Pastoral Cues within the Context of Worship Services

This study analyzes the frequency, form, breadth, and depth of political cue-giving within the context of worship services. Based on reports from pastors themselves, it examines the kinds of cue-giving activities clergy approve within the confines of Sunday morning worship as well as what the types of cue-giving they actually report doing within such services. The study is based on data collected through random surveys of clergy, primarily from clergy within two denominations, collected following each of the past three presidential elections; one denomination is linked institutionally to the evangelical Protestant tradition, the other linked institutionally to the mainline Protestant tradition. The data reveal that clergy engage in a variety of cue-giving activity, that most clergy report engaging in at least one form of such activity, that such endeavors tend to be relatively brief, and that important changes may have occurred in such activities over time. Multivariate analysis reveals that religious and political factors tend to outweigh social and contextual factors in shaping the likelihood and extent of such cue-giving activity.