presentations

Over the course of the day and evening, some 200 audience members heard the song performed by a wind ensemble, sung in an array of arrangements by choirs, played on the Hammond B-3 organ and featured in a spoken-word performance.

“It resonates not only in different genres, but it resonates in even different generations,” said Bobby Duke, the museum’s chief curatorial officer, in an interview.

“We have seen people that are very much senior citizens, when they heard the Duke Ellington (School of the Arts) choir start singing, they stood. We see college students and then even students that are still in secondary school singing this.”

Duke collaborated with Bishop David D. Daniels III, a scholar of historical African and Black Pentecostal contributions to Christianity, who envisioned the symposium before his death on Oct. 10, 2024.

The event—dedicated in memory of Daniels—received funding from the Phos Foundation, which is co-directed by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his wife, Suzanne.

The symposium featured discussions of the three-stanza text—often all three are sung in churches and performances—and the music that accompanies it.

Words of ‘hope and lament’

Religious leaders and scholars, including Joy Moore, president of Northern Seminary outside of Chicago, discussed its words of hope and of lament.

“The text of this song doesn’t just say, as African Americans, we are in pain,” she said. “But it says, from this experience of pain, we hold this hope passed down to us, and we pass it on so that we are faithful to who we are and to the God who has created us and called us and not given up on us.”

One audience member, E. Daryl Duff, a retired Navy musician, described an instance where the song was not accepted by a white member of a chorus he directed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

“She was a solid choir member until February, when I would program this song, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ and she saw it as a divisive song,” Duff, who is Black, told the panelists.

“How do we as a people—Black, white, Jewish, Chinese, Japanese—make this song ubiquitous, which I believe that’s what God wants?”

Chelle Stearns, a white professor at Seattle School of Theology & Psychology and a symposium panelist, said in response: “Two words come to mind: curiosity and friendship. And I think we need a lot more of that.”

Journalist Kevin Sack, author of a new book about Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.—where nine church members, including their pastor, were murdered by a white supremacist in 2015—wrote about being moved by two particular lines of the song.

Back in 2019, he stood next to a septuagenarian church member, whose eyes filled with tears as congregants sang: “We have come over a way that with tears has been watered/We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered.”

“It just blew me away at how directly relevant it was to what had happened, literally one floor below where we’re standing,” Sack recalled in an interview with Religion News Service the day after the symposium.

Sack, who is Jewish and has spent many Sundays at Mother Emanuel, said he considers the song the nation’s best anthem.

“I give the Johnsons credit, because obviously I don’t know that it was their intent, but I do think that it is a piece of music that communicates powerfully to white listeners as well as to Black listeners,” Sack said.

Symposium organizers and participants noted their desire for the anthem to continue to bridge ages as well as races.

“It’s transferable to not only many genres, but it’s transferable to the generations,” said Stephen Michael Newby, a music professor at Baylor University in Waco, pointing to the popular concert version of the anthem arranged by musician Roland Carter and performed across Europe and America, including by the Duke Ellington high schoolers at the symposium.

Prince Francis, 13, a member of the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir, which sang a gospel-style version, agreed.

 After the event, he said he liked the “powerful meaning” of the song.

“To me, when it says, “Lift every voice and sing ’til earth and heaven ring,’” he said, “you want people to sing with you and come together.”