Corwin Smidt, a political science professor at Calvin College, received a 2011 Fulbright Award, which he will use to write a book on the evolution of political and theological perspectives of U.S. clergy during the past 20 years, while in Middelburg, the Netherlands, at the Roosevelt Study Center.

Later this year, Smidt will head for the Netherlands to map out U.S. clergy’s changing political and theological leanings over the past 20 years, and ferret out how their perspectives may influence parishioners of seven denominations.

Smidt’s first Fulbright Award will allow him to construe the results of surveys he conducted in 1989, 2001 and 2009 with clergy from the Assemblies of God, Southern Baptist, Christian Reformed, Reformed Church in America, Presbyterian USA, Disciples of Christ and United Methodist Church.

Smidt said he selected those denominations because he was given ready access to information, and he wanted a representative range of conservative, moderate and liberal theological perspectives.

“This will give us a real hard and fast measure of change,” Smidt said.

“Part of it is the fact society has changed and clergy themselves may have decided their religious faith does relate to public life so certain topics, their approach or involvement should be altered.”

Funded through the Fulbright-Dow Distinguished Research Chair, Smidt will work on the scholarly tome at the Roosevelt Study Center in Middleburg, the Netherlands from August to December.

With a weekly average of 40 percent of the nation’s population attending church services, ministers still possess the power to sway the political proclivity of their congregations, Smidt said.

“That alone says how important their position is in terms of their political role,” Smidt said.

“No other group of people has access to so many Americans on a sustained basis.”

Read More