Social scientists are paying a growing amount of attention to the online presence of American congregations and not just because of the COVID-19 shutdowns. In part, text-as-data analytic techniques have made religious communication a viable area of study in addition to existing qualitative methods. Given the existing biases in terms of which congregations post sermons online, an important next step is to investigate potential political biases in which congregations are sharing or streaming their services. Drawing on data from the most recent National Congregations Study wave in 2018 to 2019 as well as reports of political content from individuals in a national survey from October 2020, we document the nature of the biases in which congregations are likely to be online and what the political consequences may be. While resources explain some of the likelihood for being online, we also find evidence for a link between more frequent clergy political speech and a higher likelihood of the congregation having an online presence. As scholars take advantage of the accessibility and availability of online worship services and sermons, it is essential to have a better understanding of which congregations they are sampling and lacking.
BeyerleinKraigChavesMark. 2003. “The Political Activities of Religious Congregations in the United States.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion42(2):229–46. doi: 10.1111/1468-5906.00175
2.
BoussalisConstantineCoanTravis G.HolmanMirya. 2020. “Political Speech in Religious Sermons.”Politics & Religion14(2):241–68. doi: 10.1017/S1755048320000334
3.
BrewerMark D.KershRoganPetersonR. Eric. 2003. “Assessing Conventional Wisdom about Religion and Politics: A Preliminary View from the Pews.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion42(1):125–36. doi: 10.1111/1468-5906.00166
4.
BrownR. KhariBrownRonald E.JacksonJames. 2021. Race and the Power of Sermons on American Politics. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
BurgeRyan P.DjupePaul A.2021. “Falling Through the Cracks: Dealing with the Problem of the Unclassifieds in RELTRAD.”Review of Religious Research63:411–33. doi: 10.1007/s13644-020-00441-y
7.
CadgeWendyWildemanChristopher. 2008. “Facilitators and Advocates: How Mainline Protestant Clergy Respond to Homosexuality.”Sociological Perspectives51(3):587–603. doi: 10.1525/sop.2008.51.3.587
8.
CampbellErnest Q.PettigrewThomas F.1959. Christians in Racial Crisis: A Study of Littlerock’s Ministry. Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press.
9.
CavendishJames C.2000. “Church-Based Community Activism: A Comparison of Black and White Catholic Congregations.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion39(3):371–84. doi: 10.1111/0021-8294.00006_39_3
ChavesMarkHawkinsMaryHollemanAnnaRosoJoseph. 2020. “Introducing the Fourth Wave of the National Congregations Study.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion59(4):646–50. doi: 10.1111/jssr.12684
12.
ComptonJohn W.2020. The End of Empathy: Why White Protestants Stopped Loving Their Neighbor. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
13.
DawsonLorne L.CowanDouglas E., eds. 2004. Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet. New York, NY: Routledge.
14.
DelehantyJohn D.2016. “Prophets of Resistance: Social Justice Activists Contesting Comfortable Church Culture.”Sociology of Religion77(1):37–58. doi: 10.1093/socrel/srv054
15.
DjupePaul A.2021. “Cues for the Pews – Political Messaging in American Congregations and the Decline of Religious Influence.” Pp. 216–38 in Exploring the Public Effects of Religious Communication on Politics, edited by CalfanoB. R.Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.
16.
DjupePaul A.GilbertChristopher P.2003. The Prophetic Pulpit: Clergy, Churches, and Communities in American Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
17.
DjupePaul A.GilbertChristopher P.2008. “Politics and Church: Byproduct or Central Mission?”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion47(1):45–62. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5906.2008.00391.x
18.
DjupePaul A.GilbertChristopher P.2009. The Political Influence of Churches. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
19.
DjupePaul A.NeiheiselJacob R.2019. “Political Mobilization in American Congregations: A Test of the Religious Economies Perspective.”Politics & Religion12(1):123–52. doi: 10.1017/S1755048318000512
20.
