Protestant pastors close to evenly divided over use of patriotic elements in services near July 4
Half agree their churches should do ‘something special’ for country’s 250th birthday
Protestant pastors in the United States are split almost down the middle as to whether it is important to include patriotic elements in worship services near the Fourth of July.
According to a survey conducted by Lifeway Research1, 45 percent of Protestant pastors said that such elements are important for the national holiday, and 53 percent disagree. Only 2 percent said they weren’t sure. The survey, published this week, included 1,003 Protestant pastors across both conservative and liberal denominational lines and was conducted by phone last September. Lifeway said the margin of error for the survey was 3.3 percent, although the chance of statistical error is higher for subgroups when pastors are separated by factors such as age and denomination.
Surveys were conducted using the same methodology in 2016 and 2021, and the survey shows a smaller percentage of pastors supporting the use of patriotic elements now than in years past. The level of support was 56 percent a decade ago and 61 percent five years ago.
The survey found for this year that 16 percent of the pastors strongly agreeing that it is important to include patriotic elements for Independence Day with 29 percent strongly disagreeing. About 29 percent somewhat agreed with the patriotic elements, and 24 percent somewhat disagreed.
A slightly higher percentage said their churches “should do something special” this year for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. An even 50 percent agreed with such a plan, with 47 percent disagreeing. Since the survey was made months before publicity about official government celebrations, some of which have emphasized American religious heritage, it is possible that the level of support has changed since then. And, of course, decisions about church services are often made by church ruling boards or someone other than the pastor, so the survey may not accurately indicate how church services related to the holiday will be conducted this year. The Sunday closest to Independence Day this year is July 6, two days after the holiday, although some churches may observe the holiday on June 28.
The survey shows that it is common for churches to make some accommodations for Independence Day as matter of course. A majority of pastors said their churches recognize living veterans (62 percent), those with family members in the armed services (59 percent) or those who have lost loved ones in service to their country (51 percent). A bit more than half, 55 percent, include music honoring the country. About 28 percent said they include “special ceremonies” to honor the country; a small group, 15 percent, said no changes are made at all to services around the holiday.
The survey found some sharp age differences, with pastors 65 years or older most likely to agree that patriotic elements to celebrate America are important (63 percent) and pastors 44 and under the least likely to agree (29 percent). In other words, the oldest group of pastors are more than twice as likely to support such services than the youngest ones.
Pastors with no college degree are also more likely to find patriotic services important (68 percent).
There were also denominational differences: Pentecostals were most likely to support such services (64 percent) with Presbyterian/Reformed churches the least likely (29 percent).
Lifeway describes itself as “an evangelical research firm that specializes in surveys about faith in culture and matters that affect churches.”