The Prophetic Pulpit: Clergy, Churches, and Communities in American Politics.

By Paul A. Djupe and Christopher P. Gilbert. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. 272p. $80.00 cloth, $28.95 paper.

Over the past 20 years, political scientists have learned a great deal about the way that religion influences political attitudes and behavior. We have greatly refined our measurement of Christian denominations, and this has led to new findings about the role of large religious groupings on politics. We have improved our measurement of public and private religiosity, and this has helped us understand the importance not only of how religious a citizen is but also of how he or she is religious. Finally, we have asked new questions about religious doctrine and experience that have helped us understand the role of beliefs on political behavior.

Yet many Christians practice their religion, in part, in the group setting of a local congregation. They often meet together regularly with the congregation, engage in social events sponsored by the church, and form friendships with others who attend the church. Protestant congregations are usually headed by one or more pastors, who deliver regular messages, minister to the congregation, and may provide religious instruction and guidance. These pastors have a complicated role, for they may see themselves as representatives of their denomination, as representatives of the congregation, and as a prophetic voice on behalf of what they perceive to be God's will.

Because pastors play such a central role in religious communities, they have become the focus of a great deal of scholarly research. There have been studies of pastors in local communities by Ted Jelen and others, and studies of pastors in particular denominations across the country by John Green, James Guth, Corwin Smidt, Lyman Kellstedt, Laura Olson, and several other political scientists and sociologists. Yet there remains much that we do not know about pastors and the way that politics may enter into their ministry.

Paul Djupe and Christopher Gilbert add to this growing literature in The Prophetic Pulpit. Their focus is on two of the largest mainline Protestant denominations: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church. They have conducted a large mail survey of pastors and priests in these two denominations, resulting in more than 2,400 respondents. The response rate among Lutheran pastors was close to 50%, but only 31% of Episcopal priests replied. The lower response rate among Episcopal priests is especially unfortunate given the growing divisions in that faith, reflected in the controversy over the ordination of an openly gay bishop in 2003.

The authors' data show that these two denominations fit neatly into earlier studies of mainline clergy. A plurality of their clergy believe that Christians should try to transform the social order rather than focus on individual salvation, and they are nearly twice as likely to address issues like hunger and the environment as issues such as abortion. The clergy tend to be politically liberal, and liberals tend to be more politically active than conservative clergy.

These pastors and priests have their own political preferences, perhaps derived in part from their theology and from their interpretation of God's will. But Djupe and Gilbert argue that their political advocacy and activity is constrained by a number of other factors. Most of the liberal clergy perceive that the average member of their church is more conservative than they, and fear that staking out too strong or too liberal a position might cost them current or potential members, divide their church, or interfere with other elements of their ministry. Clergy also depend upon resources in the local community and within the denomination, and the presence or absence of these resources influences their political activity. This latter discussion explores new ground and shows the importance of focusing not just on pastors but on pastors within local and national contexts.

This book is normal science in the best sense of the term. It fits neatly within established studies and fills in gaps in our knowledge about these two specific denominations. It also adds to our knowledge by exploring the constraints on pastoral political activity. The statistical models are interesting, although in an effort to make the book accessible to a wider audience, the authors do not always fully explain or justify their independent variables. Some of the independent variables seem likely to be highly correlated as well.

The book is derived entirely from the pastoral survey, which means that the only information on congregational beliefs comes through the perceptual filter of pastors. It is easy to imagine that some pastors perceive their congregation to be much closer to their views than it really is, while others incorrectly perceive a great gulf between them and the members of their church. The authors have data on 60 specific congregations, which they intend to combine with these survey data in a later book. We know far less about the nexus between pastors and their congregations, and this next book is likely to make an even more important contribution to our literature.

This volume, however, serves as a nice introduction to pastoral politics for students of political behavior, and it will be of interest to specialists in religion and politics for its exploration of constraints and pastoral political activity, especially the local and denominational context. It would also make a nice supplemental text in a religion and politics course.