Party affiliations again reveal differences in opinion on this issue. Among pastors who call themselves Republican, only 9 percent believe the election cycle has been too religious, as compared to 20 percent of Independents and 39 percent of Democrats.

Nearly 90 percent of pastors believe they should not endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit, according to a survey by LifeWay Research.

The survey, released Oct. 1, also revealed that 44 percent of pastors personally endorsed candidates, but did so outside of their church role.

The survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors found that only 10 percent believe pastors should endorse candidates from the pulpit. Eighty-seven percent believe (71 percent strongly and 16 percent somewhat) pastors should not endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit. Three percent of pastors are not sure.

For comparison, LifeWay Research found in a December 2010 survey that 84 percent of pastors said they should not endorse candidates from the pulpit.

Slight differences emerged between pastors who consider themselves “evangelical” and those who self-identify as “mainline.” Eighty-six percent of evangelical pastors believe pastors should not endorse a candidate from the pulpit, as compared to 91 percent of mainline pastors.

The number of pastors who say they should not endorse candidates from the pulpit also varies according to political affiliation. Among pastors who call themselves Democrats, 98 percent believe political endorsements should not be made from the pulpit compared to 90 percent of Independents and 82 percent of Republicans.

The results of the survey come just prior to the Alliance Defending Freedom’s “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” on Oct. 7. The alliance encourages pastors to challenge the IRS ban on political endorsements from the pulpit by comparing the positions of candidates from a biblical perspective. ADF has held Pulpit Freedom Sunday every year since 2008.

“Previous research has shown that pastors believe the government has no place in determining what is and is not said from their pulpits regarding candidates,” Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research, said. “Yet most pastors don’t believe endorsement of candidates should be made from the pulpit.”

According to the IRS, “violation of this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise tax.”

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The source for this document was originally published on Baptist Press—however, the link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]