We recently helped the National Council of the Churches of Christ (NCCC) evaluate a year-long Church and Government project funded by the Ford Foundation. The project sought to increase confidence, understanding, and participation of Christians in the governing process and to counteract the cynicism and distrust in government expressed by many Americans. A five-session Bible study was designed by the NCCC for use in churches recruited through local ecumenical agencies in 10 cities. Each congregation agreed to: (1) conduct the Bible study with a group of adults from the church, (2) arrange for one sermon to be preached on topics covered in the Bible study, and (3) administer a research instrument to Bible study participants before beginning the study and again at the conclusion of the five-session study.
Pre and post surveys were received from 289 Bible study participants in congregations representing a broad range of denominations (from Roman Catholic to Presbyterian to Mennonite to African Methodist Episcopal). Highlights are presented here.
What Do Participants Believe About Government?
Initially, a majority of participants (69 percent) reported that they were "somewhat" confident about government. Almost as many (60 percent) were "somewhat" cynical toward government, and two-thirds (66 percent) were "somewhat" critical of government. It is interesting that so many participants held these apparently contradictory views regarding government. When asked "how much confidence do you have" in government at the local, state, and federal levels, the majority of respondents reported "some" confidence (local government, 52 percent; state government, 60 percent; federal government, 59 percent). For each level of government, few responded "a great deal," and one-third or less responded "quite a lot."
Even before participating in the Bible study, a large majority (88 percent) agreed that Christians, as individuals, have a responsibility to be involved in government, for example by supporting social movements of the poor and oppressed or by working toward a just government.
How Did Attitudes About Government Change?
There were small, but fairly consistent positive changes in participants' attitudes regarding government when pre- and post-responses were compared. Confidence in government increased and cynicism regarding government decreased (see Figure 1).
One indicator of decreased cynicism is the percent who agree that "elected officials typically pursue their own interests and careers at the expense of serving the people who elect them" (down from 49 percent to 36 percent).
Confidence in government increased at all levels, as shown in Figure 2, and was paralleled by similar changes in the belief that "people like you" have influence on decisions made by government. (Nonetheless, confidence in government and belief in one's influence remain stronger at the local and state level than at the federal level.)
As a reflection of the increase in confidence in government, the percent acknowledging the good done by government increased after the Bible study: "government does a lot to help me and my family" (those agreeing increased from 43 percent to 59 percent) and "government has had a large number of successes over the past 30 years" (increased from 59 percent to 71 percent).
Before the Bible study was conducted, a minority of Bible study participants (42 percent) agreed that "government is ordained by God." After taking part in the Bible study, a majority (58 percent) agreed with the statement.
Both the Bible study, Christians and Government, and a Collection of Sermons on the topic are available for a small fee from the NCCC by calling (800)762-0968.
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