As the presidential election approaches, a new survey cautions pastors on endorsing political candidates. The vast majority of evangelical leaders (98 percent) say that pastors should not endorse politicians from the pulpit, according to the May/June 2024 Evangelical Leaders Survey.  

“The pulpit should be used in a prophetic manner, bringing the gospel to bear on today’s complex cultural issues,” said Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). “Church leaders should inform, uplift and draw people into deeper discipleship that impacts how they engage in their communities, including how they vote. Endorsing a political candidate is rarely helpful and most often breeds division.” 

The NAE asked the same question in its February 2017 Evangelical Leaders Survey, with 89 percent answering “No” to the question, “Should pastors endorse politicians from the pulpit?” 

Tami Heim, chief executive officer of Christian Leadership Alliance, said that pastors are “called to stay centered on biblical truth. In doing so, they can provide that perspective on issues relevant to our time. They should challenge congregants to study Scripture and support leadership based on what they believe to be true.” 

Other leaders were concerned about the impact of political endorsements on the Church’s public witness. Kimberly Reisman, executive director of World Methodist Evangelism, said, “Endorsing from the pulpit further polarizes our current culture. God can use leaders from all parties, and to equate God’s will with the will of any political party or person is exceedingly dangerous and a threat to the overall witness of Christians in the United States.” 

Richard Stearns, president emeritus of World Vision U.S., added, “Politicizing the Church is divisive within the Body of Christ, harmful to the public witness of the Church and a distraction from the priorities of the kingdom — namely, the Great Commission to proclaim the gospel, and the Great Commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. Furthermore, committed Christians can and do disagree on political issues because there is rarely only ‘one legitimate Christian answer’ for most political questions.” 

Based on a 1954 law known as the Johnson Amendment, the IRS bans all 501(c)(3) nonprofits — including churches — from active involvement in political campaigns. However, the Johnson Amendment does not restrict pastors from offering biblical guidance on contemporary issues, and many evangelical leaders say pastors have a clear responsibility to do so. 

“Pastors should engage and speak to public policy from a gospel-centered perspective,” said Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition. “We should decry injustice while affirming good and just laws. Navigating the pastoral and prophetic functions of ministry is not easy and should be done with prayerfulness and deep reflection.” 

Carl Nelson, president of Transform Minnesota, said, “Our greatest moral authority is had when we avoid alignment with any one candidate or party and offer critique of all candidates from a biblical perspective. Too many times it has been proven that when we endorse a candidate we have not followed through on our duty to hold that candidate accountable to the full spectrum of values we represent.” 

The Evangelical Leaders Survey is a monthly poll of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals. They include the CEOs of denominations and representatives of a broad array of evangelical organizations including missions, universities, publishers and churches.