WASHINGTON (RNS)—For creator Harry Lennix, the new movie Revival!—a retelling of the Gospel of John with a mostly black cast—is a film whose time has come.

“I think to be able to imagine yourself as somebody like Christ is a great, powerful tool that has been denied us, not necessarily even from outside sources,” said Lennix, a black writer, producer and actor in the film.

Neither John nor the other gospel writers describe Jesus’ skin color, but Lennix, in an interview just after the film’s world premiere Dec. 4 at the Museum of the Bible, said depicting him as a man of color is something black people often “don’t have the daring to delve into, and that’s a shame.”

The movie features singers Chaka Khan as Herodias, Michelle Williams as Mary Magdalen and Mali Music as Jesus. It was released Dec. 7 in 10 cities from New York to Los Angeles and is expected to expand to more cities in January.

‘Vital to have the authentic voices’

Lennix, co-star of NBC’s The Blacklist, said the production—which mixes onstage, movie-set and technological performances—was conceived at his New Antioch Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, with an aim to include spirituals and gospel music.

“New Antioch is made up of mostly black people,” he said of the Pentecostal congregation. “When it comes to singing that kind of music, it is vital to have the authentic voices.”

Lennix’s twin goals for the look and the sound of the movie were met in his choice for the character of Jesus. Mali Music is a Grammy-nominated gospel and R&B artist who added original songs to the movie, including “Not My Will,” sung in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus contemplates his pending crucifixion.

“Acting as Christ and portraying Christ is so powerful, but portraying Christ in a musical is even more because no one thinks how he would sing, what words it would be, how his voice would be,” Music said before the premiere, attended by 350 faith, business and community leaders.

In addition to Music’s and other contemporary gospel tunes, spirituals are used to accompany the story: “Down By the Riverside,” in the scene where Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist; “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep,” as Mary and Martha share a short-lived grief over the death of their brother Lazarus; and “Wade in the Water.” During the latter, dancers surround an onstage boat and use blue strips of fabric to simulate waves as Jesus walks on water.

‘Color correction’

Lennix said he chose the Gospel of John in part because it was the poetic book that included “dense imagery” that was “perfect for film,” with the wedding at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine and the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

The former Catholic seminary student—Lennix had considered joining the priesthood—cited Romans 8, which speaks of conforming to God’s image, as a key motivation for the people who partnered on Revival!

“That’s a mighty thing—so that you can be conformed to look like him in his image,’ and nobody does that with us,” Lennix said of black people. “So I’ve taken the liberty.”

T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh plays Rebah, a female member of the Sanhedrin, the traditionally male tribunal of rabbis, who calls for Jesus’ death. She embraced the focus on what she called “the color correction” of the film.

“It’s not colorblind casting, in my opinion; it is correct,” said Keymáh, who was an original cast member of the sketch comedy series In Living Color. “The people of that time were brown so this is, to me, not a black version of something. It’s just telling of a story.”

Revival! is not the first time a predominantly black cast has recounted biblical stories. Playwright Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity, which premiered more than a half-century ago, was adapted into a 2013 movie that mostly focused on the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

More than a decade ago, Lennix played a Pharisee as part of an all-black cast of voices for the audio Bible “Inspired By … The Bible Experience.”

Lennix, who created his own adaptation of John’s gospel, unexpectedly joined the cast as Pontius Pilate when Scottish actor and Braveheart star Angus Macfadyen was not able to film his scenes because a snowstorm canceled his flight.

“It’s kind of a big part and so I had to figure out a way that somebody could know those lines,” Lennix recalled. “Since I wrote them I figured, ‘Why not?’”

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Genesis account of creation describes God working six days to create everything and then resting on the seventh, but about one-fourth of American Protestant churchgoers aren’t sold on following his example.

Seventy-seven percent say they take an intentional day of rest, according to a new LifeWay Research study of U.S. Protestants who attend church once a month or more.

Seven in 10 Protestant churchgoers take their Sabbath on Sunday. Few take it on Saturday (5 percent), Friday (1 percent) or Monday (1 percent), while 23 percent say they don’t take a day of rest.

“Americans are a privileged society for people to often enjoy two days off a week. For many, this may make observing a Sabbath day something many churchgoers don’t give much thought to,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research.

“Today, however, we see blue laws being repealed and most businesses open seven days a week. U.S. Postal Service trucks are now out delivering packages on Sunday. Taking a Sabbath may be something people have to become even more intentional about.”

Females (26 percent) are more likely than males to say they don’t take a Sabbath rest (18 percent).

Assemblies of God/Pentecostals (32 percent) and Lutherans (31 percent) are more likely than Baptists (18 percent) to say they don’t take a day of rest.

A 2015 LifeWay Research survey found 85 percent of pastors at evangelical and historically black churches say they unplug from their ministerial duties at least one day a week.

Commanded or not?

More than half of Protestant churchgoers (56 percent) say taking a day of Sabbath rest each week is a biblical command that still applies today. A quarter disagree, and 19 percent aren’t sure.

“Almost half of church attendees aren’t sure if one of the Ten Commandments still applies today,” McConnell said. “Perhaps the most important biblical teaching on the Sabbath came when Jesus said, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’ Clearly, God didn’t need the rest when he modeled it, but humans need to recharge regularly.”

Churchgoers in the South (58 percent) are more likely to see the biblical command of a Sabbath rest as applicable today than their counterparts in the Northeast (46 percent).

Baptist and non-denominational churchgoers (60 percent each) are more likely to say Sabbath is still applicable than those at Assemblies of God/Pentecostal congregations (45 percent).

Those in churches with attendance of 1,000 or more (67 percent) are more likely than those in churches with 100 to 249 in attendance (56 percent) and those in congregations with less than 50 (54 percent) to say it’s a biblical command for today.

How is Sabbath observed?

Going to church is the primary way most churchgoers say they observe a Sabbath. Almost 8 in 10 (79 percent) of those who observe a Sabbath say attending a religious service is part of their Sabbath-keeping. Two-thirds (65 percent) say they do so by spending time with family.

