By Paul A. Djupe and Jacob R. Neiheisel

We’re delighted to have edited a special issue of Sociological Focus about Religion and Politics in American Congregations that has just been published (as of August 2025). It has a tremendous collection of new research, listed below, that you should check out if you work in this area. We believe that it is the highest concentration of work on religion and politics in congregations ever assembled in one journal. If this is your jam, you best get a whole loaf of fresh bread for spreading. For now, all of the articles are open access!

To be sure, there are a variety of findings in this collection worth noting. But perhaps the overwhelming message is that religious elites (clergy) desire to be engaged with the world and community problems but face significant constraints in doing so. We, for instance, find very limited increases in engagement with environmental issues unless the politics of the community is supportive. Beyerlein and Rodriguez find much the same thing, leaving with the expectation that clergy can’t easily escape the pressure exerted by the congregation and community to conform.

Holleman, Johnston, and Mischke find clergy willing to center race in their congregational work, but only able to exert geologic pressure on their congregations (long, slow movement) or they work around the congregation. Gilliland, Shadburn, and Strickland-Harris examined sermons about race during the George Floyd protests, finding that clergy often shifted their frames so as to minimize the impact of the racial justice movement. They shift from a structural view to an individualizing one in which a few bad apples are responsible for societal problems. Also looking at sermons, Mrchkovska and Quezada-Llanes examined a huge trove of sermons, looking for a response when mass shootings took place in the vicinity. They found some taking on the issue after a shooting, but in very small numbers.

Sellers and Roso as well as Beckman and Stewart look among Catholic religious elites, finding variation in what they talk about and the ideological slant of their political outlooks. These are refreshing reminders that religious traditions are incredibly varied even if we can find modest differences between religious traditions in some respects (e.g., Catholics talk about immigration more than others).

---

Djupe, Paul A. and Jacob R. Neiheisel. 2025. “Do Religious Leaders Engage Community Environmental Problems?” Sociological Focus 58(3): 344-370. DOI: 10.1080/00380237.2025.2516014 [Previous Blog Post]

Abstract Much of the research about religious engagement with the environment has focused on individual citizens, leaving religious organizations and religious professionals (clergy) in the background or ignored; however, clergy are important actors in their own right, bringing issues to the attention of the congregation, devoting congregational resources to addressing problems, and shaping the beliefs and values of people in earshot. In this paper, we draw on gold-standard National Survey of Religious Leaders (NSRL) data from clergy and community environmental statistics from the federal government to understand the conditions that structure environmental engagement among religious leaders. A minority of clergy engage with environmental issues, though community circumstances play a conditional role in motivating them. We should not expect clergy to engage with the local environment, but it is more likely that they do when their worldview is consonant with the congregation and broader community.

---

Beyerlein, Kraig and Manuel Rodriguez. 2025. “The Effect of Congregational Context on Religious Leaders’ Political Activism.” Sociological Focus. 58(3): 304-322.

Abstract Prior studies of clergy’s differential political participation have examined a variety of factors, including religious leaders’ personal characteristics, perceptions of laity approval, or ecological context. Congregation-level factors are largely missing from existing research on clergy’s political activism as collecting this information is methodologically difficult and costly. We capitalize on the fact that clergy from the 2019–2020 National Study of Religious Leaders were drawn from the 2018–2019 National Congregations Study, merging these datasets to incorporate congregational context in models predicting religious leaders’ activism. Our paper examines (1) politicization; (2) political climate relative to clergy’s political ideology; and (3) laity civic skills. Both main and interaction effects are estimated for religious leaders’ mobilizing of congregation-based collective action to advance a social or political goal. Strong promoting effects for clergy serving in politicized contexts are observed. Numerous significant effects are also identified for political (mis)alignment, though whether they are positive or negative depends on the specific configuration of the (mis)match. Different levels of laity civic skills, however, do not significantly distinguish activist and non-activist religious leaders. Nor do we find evidence that these levels or the various political (mis)alignment combinations moderate the effect of serving in politicized contexts.

