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(RNS) — A new study found that, even among Gen Z Christians, the strong alliance between Trump and Christianity has had a negative impact on churchgoing for many.
Roughly a dozen people attend pastor Ryan Burge’s Sunday service at First Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, Ill., Sept. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, File)
Ryan Burge and Rick Richardson
(RNS) — No matter how many Americans say they don’t want to see politics and religion mix, it’s inevitable those two forces will collide in one way or another. For instance, when the average American thinks about Donald Trump’s supporters, there’s a high likelihood that they will conjure images of white evangelicals who have cast ballots for him in huge majorities over the last three election cycles. This connection is continuing to emerge in the polling data, with an increasing number of politically conservative Americans self-identifying as evangelical/born again even if they don’t go to church that much.
Of course, the current and former president is a deeply polarizing figure. While he has certainly amassed a base of tens of millions of Americans who proudly call themselves MAGA, his personality and policies have also alienated tens of millions of Americans as well. But has the strong alliance between Christians and Donald Trump actually pushed some people out of church?
We now have data to answer this question with a great deal of specificity among those who would be the future of the church: Generation Z. The Billy Graham Center Research Institute fielded a survey of 2,365 Gen Z adults (ages 18-28) through NORC’s AmeriSpeak panel between Aug. 9 and Sept. 26, 2024. This effort was supported by the Lilly Endowment, and the lead investigator for this project was Rick Richardson at Wheaton College. Buried in a battery about political de-motivators for church involvement was this statement: “Christians’ support of Trump has made me less likely to go to church.”