Fewer say avoiding paid work (33 percent), taking a nap (30 percent) or avoiding labor or chores of any kind (25 percent) are part of how they observe a Sabbath day.

A small number say they avoid shopping (11 percent), refrain from attending paid events or entertainment (6 percent) or refrain from media of some kind, like TV, radio or social media (3 percent).

“There is more variety in how people observe the Sabbath than when they observe it,” said McConnell. “But there are far fewer people avoiding things on the Sabbath, like paid work and chores, than those who say they keep the Sabbath by doing things, like attending church and spending time with friends.”

Differences in ethnicity and education lead to significant differences in attitudes toward the Sabbath.

White churchgoers are among those more likely to say the Sabbath still applies (59 percent), that they rest on Sunday as opposed to other days (75 percent) and that they observe the Sabbath by attending a religious service (84 percent), spending time with family (73 percent), avoiding paid work (36 percent) and taking a nap (35 percent).

Churchgoers with a high school degree or less are among those less likely to say the Sabbath still applies (52 percent), that they rest on Sunday as opposed to other days (66 percent) and that they observe the Sabbath by avoiding paid work (29 percent) and spending time with family (57 percent).

They are also more likely to say they don’t take a Sabbath rest (25 percent) than those with some college (18 percent).

LifeWay Research conducted the study of 1,010 American Protestant churchgoers Aug. 22-30, 2017. Analysts used sample stratification and base weights for gender, age, race/ethnicity, region, metro/non-metro, home ownership, education and income to reflect the most recent U.S. Census data. The methodology provides 95 percent confidence the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—On display on the ground floor of the Museum of the Bible there is a lone volume that stands out from the many versions shown in the building devoted to the holy book.

It’s a small set of Scriptures whose title page reads “Parts of the Holy Bible, selected for the use of the Negro Slaves, in the British West-India Islands.”

The so-called Slave Bible, on loan from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., excludes 90 percent of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, and 50 percent of the New.

Its pages include “Servants be obedient to them that are your masters,” from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, but missing is the portion of his letter to the Galatians that reads, “There is neither bond nor free … for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Since opening more than a year ago, the museum has featured this 15-inch-by-11-inch-by-4-inch volume in an area that chronicles Bible-based arguments for and against slavery dating back to the beginnings of the abolition movement.

Marks 400th anniversary of slaves in the New World

In anticipation of next year’s 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first African slaves in the New World, in Jamestown, Va., the Slave Bible will be on special view until April in an exhibition developed with scholars from Fisk and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

“We feel it’s an opportunity to contribute to important discussion today about the Bible’s role in relationship to human enslavement and we know that that connects to contemporary issues like racism as well as human bondage,” said Seth Pollinger, director of museum curatorial.

“We’ve had such visitor interest in this book, probably wider interest in this single artifact than any other artifact in the museum.”

The rare artifact is just one of three known across the world. The other two are housed at universities in Great Britain.

Fisk’s scholars believe its version may have been brought back from England in the late 19th century by the school’s famed Jubilee Singers, who sang spirituals to Queen Victoria during their European tour.

Dichotomy of coercion and conversion

The exhibition draws on the dichotomy of coercion and conversion, keeping slaves in their place while also attempting to tend to their souls. On two walls, portions of the Bible that were excluded from the slaves’ text are juxtaposed with verses determined to be appropriate for them.

“Prepare a short form of public prayers for them … together with select portions of Scripture … particularly those which relate to the duties of slaves towards their masters,” said Anglican Bishop of London Beilby Porteus, founder of the Society for the Conversion of Negro Slaves, in 1808.

Anthony Schmidt, curator of Bible and religion in America for the Museum of the Bible, said that quote “kind of shatters our ideas of these abolitionists being so progressive.”

“Porteus held to very racist views, even as he fought for the freedom of enslaved Africans in these colonies,” Schmidt said.

A London publishing house first published the Slave Bible in 1807 on behalf of Porteus’ society.

Absent from that Bible were all of the Psalms, which express hopes for God’s delivery from oppression, and the entire Book of Revelation.

“That’s where you really have the story of the overcomer, and where God makes all things right and retribution,” Pollinger said of the final book found in traditional versions of the Christian Bible.

The Slave Bible’s Book of Exodus excludes the story of the rescue of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, the liberation that gives the biblical book its title.

“It’s conspicuous that they have Chapter 19 and 20 in there, which is where you got God’s appearance at Mount Sinai and he gives his law,” said Pollinger. “The Ten Commandments would be Exodus 20 but missing is all of the exodus from Egypt.”

Draws focus to omitted Scriptures

Scholars acknowledge that the little-known Bible can be a shocking discovery for students and museum visitors alike.

“When they first encounter the Slave Bible, it’s pretty emotional for them,” said Holly Hamby, an associate professor at Fisk who uses the artifact as she teaches a class on the Bible as literature. Many of the students at the historically black university are Christian and African-American, most of whom are descendants of slaves, including those in the West Indian colonies.

“It’s very disruptive to their belief system,” said Hamby, who is currently teaching from a digitized version of the Slave Bible.

Some students wonder how they could have come to the Christian faith with this kind of Bible possibly in their past. Others dive deeper into the complete Bible, including the Exodus story.

“It does lead them to question a lot, but I also think it leads them to a powerful connection with the text,” she said. “Very naturally, seeing the parts that were left out of the Bible that was given to a lot of their ancestors makes them concentrate more on those parts.”

The museum has plans for conferences and panel discussions to further explore the unusual artifact and its complex meanings.

Pollinger hopes it will offer a chance for a more diverse range of visitors, black and white, to join in discussions, just as white and black scholars have worked in recent months on the exhibit.

“This exhibit is going to destabilize people; it’s going to disturb people and it’s not necessarily one group rather than the other,” said Pollinger, who hopes that learning about this piece of Bible history will foster greater understanding.

In a quotation displayed in the exhibit, Brad Braxton, director of the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, says: “This religious relic compels us to grapple with a timeless question: In our interpretations of the Bible, is the end result domination or liberation?”

Hamby suggested the exhibit should feature current Fisk students’ voices, so it includes a video of them discussing questions surrounding the controversial take on the Bible.

