Protestant Pastors’ Views on Creation

Survey of 1,000 Protestant Pastors

2

Methodology

The telephone survey of Protestant pastors was conducted in May 2011

The calling list was randomly drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Up to six calls were made to reach a sampled phone number

Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called

Responses were weighted to reflect the geographic distribution of Protestant churches

3

Methodology Continued

The completed sample is 1,000 phone interviews

The sample provides 95% confidence that the sampling error does not exceed +3.2%

Margins of error are higher in sub-groups

Survey Responses

5

Nearly three in four pastors strongly agree that Adam and Eve were literal people.

Strongly agree

Somewhat agree

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

74%

8% 6%11%

1% Not sure

Q.: “I believe Adam and Eve were literal people.”

Among Protestant Pastors

6

Nearly two-thirds of Protestant pastors strongly disagree that God used evolution to create people.

Strongly agree

Somewhat agree

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

12% 12%8%

64%

4% Not sure

Q.: “I believe God used evolution to create people.”

Among Protestant Pastors

7

About one in five pastors agree that most of their congregation believes in evolution.

Strongly agree

Somewhat agree

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

10% 9%13%

62%

5% Not sure

Q.: “Most of my congregation believes in evolution.”

Among Protestant Pastors

8

There is an almost even split among pastors agreeing or disagreeing about the earth being 6,000 years old.

Strongly agree

Somewhat agree

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

30%

16%9%

34%

12% Not sure

Q.: “I believe the earth is approximately six thousand (6,000) years old.”

Among Protestant Pastors

9

Never

Rarely

About once a year

Several times a year

About once a month

Several times a month

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

8%

29%

26%

28%

4%

3%

Only slightly more than one-third of pastors teach on creation and evolution more than about once a year.

1% Not sure

Q: “How often do you teach your church on the subject of creation and evolution?”

Among Protestant Pastors

10

“I believe Adam and Eve were literal people.”• Pastors in the Northeast are most likely to

strongly disagree (24%) that Adam and Eve were literal people compared to pastors in the South (9%), Midwest (9%), and West (13%).

• Pastors self-identifying as Evangelical are more likely to strongly agree (82% to 50%), less likely to somewhat agree (8% to 12%), less likely to somewhat disagree (3% to 14%), and less likely to strongly disagree (6% to 23%) than pastors self-identifying as Mainline.

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“I believe Adam and Eve were literal people.” continued• Pastors with a highest level of education being a

Bachelor’s degree (91%) are more likely to strongly agree than those with a graduate degree (65%).

• Pastors with a graduate degree are more likely to somewhat agree (11% to 3%), somewhat disagree (8% to 2%), and strongly disagree (16% to 2%) than those with at most a Bachelor’s degree.

12

“I believe God used evolution to create people.”• Pastors in the Northeast are most likely to

strongly agree (25%) compared to pastors in the South (8%), Midwest (12%), and West (13%).

• Pastors in the Northeast are least likely to strongly disagree (46%) compared to pastors in the South (68%), Midwest (64%), and West (64%).

• Pastors in a large city are least likely to somewhat disagree (3%) compared to pastors in a small city (8%), the suburbs (11%), and a rural area (10%).

13

“I believe God used evolution to create people.” continued• Pastors of churches with average weekly

attendance 250+ are least likely to strongly agree (4%) compared to pastors of churches with attendance of 0-49 (13%), 50-99 (14%), and 100-249 (12%).

• Pastors of churches with average weekly attendance 250+ are most likely to strongly disagree (77%) compared to pastors of churches with attendance of 0-49 (64%), 50-99 (65%), and 100-249 (58%).

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“I believe God used evolution to create people.” continued• Pastors with a graduate degree are

• More likely to strongly agree (16% to 4%)• More likely to somewhat agree (16% to 4%)• More likely to somewhat disagree (11% to 5%)• Less likely to strongly disagree (53% to 85%)

than pastors with at most a Bachelor’s degree.• Mainline pastors are more likely to strongly

agree (25% to 8%), somewhat agree (20% to 10%), and less likely to strongly disagree (37% to 70%) than Evangelicals.

15

“Most of my congregation believes in evolution.”• Pastors in the South are most likely to strongly

disagree (69%) compared to pastors in the Northeast (47%), Midwest (60%), and West (56%).

• Pastors of churches located in the suburbs are least likely to strongly disagree (46%) compared to pastors of churches located in a large city (62%), small city (64%), and rural area (67%).

16

“Most of my congregation believes in evolution.” continued• Pastors of churches with attendance between

100-249 are least likely to strongly disagree (55%) compared to pastors of churches with attendance between 0-49 (66%), 50-99 (64%), and 250+ (69%).

• Evangelical pastors are less likely to strongly agree (6% to 24%) and somewhat agree (8% to 16%) but are more likely to strongly disagree (66% to 36%) than Mainline pastors.

17

“Most of my congregation believes in evolution.” continued• Pastors with graduate degrees are more likely to

strongly agree (15% to 2%), somewhat agree (12% to 3%), and somewhat disagree (16% to 8%) than pastors whose highest education level is at most a Bachelor’s degree. Additionally, pastors with graduate degrees are less likely to strongly disagree (50% to 84%).

18

“I believe the earth is approximately six thousand (6,000) years old.”• Pastors with a graduate degree are less likely to

strongly agree (23% to 42%) and more likely to strongly disagree (42% to 18%) than pastors with at most a Bachelor’s degree.

• Pastors age 18-44 (24%) are least likely to strongly disagree compared to pastors age 45-54 (33%), 55-64 (38%), and 65+ (38%).

19

“I believe the earth is approximately six thousand (6,000) years old.” continued• Pastors who self-identify as Evangelical are

• More likely to strongly agree (29% to 17%)• More likely to somewhat agree (19% to 12%)• More likely to somewhat disagree (12% to 8%)• Less likely to strongly disagree (27% to 54%)

than pastors self-identifying as Mainline.

20

“How often do you teach your church on the subject of creation and evolution?”• Pastors of churches with average weekly

attendance of 0-49 (7%) and 50-99 (7%) are more likely to teach “about once a month” compared to those with attendance of 100-249 (1%) and 250+ (2%).

• Pastors having earned at most a Bachelor’s degree are more likely to teach “several times a year” (33% to 26%) and less likely to teach “rarely” (22% to 33%) than pastors with a graduate degree.

21

“How often do you teach your church on the subject of creation and evolution?” continued• Pastors identifying themselves as Evangelical

are more likely to teach “several times a year” compared to pastors identifying themselves as Mainline (29% to 23%).

Protestant Pastors’ Views on Creation

Survey of 1,000 Protestant Pastors