---

Mrchkovska, Nela, and Enrique Quezada-Llanes. 2025. “Voices from the Pulpit: Discourse on Racial Justice and Gun Violence from American Clergy.” Sociological Focus 58(3): 323-343. doi:10.1080/00380237.2025.2516814.

Abstract Over the past years, many religious congregations have addressed issues of racial justice and gun violence following the killing of George Floyd and recent mass shootings in places like Uvalde, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and Monterey Park, California. However, existing work suggests that which places of worship respond and how they respond depends on congregational, denominational, and contextual factors. Most of this work relies on self-reports from congregants or clergy. We take a different approach by directly observing the messages religious individuals hear during worship. Using large language models (LLMs) to help identify which sermons included discussions of racial justice or gun violence, we analyzed close to 200,000 sermons across 2,863 U.S. congregations. We found that, even though discussions of racial issues and gun violence are relatively rare events in religious sermons, major tragic events like the killing of George Floyd and several mass shootings taking place between 2018 and 2023 increase the probability of congregation leaders addressing these topics. We also found that, in some cases, mainline Protestant sermons are more responsive to these tragic events compared to evangelical Protestant sermons.

---

Holleman, Anna, Erin F. Johnston, and Kelsey Mischke. 2025. “Walking the Tightrope: How White United Methodist Clergy Approach Race and Racial Justice.” Sociological Focus 58(3): 430-449. doi:10.1080/00380237.2025.2514009.

Abstract Religious congregations in the United States have long been sites for political organization and mobilization. Following the summer of 2020, clergy have been increasingly reckoning with how to navigate racial justice activism. This study used data from in-depth interviews conducted with White United Methodist clergy in North Carolina to examine whether and how clergy were addressing racism and pursuing racial justice in their ministry. Most clergy in our sample reported feeling simultaneously compelled to center racial justice work in their ministry and constrained in their ability to do so. Pastors often took a shepherding approach within their congregations, characterized by slow, gradual nudging of congregants toward racial awareness. Many clergy also took an extra-congregational approach, marked by personal introspection and/or mobilization outside the congregational context. More generally, we found that disconnects between pastors’ personal commitments to the work of racial justice and their congregations’ reluctance to engage in this work generated tension and frustration for some pastors. This paper contributes to ongoing discussion concerning racial justice mobilization in the United States following the summer of 2020 and offers new insights on when and how congregations serve as sites of political discussion and action.

---

Sellers, Kathleen, and Joseph Roso. 2025. “Priestly Politics: Faith Formation and Political Ideology Among Catholic Clergy.” Sociological Focus 58(3): 450-470. doi:10.1080/00380237.2025.2511609.

Abstract Catholic priests have long been important political actors both in mobilizing direct political action and shaping the way Catholic faithful view important public issues. Historically, Catholic clergy’s politics have been divided between more politically conservative priests who focus on “moral” issues, such as opposing same-sex marriage and abortion, and more progressive clergy who adhere to “Catholic social teachings” and advocate for antipoverty, antiracism, antiwar, and pro-immigrant initiatives. However, little research has investigated the role faith formation plays in shaping the politics of Catholic priests. We address this gap by analyzing data from a nationally representative survey of religious leaders. We find that priests who are members of religious orders are significantly more politically and theologically liberal than diocesan priests. Compared to diocesan priests, priests from religious orders are more likely to describe themselves as politically liberal, more likely to identify with the Democratic (rather than Republican) Party, more likely to endorse allowing women to have religious leadership positions, and more likely to say they would marry a same-sex couple if allowed to. These findings show that faith formation plays an important role in the politics of religious leaders and draws much needed attention to intradenominational political divisions.

