June 20, 2003
by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - Nearly three-quarters of Presbyterians believe Jesus Christ is "the only absolute Truth for humankind," but decidedly fewer think "only followers of Jesus Christ can be saved."

Those were among the findings of recent survey of about 3,500 people - 1,102 members, 1,145 elders and 1,435 ordained ministers -randomly chosen for the 2003-2005 Presbyterian Panel.

A new statistically representative group is assembled every three years by the Research Services Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to serve as subjects of numerous surveys on a variety of topics relevant to Presbyterians.

While the sample size suggests a strong correlation between the qualities and opinions of the study group and those of the denomination as a whole, the results are subject to sampling and other errors. The research office says differences between groups of less than 8 percent are not statistically meaningful and that "small differences should be interpreted cautiously."

The background survey for the new group was conducted between October 2002 and January 2003.

As always, the results are fascinating. For example:

. Fewer than half of all members were raised in the Presbyterian church, but two-thirds of pastors were brought up Presbyterian. About 15 percent of members and elders were raised in the Methodist church. The second-largest group, at 10 percent, came up as Baptists.

. Presbyterians of every category tend to be long in the tooth: The median age of members and elders (the point where equal numbers are younger and older), is 55 years. For pastors and specialized clergy, it's 51 years. About 30 percent of all members and elders are retired.

. Church membership is dominated by females - 61 percent are women - but leadership is another story: About half of elders are females, but 77 percent of pastors and 66 percent of specialized clergy are males.

. The PC(USA) is overwhelmingly white. More than 90 percent of all four groups claimed that ethnicity. For members, it was 97 percent.

. Presbyterian members and elders worship close to home: More than half live within three miles of their churches. Two-thirds of members and 90 percent of elders said they attend worship "every week" or "nearly every week." The average member joined his or her current congregation 13 years ago, the average elder 17 years ago.

. When panelists were asked whether they agree that "the only absolute Truth for humankind is in Jesus Christ," 70 percent of members, 75 percent of elders, 71 percent of pastors and 55 percent of specialized clergy said they agree or strongly agree.

Curiously, however, only 43 percent of members, 50 percent of elders, 39 percent of pastors and 24 percent of other clergy said they agree or strongly agree that "only followers of Jesus Christ can be saved."

. Two-thirds of members and specialized clergy and 80 percent of pastors and elders said they agree that "Jesus will return to earth some day," and nearly all Presbyterians - ranging from 86 percent of members to 96 percent of pastors - believe in life after death.

. Ninety-three percent of lay members of the PC(USA) believe in heaven, but only 78 percent believe in hell.

. More ministers (88 percent) said they pray every day than specialized clergy (82 percent), elders (73 percent) or members (64 percent).

The same is true of Bible reading: one-third of members and slightly more than half of elders said they read scripture privately at least once a week, while 56 percent of pastors and 36 percent of specialized clergy said they read the Bible "daily" or "almost daily."

. Of the pastors, 54 percent work solo, 27 percent supervise staff and 18 percent are associate pastors. More than a third of all ministers had long-term secular jobs or careers before entering the ministry. Two-thirds of Presbyterian ministers have been ordained since 1980, one-third since 1989.

More than two-thirds of all ministers graduated from PC(USA)-related seminaries - one in six from Princeton Theological Seminary, and between 3 percent and 9 percent from each of the other nine PC(USA) seminaries (except Johnson C. Smith, which was attended by less than 1 percent). Of the non-Presbyterian seminary graduates, 6 percent went to Fuller, 4 percent to Gordon-Conwell, 2 percent to Union-New York, and 1 percent each to Yale and Duke.

. It's a Grand Old Presbyterian (GOP) denomination: 57 percent of members, 55 percent of elders, 52 percent of pastors and 36 percent of other clergy identified themselves as Republicans.

Presbyterian News Service