“My favorite question is the last question on the list that we asked them, which is: Do you think that this Bible is still the good book?” she said of questions the students were asked and the public will have an opportunity to answer for themselves.

For her part, Hamby, a United Methodist, says: “It’s a good book. I still believe in the Bible on the whole but not this version of it.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: See related article here. 

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Most Protestant churchgoers say the Bible teaches against drunkenness, but that doesn’t stop about four in 10 from taking a drink now and then.

While 41 percent say they consume alcohol, 59 percent say they do not, according to a new LifeWay Research study. That’s a slight shift from 10 years ago, when 39 percent said they consumed alcohol, while 61 percent said they did not.

Gallup surveys over the last 75 years typically have shown two-thirds of all American adults occasionally drink alcoholic beverages, including 63 percent in 2018.

“While alcohol consumption continues to be seen as mainstream in the United States, churchgoers’ attitudes about drinking haven’t changed much in the past decade,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research.

The latest LifeWay study shows 87 percent of Protestant churchgoers agree Scripture says people should never get drunk, up from 82 percent in 2007.

But when it comes to total abstinence, fewer than a quarter (23 percent) believe Scripture indicates people should never drink alcohol. A majority (71 percent) disagree. The share of churchgoers who say Scripture teaches against any kind of alcohol consumption has decreased six percentage points over the last decade.

When Christians drink socially, many Protestant churchgoers believe they could cause other believers to stumble or be confused. In 2017, 60 percent agree and 32 percent disagree. The portion who say drinking socially could cause others to stumble dropped slightly from 63 percent in 2007.

Researchers also found slightly more than half of the surveyed churchgoers say Scripture indicates all beverages, including alcohol, can be consumed without sin (55 percent) and that Christians exercise biblical liberty when partaking alcohol in reasonable amounts (54 percent).

Demographic factors matter

Attitudes and behaviors related to alcohol use vary based on age, geography, denominational affiliation and other demographic factors.

Male churchgoers are more likely than women to say they drink alcohol (48 percent compared to 37 percent).

Lutherans (76 percent) and Methodists (62 percent) are more likely to say they imbibe than Baptists (33 percent), non-denominational Christians (43 percent) and Assemblies of God/Pentecostals (23 percent).

Protestant churchgoers ages 18 to 34 are evenly split on their alcohol consumption with 50 percent saying they drink and 50 percent saying they don’t. Forty-one percent of churchgoers ages 35 to 49 say they drink, while 59 percent do not; 44 percent of 50- to 64-year-olds say they consume alcohol, while 56 percent do not. Churchgoers age 65 and above were the least likely age group to say they drink alcohol, with 32 percent saying yes to drinking alcohol and 68 percent saying no.

Among churchgoers, those with a higher education are more likely to say they drink than those with less education. Churchgoers with a graduate degree are most likely to say they drink alcohol (62 percent) followed by those with a bachelor’s degree (59 percent), some college (46 percent) and those who are high school graduates or less (26 percent).

“Churchgoers’ perspectives on alcohol are not changing very fast,” McConnell said. “The majority believe that biblically they can drink, but they choose not to.”

LifeWay Research conducted the study of 1,010 American Protestant churchgoers Aug. 22-30, 2017. Analysts used sample stratification and base weights for gender, age, race/ethnicity, region, metro/non-metro, home ownership, education and income to reflect the most recent U.S. Census data. The methodology provides 95 percent confidence the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

Comparisons were made to a LifeWay Research phone survey conducted in April-May 2007 among 1,004 Protestant churchgoers.

NASHVILLE (BP)—In the fall last year, Ricky Skaggs found himself in Texas with nothing to do for a day, after a church canceled his scheduled Saturday night appearance. He remembered a friend of a friend who lived in the area—someone Skaggs wanted to meet after the man had sent words of encouragement for Skaggs via text messages to their mutual friend.

So, he made a few phone calls, and soon the country and bluegrass music star was in a stranger’s home in Bertram.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the man said: “The Lord is giving you more fame to glorify his name. This is the year that you’ll go into the Country Music Hall of Fame.”

Skaggs wrote the man’s words down in a notebook and even recorded the conversation on his iPad.

The man made the prediction one year to the day before its fulfillment. Skaggs was inducted into the hallowed hall Oct. 21.

“You think that’s a coincidence? I don’t. God never does anything in coincidences,” he said in an interview.

A longtime member of First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., near Nashville, Skaggs believes God wants to be intimately involved in life’s details.

“The Lord likes coffee,” Skaggs said of his regular time with God. “He doesn’t mind me pouring him a cup of coffee.  If we invite him in every morning, he looks forward to it. …

“God is such a personal God. He loves the journey in our life, and he wants to walk with us, and he wants us to walk with him.”

God at work

Skaggs has seen God at work throughout his five-decade career, but never more than in the past year, when in addition to his country music recognition, he was inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and the Fiddlers Hall of Fame.

“It’s amazing to see what the Lord has done,” he said. “God has been showing up and showing off.”

Born in 1954, Skaggs began playing mandolin and singing in churches and stores around his hometown of Cordell, Ky., as a young child. Once when the legendary Bill Monroe came to town, the Father of Bluegrass Music asked “Little Ricky Skaggs” to join him on stage for a song, put his own mandolin around the youngster’s neck and a career was born.

At age 7, Skaggs earned his first paycheck performing on the popular Flatt & Scruggs TV Show. He was playing for a living while still in his teens and was a recognized master of the genre by age 21.

In the late 1970s, Skaggs took the virtuosic musicianship and homespun subject matter found in bluegrass, added some Nashville sensibilities like piano, electric guitar and drums, and took country radio by storm. During the 1980s, he had 12 No. 1 country radio hits, won four Grammy awards and was named the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year in 1985.

The 1990s and 2000s saw Skaggs start a record label, Skaggs Family Records, form his band Kentucky Thunder and return to his bluegrass roots. On his own label, he has received 11 more Grammy awards—for a total of 15—for his own recordings as well as those he produced.

These days, a concertgoer at a Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder show is as likely to hear a gospel song or a testimony as one of the artist’s many hits.