---

Gilliland, Claire Chipman, Haley Shadburn, and Sabrina Strickland-Harris. 2025. “Politics, Protest, and Police: Assessing Religious Leaders’ Responses to Racism and the June 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests.” Sociological Focus, 58(3): 371-387. doi:10.1080/00380237.2025.2511602.

Abstract Religious organizations have long histories of advocating for particular political causes and supporting social movements, providing organizational and ideological resources to mobilize religious people into action. This mobilization is not guaranteed, however, and instead relies on religious leaders to frame social and political issues as important and requiring collective action. To investigate how a sample of predominantly White Protestant clergy framed activism and the Black Lives Matter protests of June 2020, we analyzed sermon responses from congregations in one city during the weeks immediately following the murder of George Floyd. Using qualitative coding analysis, we found that clergy drew on religious stories and texts to frame support for the protests and opposition to the protests. When discussing the police, they took what we assessed as a cautious approach, separating the actions of specific officers from the broader institution. To better understand these discussions of protests, we offer an analysis of the misalignment between the individual-level framing of racism and the solution of collective action. While clergy engage with social and political issues related to race, racism, and policing in their sermons, we conclude that their framing of these issues likely has a limited effect on mobilization.

---

Beckman, Diane and Evan Stewart. 2025. “Clergy Talk: Do Catholic Priests Discuss Immigration?” Sociological Focus 58(3): 388-404. [post at The Conversation]

Abstract Social science research has long discussed the interaction of political and religious ideologies in attitude formation and political socialization. Most research focuses on the role of these forces at the level of individual religious participants, leaving empirical questions about institutional leadership. When political and religious frames on an issue are in tension, do clergy discuss those political issues with their congregations? We address this question with a case study of Catholic leaders in the United States, specifically regarding immigration. Catholic social teaching and elite leader messaging clearly communicate a pro-immigrant stance, while many rank-and-file Catholics are politically conservative and express anti-immigrant views. Using new data from the National Survey of Religious Leaders (NSRL) 2022, we examined whether Catholic leaders report discussing immigration with their congregation more than religious leaders of other denominations and more than other political issues. We found that Catholic leaders are indeed unique, reporting significantly more frequent discussion of immigration relative to other traditions and other issues, and we examined congregational correlates of this pattern. We found unique and substantive variation in issue discussion across religious traditions, suggesting that denominations may offer exposure to and influence attitudes on political issues.

---

Glazier, Rebecca A., Gerald W.C. Driskill, and Owen R. Haynes. 2025. “Linking Community-Based Research and Faith-Based Racial Justice.” Sociological Focus, 58(3): 405–429. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380237.2025.2517752

Abstract Racial inequity is a major source of social and political division. Although religious traditions have a mixed history when it comes to racial equity, they also often have the tools and the theological motivations for addressing racial divisions. We ask: how can researchers support and facilitate the work of faith-based racial justice in our communities? The community-engaged research project described here captures the process we used to develop and provide resources to faith leaders seeking to make progress on race relations. Housed in Little Rock, Arkansas, a city that is racially diverse and divided, this project draws on the racial justice literature, interviews with both national and local leaders, and focus groups with Little Rock congregations to produce a collection of faith-based racial justice resources. We shared these resources with nearly 60 faith leaders in a community Race and Faith Summit on November 2, 2022. We reflect on the impact of the resources and the summit, which resulted in over 100 racial justice commitments and actions from faith leaders and share qualitative stories of change from clergy leaders who attended. The resources we developed are publicly available and provide one path forward for faith-based racial justice supported by community-based research.

---

Paul A. Djupe directs the Data for Political Research program at Denison University, is an affiliated scholar with PRRI, the book series editor of Religious Engagement in Democratic Politics (Temple), and co-creator of religioninpublic.blog. Further information about his work can be found at his website and on Bluesky.

Jacob R. Neiheisel is an associate professor of political science and faculty affiliate with the philosophy, politics, and economics program at the University at Buffalo, SUNY.