FinkeRogerStarkRodney. 2005. The Churching of America, 1776-2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
GillilandClaire ChipmanKrullLaura M.2022. “Getting Permission to Break the Rules: Clergy Respond to LGBTQ Exclusion in the United Methodist Church.”Sociology of Religion83(4):480–504. doi:10.1093/socrel/srac005.
23.
GuhinJeffreyHolmanMiryaCoanTravisBoussalisConstantine. 2023. “When to Preach About Poverty: How Location, Race, and Ideology Shape White Evangelical Sermons.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Advance online publication. doi:10.1111/jssr.12822.
24.
GuthJames L.GreenJohn C.SmidtCorwin E.KellstedtLyman A.PolomaMargaret. 1997. The Bully Pulpit: The Politics of Protestant Clergy. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press.
25.
HaddenJeffrey K.1969. The Gathering Storm in the Churches. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
26.
HafnerShay R.AudetteAndre P.2023. “The Politics of Church Shopping.”Politics and Religion16(1):73–89. doi:10.1017/S1755048322000384.
27.
HaskellDavid M.ParadisKennethBurgoyneStephanie. 2008. “Defending the Faith: Easter Sermon Reaction to Pop Culture Discourses.”Review of Religious Research50(2):139–56.
28.
HigginsNicholas J.DjupePaul A.2022. “Congregation Shopping During the Pandemic: A Research Note.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion61(3–4):726–36. doi:10.1111/jssr.12802.
29.
HollemanAnnaRosoJosephChavesMark2022. “Religious Congregations’ Technological and Financial Capacities on the Eve of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”Review of Religious Research64(1):163–88. doi: 10.1007/s13644-021-00477-8
30.
HoutMichaelFischerClaude S.2002. “Why More Americans Have No Religious Preference: Politics and Generations.”American Sociological Review67(2):165–90. doi: 10.2307/3088891
31.
JohnstonErinEagleDavid E.HeadleyJenniferHollemanAnna. 2022. “Pastoral Ministry in Unsettled Times: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Clergy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”Review of Religious Research64(2):375–97. doi: 10.1007/s13644-021-00465-y
LincolnC. EricMamiyaLawrence H.1990. The Black Church in the African-American Experience. Durham, UK: Duke University Press.
34.
MargolisMichele F.2018. From Politics to the Pews: How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
OlsonShayla F.Quezada-LlanesEnrique. 2024. “How Sermons Became More Political in the Trump Era.” in Trump and the Transformation of Religion and Politics, edited by SokheyA. E.DjupeP. A.Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
38.
PatrikiosStratos. 2008. “American Republican Religion? Disentangling the Causal Link Between Religion and Politics in the US.”Political Behavior30:367–89. doi: 10.1007/s11109-008-9053-1
PopeListon. 1942. Millhands and Preachers: A Study of Gastonia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
41.
QuinleyHarold. 1974. The Prophetic Clergy: Social Activism among Protestant Ministers. New York, NY: Wiley.
42.
SackDaniel. 2000. Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
43.
SchwadelPhilipDoughertyKevin D.2010. “Assessing Key Informant Methodology in Congregational Research.”Review of Religious Research51(4):366–79.
44.
SmidtCorwin E.2016. Pastors and Public Life: The Changing Face of American Protestant Clergy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
45.
SmithAmy Erica. 2016. “When Clergy are Threatened: Catholic and Protestant Leaders and Political Activism in Brazil.”Politics and Religion9(3):431–55.
46.
SteenslandBrianParkJerry Z.RegnerusMark D.RobinsonLynn D.WilcoxW. BradfordWoodberryRobert D.2000. “Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art.”Social Forces79(1):291–318.
47.
TocquevilleAlexis de. 1994[1840]. Democracy in America. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
48.
WhiteheadAndrew L.PerrySamuel L.2020. Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
49.
WittenMarsha. 1993. All Is Forgiven: The Secular Message in American Protestantism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