A Christian and a musician, not a Christian musician

But he’s quick to say he is not a “Christian musician.”

“My work on the road is a marketplace ministry. I feel like Paul many times,” Skaggs said. “Paul was not making Christian tents. He was a Christian making tents. I’m not a Christian musician. I’m a musician that’s a Christian. Big difference. The Lord told me a long time ago when I first started trying to speak and go to churches, ‘You can go to churches and speak, but that’s not your calling.’”

Skaggs was baptized at Holiday Heights Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., at age 21.

“I got saved when I was 13,” Skaggs recalled. “But I really didn’t grow as a Christian.”

An offhand remark from a relative after his salvation stunted him for some time. When Skaggs was unable to describe how he felt about being saved, the family member said, “‘Well, you must not have got saved then, if you don’t know how you feel,’” Skaggs recalled. “And that seed of doubt crept into my heart. And it wrestled me for a long time.”

For several years, Skaggs said he did not read the Scripture.

“I didn’t have a whole lot to fight with.” After struggling to read his family’s big King James Version Bible, he was given a modern translation by a friend.

“It was so easy for me to read,” he said. “I started reading that and seeing God’s promises to me.”

Soon, he wanted to recommit his life to the Lord and be baptized. And he has never forgotten the effect one remark can have on a life.

Power of words

“When somebody like that speaks a word, that word has power. We don’t realize how much power we have in our words,” he said. “The Lord says we’ll be held accountable for every idle word that we speak.”

Skaggs has more people listening to him than most, and he is careful to use his considerable platform to encourage people and lift up his Savior. He has a few words for the church too.

“The Achilles heel of the church is unforgiveness—finding fault, judging others,” he said. “We’ve got to always stay humble. That means take the low position. We have to live a repentant life. People think they don’t have to repent. … (The New Testament book) 1 John will tell you that you’re a liar if you say that. We’ve got to always examine ourselves.”

In early 2018, after playing the Grand Ole Opry, Skaggs and his wife Sharon were asked to come to a private room backstage for a meeting with a Country Music Association executive.

“When I heard the door close, I thought, ‘Nah, I’m not going to think this could happen,’” he said. Then the woman smiled, confirming his hopes he was to be inducted.

“I just started bawling and praising Jesus,” he said.

In a speech prior to placing a medallion around Skaggs’ neck at the Oct. 21 induction ceremony, fellow hall of famer and superstar Garth Brooks recounted how Skaggs’ music came to define country music in the 1980s.

“This was a breath of fresh air for everybody like me,” Brooks said, recounting how Skaggs’ music influenced him as a young singer and songwriter.

Country Music Hall of Fame Director Kyle Young presented Skaggs with Bill Monroe’s mandolin—the same instrument Skaggs held almost 60 years earlier as a child, removed from its glass enclosure in the adjacent museum just for the occasion. A visibly moved Skaggs demonstrated his skill on the instrument, leading the audience in a rendition of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

‘Wake up, stand up, look up’

Skaggs is not afraid to use his platform to call for prayer, revival and repentance, although his approach has changed through the years. Early on, music industry insiders were unsure how to take his outspokenness.

“That was a new paradigm for them,” he said. “They were not used to that. They were not ready for that.

“I was like a kid with a butcher knife. I was young, and I was not mature. And I was letting people know I was saved. … And that they needed to be saved too.”

For the last 20 years, having his own record label has allowed Skaggs to do things his way, including becoming involved in groups and events devoted to revival in America.

Skaggs likens modern-day America to the Babylon of the prophet Daniel’s day, insisting the country needs repentance and a return to the Bible.

Daniel, though seemingly blameless, Skaggs said, “humbled himself when he prayed and said, ‘We have sinned.’ Not them. Not ‘they have sinned.’ He said, ‘We have sinned.’ We have got to identify ourselves with the sins of the church. …

“If preachers are preaching self-help, and five easy ways that your life can be better, and not preaching the unapologetic word of God, I’m telling you … a self-help book did not get me saved. The word of God is what I heard that convicted my heart. And it still convicts me. It is the plumb line.”

Despite the challenges, Skaggs is hopeful for the future.

“Our greatest days are not behind us,” he said. “The great cloud of witnesses are praying for us and cheering us on. Wake up, stand up, look up.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Politics is important for most evangelicals, but not so important that they question the faith of those who vote differently from them.

A new survey from LifeWay Research sponsored by the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College explored the voting habits and political motivations of three groups of Americans—evangelicals by belief, self-identified evangelicals and those who are not evangelical by belief or self-identity.

Evangelicals by belief—those who hold to four key theological statements developed by LifeWay Research and the National Association of Evangelicals—were most likely to say politics is at least somewhat important to them (87 percent), with 30 percent saying it is extremely important.

Self-identified evangelicals (85 percent) gave similar overall importance to politics. Non-evangelicals (78 percent) are less likely to see politics as at least somewhat important. But few self-identified (23 percent) and non-evangelicals (18 percent) say politics is extremely important.

“These numbers show evangelicals have a greater passion for politics than most, which could say something about the issues of our day. Some of the biggest political issues today involve evangelicals, which could explain why they are engaged at a higher level than others,” said Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center.

“Evangelicals care for and tend to be involved in the communities in which they live. We have come a long way from 50 years ago, when many evangelicals thought political involvement was worldly.”

Four in 10 African-American evangelicals by belief say politics is extremely important to them—more than any other ethnicity.

Evangelicals by belief and self-identified evangelicals are more likely than non-evangelicals to belong to one of the two major political parties.

Among evangelicals by belief, 44 percent are Republicans, 32 percent Democrats and 14 percent independents. Self-identified evangelicals are slightly less Republican. Forty-one percent say they are part of the Republican party, 32 percent Democratic party and 15 percent independent. Non-evangelicals are more diverse with 23 percent Republicans, 36 percent Democrats and 23 percent independents.

2016 presidential election

Evangelical by belief voters are the most likely to say they felt strong support for their candidate when they voted and are most likely to still feel strong support for that candidate today.

Thinking back to 2016, nine in 10 evangelicals agree they felt strong support for their preferred candidate, with 69 percent strongly agreeing.

