Pastors and Public Life: The Changing Face of American Protestant Clergy, by CORWIN E. SMIDT

Abstract

Few observers of American Protestantism have displayed the insight and breadth of Corwin E. Smidt. Smidt’s most recent work, Pastors and Public Life, is the latest addition to an impressive corpus of scholarly work about the public face of American Protestantism, with a particular and ongoing emphasis on the political roles played by Protestant clergy. The scope and direction of this impressive volume are deceptively simple. Using surveys conducted in 1989, 2001, and 2009, Smidt compares the demographic, religious, and political characteristics of clergy in seven denominations. Three of these are generally considered evangelical Protestant: the Assemblies of God, the Christian Reformed Church, and the Southern Baptist Convention. The other four denominations covered are usually classified as mainline Protestant: the Disciples of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church of America, and the United Methodist Church. Smidt tracks a number of variables over the two decades in question, including demographic variables, theological orientations, “social theology,” attitudes toward issues of public policy, and political activity.