Little has changed when evangelical by belief voters think about who they voted for in the last presidential election. Today, 88 percent agree they feel strong support for who they voted for in 2016, with 70 percent strongly agreeing.

“Given the nominated presidential candidates in 2016, most voters with evangelical beliefs were sure about their choice and few have changed their minds,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research.

Self-identified evangelical voters and non-evangelical voters are less likely to say they felt strong support in 2016 and today.

Among evangelicals who voted, most did so for Donald Trump. More than half of evangelicals by belief (58 percent) and self-identified evangelicals (53 percent) cast their ballot for the Republican nominee. Slightly more than a third of evangelicals by belief (36 percent) and self-identified evangelicals (38 percent) voted for Hillary Clinton.

A majority of non-evangelical voters (53 percent) voted for Clinton, while 36 percent voted for Trump.

African-American voters with evangelical beliefs overwhelmingly voted for Clinton (86 percent), while more than three-quarters of white voters with evangelical beliefs voted for Trump (77 percent).

Around half of younger voters with evangelical beliefs cast their ballot for Clinton—47 percent of those 18 to 49. A majority of voters 65 and over who have evangelical beliefs voted for Trump (72 percent).

Single-issue voters? Not necessarily

The survey found evangelicals by belief (62 percent) and self-identified evangelicals (59 percent) were most likely to say one of the reasons for their 2016 vote was choosing the candidate with the ability to improve the economy.

Close to half those numbers—36 percent of evangelical by belief and 31 percent of self-identified evangelical voters—listed the candidate’s position on abortion as a factor in their vote. Similar numbers said a likely Supreme Court nominee played a role.

When asked the most important reason for voting the way they did, again evangelicals by belief (17 percent) and self-identified evangelicals (18 percent) chose an ability to improve the economy. That was followed by positions on health care and immigration.

Few evangelicals by belief (5 percent) and self-identified evangelicals (4 percent) said abortion was the most important issue in deciding their 2016 vote. And 7 percent of evangelicals by belief and 6 percent of self-identified evangelicals chose likely Supreme court nominees as the most important reason.

“In many ways, evangelical voters are a lot like everyone else when it comes to deciding their vote,” said McConnell.

“The issues often tied to evangelicals—like abortion and the Supreme Court—are further down the average evangelical’s list of deciding factors, behind topics like the economy and health care.”

Political divides in the pews?

Most evangelicals by belief and self-identified evangelicals say the 2016 election brought to the surface some underlying divisions among Christians.

Six in 10 evangelicals by belief (59 percent) and 57 percent of self-identified evangelicals agree the election revealed political divides within the church that have existed for a long time.

Younger and ethnic minority self-identified evangelicals are more likely to say those political divides were exposed during the election. Sixty-three percent of those 18 to 34 agree, compared to 53 percent of those 50 and over. African-American (62 percent) and Hispanic evangelicals (64 percent) are more likely to agree than whites (54 percent).

Yet, most evangelicals by belief and self-identified evangelicals believe someone in the opposing party can be a devout Christian.

Among Republicans, 68 percent of evangelicals by belief and 71 percent of self-identified evangelicals say someone can be a committed Christian and a Democrat. Fewer than a quarter of each disagree—25 percent of evangelicals by belief and 22 percent of self-identified evangelicals.

Among Democrats, 74 percent of evangelicals by belief and 77 percent of self-identified evangelicals say someone can be a committed Christian and a Republican. Fifteen percent of Democratic evangelicals by belief and 13 percent of self-identified evangelicals disagree.

When evangelicals encounter someone using biblical beliefs to justify political views that are opposite of their own, few question their political opponent’s faith. Twenty percent of evangelicals by belief and self-identified evangelicals say they doubt the validity of the other person’s faith.

Evangelicals by belief are most likely to say they are hopeful they can find common ground biblically (40 percent), while self-identified evangelicals are most likely to agree to disagree (38 percent) with the other person.

“Jesus is not coming back on a donkey or an elephant,” said Stetzer. “We have to acknowledge that people vote for different and complex reasons and that Christians can differ on politics and agree on the gospel.”

Other findings include:

• 59 percent of evangelicals by belief, 61 percent of self-identified evangelicals and 56 percent of non-evangelicals say their political support should focus on praising or criticizing issues rather than supporting individual political leaders.
• 27 percent of evangelicals by belief, 30 percent of self-identified evangelicals and 34 percent of non-evangelicals say evangelical Christians are too closely aligned with President Trump.
• 43 percent of evangelicals by belief, 41 percent of self-identified evangelicals and 27 percent of non-evangelicals say when a leader is making important political decisions they support, they should also support the leader when they say or do things they disagree with.
• 57 percent of evangelicals by belief and 54 percent of self-identified evangelicals say the goals conservatives achieve under President Trump will last after his presidency.
• 67 percent of evangelicals by belief and 66 percent of self-identified evangelicals agree committed Christians can benefit from a political leader even if that leader’s personal life does not line up with Christian teaching.

In his new book, Christians in the Age of Outrage, Stetzer said he describes how Christians should “gear down the outrage and turn up the mission. We certainly can’t go to war with people with whom we disagree because you can’t be at war with a people and reach a people at the same time.”

The online survey of Americans was conducted May 9-16, with a completed sample of 3,000 surveys. Analysts used slight weights for each group—evangelicals by belief, self-identified evangelicals and those who are not evangelical by belief or self-identity—to balance gender, age, region, ethnicity and education.

The sample provides 95 percent confidence the sampling error from the online panel does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent for non-evangelicals, plus or minus 3.1 percent for those with evangelical beliefs, and plus or minus 2.4 percent for self-identified evangelicals. These margins of error account for the effect of weighting. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Eugene Peterson, the best-selling author of The Message paraphrase of Scripture and longtime pastor, died Oct. 22 at age 85.

Among Peterson’s last words were, “Let’s go,” according to a statement from his family.

“During the previous days, it was apparent that he was navigating the thin and sacred space between earth and heaven,” according to his family. “We overheard him speaking to people we can only presume were welcoming him into paradise. There may have even been a time or two when he accessed his Pentecostal roots and spoke in tongues as well.”

Peterson was pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation he founded in Bel Air, Md., for 30 years while also writing widely to encourage and develop other pastors.

‘Refreshed Scripture for many’

He is best known for The Message, his popular paraphrase of the Bible in contemporary language that made the Bible accessible to many Christians. Altogether, he wrote more than 30 books, including his 2011 memoir The Pastor and the Christian classic, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

“Eugene Peterson has encouraged, formed, and often literally saved the ministry of more than one pastor over the years through his writing and thinking (I would include myself in that list),” wrote Truett Seminary professor Robert Creech in an Oct. 13 Facebook post.  “He has refreshed Scripture for many through his thoughtful paraphrase of the Bible published as The Message. He has taught us to pray.”

Peterson was hospitalized Tuesday, Oct. 9, “when he took a sudden and dramatic turn in his health caused by an infection,” according to an email from his son Eric Peterson included in Creech’s post.

When the family shared with the author and pastor he was nearing the end of his life, Eric Peterson wrote, his father thoughtfully responded, “I feel good about that.”

He closed his email: “I’m not exactly sure what he meant by it, but one of the last things he said to me this evening was, ‘It just seems so sacred that they trust me so much.’

“Every moment in this man’s presence is sacred.”

‘Embraced by eternal Sabbath’

The family statement Oct. 22 said Peterson remained joyful and smiling in his final days.

“It feels fitting that his death came on a Monday, the day of the week he always honored as a Sabbath during his years as a pastor. After a lifetime of faithful service to the church—running the race with gusto—it is reassuring to know that Eugene has now entered into the fullness of the kingdom of God and has been embraced by eternal Sabbath,” according to the statement.

Peterson had retreated from public life last year after publishing his final book, As Kingfishers Catch Fire.

It was the messiness and ambiguity of living Christian theology as a pastor, rather than teaching it as a professor, that originally led Peterson, a scholar of biblical Greek and Hebrew, from academia to the pulpit.

After taking a part-time job at a church to make ends meet while a professor in New York City, he once told RNS he came to believe “the church is a lot more interesting than the classroom. There’s no ambiguity to Greek and Hebrew. It’s just right or wrong.”

“And in the church everything was going every which way all the time—dying, being born, divorces, kids running away. I suddenly realized that this is where I really got a sense of being involved and not just sitting on the sidelines as a spectator but being in the game,” he said.

Peterson founded Christ Our King in 1963 after he was asked to start a church in Bel Air with the assistance of the Baltimore Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and First Presbyterian Church in Bel Air. He retired as pastor in 1991.

Scripture that ‘speaks to me in my own language’

Without that experience as a pastor, he wouldn’t have been able to write The Message, he said. It took several requests from publishers to get him to agree to write the paraphrase and 12 years to complete it.

Even after it was finished, he said, he never felt like The Message was “my book.” Translating the words of the prophet Isaiah or the prolific Epistle writer Paul into the idioms of his congregation, he said, “I was just pleased I was able to get into their life and do it in my way.”

While some took issue with the paraphrase of Christian Scriptures, The Message has been praised by many—from laypeople who struggle to understand the language of the Bible to U2 frontman Bono, who said it “speaks to me in my own language.” The two appeared together in a 2016 video for Fuller Theological Seminary’s Fuller Studio.

David Taylor, assistant professor of theology and culture at Fuller, grew to know Peterson first through his writing and later as a professor and friend. Peterson’s classes were filled with times of singing long, theologically dense hymns and silent prayer, Taylor said in an email to RNS.

“At the start of the term, it only irritated me to waste so much time singing. I was anxious for him to get on with his lecture notes. But for him, the silence, the praying, the singing, the listening, the waiting, the being present were the teaching,” he said.

‘His joy is being made full’

Peterson connected with readers because he made the biblical text come alive, according to his friend.

His life’s goal was to “change the pastoral imagination of pastors today,” to urge them “to slow down and to be present to their lives” so that they could help their congregations do the same, he said.

And for those who knew and loved him, Taylor said, “It’s his joy that will remain the gift that shapes me most deeply.”

“Even now, as I read the news of his passing, I find myself weeping, not just with sadness, but with joy, because I know that his joy is being made full and he would want us to share in it, too.”

With the publication of his final book last year, Peterson said, he felt a sense of completion.

“I think I’ve pretty much mined everything I’ve learned and made art out of it,” he told RNS at the time.

He wasn’t afraid to die, he said, simply curious. As a pastor, he’d spent time with many people as they were dying, and their conversations were some of the best he remembered having in his lifetime.

“We do know what’s going to happen, those of us who believe in the Trinity. For us, there’s something quite … I don’t want to use the word ‘miraculous’ in a sloppy way,” he said. “But there are people who die well, and I want to be one.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Eugene Peterson, the bestselling author of The Message paraphrase of the Bible and longtime pastor praised as a “shepherd’s shepherd,” is moving into hospice and receiving palliative medical care.

Peterson, 85, was hospitalized  Oct. 9 “when he took a sudden and dramatic turn in his health caused by an infection,” according to an email from his son Eric Peterson. The elder Peterson already had been dealing with dementia and congestive heart failure, both of which are progressing, according to his son’s email.

He is expected to receive hospice care at home.

Robert Creech, professor of Christian ministries at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, shared Peterson’s son’s email in a Facebook post. A postscript to the original email said, “Feel free to pass this message along to others.”

“Eugene Peterson has encouraged, formed, and often literally saved the ministry of more than one pastor over the years through his writing and thinking (I would include myself in that list),” Creech wrote in the post.

“He has refreshed Scripture for many through his thoughtful paraphrase of the Bible published as The Message. He has taught us to pray.”

Creech encouraged prayer for Peterson and his family as Eric Peterson announced the author and pastor was being moved into hospice care and likely had months to live.

After consulting with doctors, Eric Peterson wrote, he shared three things with his father: He is loved, he is in the last months of his life and his family will do everything they can to make his remaining time comfortable and enjoyable. When he asked his father how he felt about entering his last months, Eric Peterson wrote, his father thought before responding, “I feel good about that.”

He closed his email, dated Oct. 12: “I’m not exactly sure what he meant by it, but one of the last things he said to me this evening was, ‘It just seems so sacred that they trust me so much.’

“Every moment in this man’s presence is sacred.”

Peterson served the church he founded, Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Md., 30 years as pastor, while also writing widely to encourage and develop other pastors.

He retreated from public life last year after publishing his final book, As Kingfishers Catch Fire.

In an interview with RNS last year, Peterson said he did not fear death.

“I don’t think it’s anything to be afraid of.  … I’ve been with a lot of people who are dying. I think those conversations are some of the best I’ve ever had.” he said. “These are people who have lived a good life and who have embraced their faith. They’re not afraid.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Historically, women tend to be stalwarts when it comes to religion, while men attend religious services less often and are less likely to say their faith is very important to them. But a new analysis shows African-American men defy this trend.

A study by the Pew Research Center found that while black men are less religious than black women, they are more religious than white women and white men.

African-American men are equally as likely as Hispanic women to be what Pew considers “highly religious,” so they are tied as the second-most religious group.

The findings are not entirely surprising, given earlier data on African-American faith. In general, African-Americans are more religious than whites and Latinos, Pew found. Furthermore, they are more likely to say they read the Bible regularly and consider it to be the word of God.

Sixty-nine percent of black men in Pew’s study say religion is very important, while 78 percent say they believe in God with absolute certainty, and 70 percent are considered highly religious.

“Highly religious,” according to Pew, includes those who pray at least once a day, attend religious services at least once a week, are absolutely certain about their belief in God and say religion is very important in their lives.

While seven in 10 black men fit that description, 83 percent of black women are highly religious, Pew says. About two-thirds of Hispanic women, 58 percent of white women, half of Hispanic men and 44 percent of white men are considered very religious.

Across generations, researchers report differences. Fewer than four in 10 African-American millennials say they attend services weekly, compared with half of older African-Americans. Six in 10 of black millennials say they pray daily; in comparison, 78 percent of older African-Americans report praying daily.

The Pew analysis is based on data from its 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study. The margin of error for black men was plus or minus 2.9 percentage points and was lower for the other groups.

NASHVILLE (BP)—By the time churches have fully embraced Facebook, many of their members and those they are trying to reach may have left it behind, research indicates.

Nearly three-quarters of Facebook users (74 percent) have adjusted their connection with the social media platform in some way over the past year, according to Pew Research.

That reportedly includes the 54 percent who adjusted their privacy settings, 42 percent who took a break from checking it for several weeks or more, and 26 percent who deleted the app from their phone.

Young people have unfriended Facebook

Younger Facebook users are more likely to say they have done each of these. This is especially true in regard to removing the app from their phone. Those aged 18 to 29 were nearly four times as likely as users 65 and older (44 percent to 12 percent) to have deleted it.

Among teenagers, Facebook lags behind other social media platforms.

In a 2018 Pew Research survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17, half (51 percent) say they use Facebook, while larger numbers are on YouTube (85 percent), Instagram (72 percent) and Snapchat (69 percent).

That has fallen 20 percent in just three years. In 2014-15, 71 percent of teenagers said they used Facebook, more than any other platform.

Only 10 percent say they use Facebook most often compared to other platforms. More say their preferred platform is Snapchat (35 percent), YouTube (32 percent), or Instagram (15 percent).

This decline in Facebook use by young people comes as churches increasingly are relying on Facebook as part of their ministry strategy.

In 2010, LifeWay Research found only 47 percent of churches had a Facebook page. By 2017, that number had jumped to 84 percent. The same percentage of churches have a website as use Facebook.

Relatively few, however, used a church Twitter (16 percent) or Instagram (13 percent) account.

Church leaders say their churches use social media to inform people of upcoming events (97 percent), interact with the congregation (87 percent), and interact with outsiders (86 percent).

However, social media users increasingly are scattered across numerous platforms. In one family, Mom may prefer Facebook, Dad scans Twitter, the daughter is on Instagram, and the son watches YouTube.

Multiply that across an entire congregation, and churches face a daunting task of trying to leverage social media to reach both insiders and outsiders.

Some analysts suggest ways to do both:

• Diversify platforms.

LifeWay Research found only 23 percent of churches say they proactively look for new technology that may help them. But if a church wants to reach people on social media, research indicates the church needs to expand its social media presence beyond Facebook and a church website.

Some experts recommend adding a social media platform every few months to see the reaction from members and the extent of the reach beyond a church. Users don’t have to be  experts or post on every platform every day. They should just look for ways to go beyond what they have been doing.

• Leverage people.

According to the research, older pastors and pastors at small churches often are the least likely to try new technologies. But even if pastors are not up to date on the latest technology, chances are someone in the congregation will be.

Churches can involve young people in ministry by relying on their knowledge of social media to help reach others.

Church leaders also can encourage members to share information about the congregation on their own social media accounts. Even if a church does not have a presence on several social media platforms, people in the congregation do, and they can promote the church there.

• Capture phone numbers.

Church leaders may not know what type of social media people in the congregation use, but they can assume members have a cell phone. In the most recent survey, Pew Research found 95 percent of Americans own a cell phone of some kind, and 77 percent own a smartphone.

Even so, only 40 percent of churches use a text message service for group texts, according to LifeWay Research.

While church leaders should avoid bombarding members with daily updates, occasional messages informing members of upcoming service opportunities or encouraging previous guests to attend a special event could be extremely effective, experts assert.

Republished with permission.

Editor’s note: On Sept. 6, Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger entered the apartment of Botham Jean. Guyger maintains she mistakenly thought she was in her apartment and believed Jean was an intruder. Guyger shot and killed him.

News of the shooting has prompted protests against what many consider an instance of police violence against a minority. Some protesters also have questioned whether the police are being transparent enough with the public about the case. It’s unclear how Guyger got into the apartment, and the accounts differ between the Dallas Police Department and Texas Rangers records.

The following letter was signed by a diverse group of Christian faith leaders in North Texas, including a handful of Baptist faith leaders.

As leaders of Jesus’ church, we are committed to speaking the truth in love, doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly before our Lord. We speak as clergy of one blood, one faith, with one Father seeking the welfare of our city as servants of Christ in the city of Dallas.

Whether one’s skin is white, black or brown and whether the uniform is blue or that of a civilian, there should be no difference in treatment in a just society or in its courts of law. True justice is impartial to race, wealth, status or social position.

In our city’s current tragedy, we believe that Officer Amber Guyger’s blue uniform should grant her no advantage in the current investigation nor upcoming prosecution. We are committed to stand together, as spiritual leaders in our city, against any who threaten justice and thereby threaten our peace.

We grieve for all involved in this unfortunate situation and believe that a commitment to truth and a fair, consistent application of the law are best for our city, the family of Botham Shem Jean and Officer Guyger.

Past injustices are not remedied by further injustices, but they do explain the strong reaction amongst some of our fellow citizens. For this reason, we stand together in our call for the acknowledgment of any undeserved privileges already unjustly granted to Officer Guyger by virtue of her uniform. We demand full transparency, consistency, and integrity in the days ahead as the judicial process progresses.

May God bless our city’s leaders, justice system and citizens as we seek justice together.

Jeff Warren, Park Cities Baptist Church

Todd Wagner, Watermark Church

Bryan Dunagan, Highland Park Presbyterian

Matt Chandler, The Village Church

Andy Stoker, First United Methodist Church of Dallas

George Mason, Wilshire Baptist Church

Mark Davis, Park Cities Presbyterian

Gary Brandenburg, Fellowship Dallas (at large)

Albert Reyes, Buckner Benevolences

Larry James, City Square Ministries

Grant Skeldon, Initiative

Michael Bowie, St. Luke United Methodist

Richie Butler, St. Paul United Methodist

T.D. Jakes, Potter’s House

Gerald Britt, City Square Ministries

Bryan Carter, Concord Church

Vincent Parker, Golden Gate Baptist Church

Will McCall, Dallas Leadership Foundation

Rickie Rush, Inspiring Body of Christ

COLUMBUS, Ohio (RNS)—Half of Protestant pastors say they preach to their churches about domestic and sexual violence, an increase from four years ago, when only a third said they raised the issue, a new survey shows.

LifeWay Research took a detailed look at Protestant clergy’s attitudes toward abuse and harassment and what they’ve done about it, surveying 1,000 pastors by phone during the summer of 2018 as the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements dominated the news.

The research results were announced during the annual conference of the Religion News Association and released Tuesday (Sept. 18) by We Will Speak Out U.S., a partnership including the social justice organization Sojourners and IMA World Health, an interfaith health agency, both of which co-sponsored the research.

Surveyed in June and July, 51 percent of Protestant pastors said they speak to their congregation about the issues at least several times a year, compared with 34 percent in 2014. Almost two-thirds of the pastors surveyed this year and four years ago said that domestic or sexual violence occurs in the lives of their congregants.

Jenna Barnett, coordinator of Sojourners’ Women and Girls Campaign, said the survey—coming as some Protestant and Catholic clergy “fall necessarily from glory” amid abuse and harassment allegations—is part of an effort to ascertain the level of understanding of pastors about these issues and any progress that has been made in recent years.

Pastors reporting more domestic & sexual violence

“We saw an uptick from 2014 to 2018 in both how many pastors report experiencing domestic and sexual violence themselves and how many report knowing a loved one who has experienced this violence,” she said.

Eight in 10 said they know someone who has experienced domestic or sexual violence, an increase from 74 percent in 2014. A fifth of clergy said they had experienced domestic or sexual violence themselves, including sexual assault, rape or child sexual abuse—an increase from 11 percent in 2014.

Barnett believes the increases could be caused at least in part by a decrease in the taboo of declaring oneself a survivor and an increase in literacy about abuse and harassment.

“Either way, when you see the impact of this type of violence firsthand or secondhand, it becomes harder and harder to remain silent and do nothing,” she said.

Of pastors who had heard of the #MeToo movement, 4 in 10 said they were more inclined to preach about sexual and domestic violence. A similar percentage said they understood more about the topics because of the movement.

Almost half who said they speak less than once a year about these topics said the reason was “It is not a problem in our congregation.”

Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, said in an interview about the survey that clergy would be wise to realize that if something is prevalent in the wider culture, it’s probably happening in their congregations too.

“Especially a topic like this—it’s hard to share you’ve been a victim, and so the natural tendency is not to share,” he said. “When you begin to speak about it, suddenly you’re giving people license to confide in you.”

Pastors need more training on handling domestic & sexual violence

“If 90 percent of pastors will encounter domestic or sexual violence situations, then why aren’t 100 percent of them trained on how to handle them?” asked Barnett, who noted that Sojourners will be launching a series of 100 sermons on domestic and sexual violence on Oct. 1 for Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Although the study focused most on abuse, researchers also addressed sexual harassment. Three-quarters of pastors said they knew of someone who had been sexually harassed, and 16 percent said someone on their church staff had experienced such harassment in a church setting.

Eight in 10 said they have a policy or procedure in case a staffer is accused of sexual harassment, and 12 percent said a church staff member had been found to have sexually harassed a congregant.

Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi, who leads the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church, said training and preaching are necessary to confront both abuse and harassment. But she said preaching also needs to address the earliest stages of a predator’s attempts to get to know a potential victim.

“Before it gets to full-blown abuse, there’s some grooming going on,” she said in an interview after speaking to journalists on a panel about #MeToo and religion. “So we can do some preaching and teaching about creating a climate so that grooming doesn’t happen.”

Other findings about Protestant pastors include:

• 96 percent say they have a responsibility to ask church members about sexual or domestic violence when they see any signs of it.
• 82 percent say they counsel someone experiencing domestic violence to seek support from experts in the community.
• 73 percent believe individuals can leave abusive relationships if they wish.
• 16 percent of Protestant pastors said they had heard of the #ChurchToo movement.
• 12 percent said they would counsel someone experiencing domestic violence to work with their spouse to improve the relationship.

The survey, conducted between June 19 and July 2, has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.