Faith, Foreigners and Fundamentalism: An Analysis of Clerical Impact on Congregational Sentiment Towards Undocumented Immigrants

Abstract

Research Problem and Objectives: The main question of this study is whether or not clergy influence the political views of their congregants, specifically in the realm of immigration policy related to undocumented immigrants. The objectives of this study were to establish a framework for what leads to clergy engaging in politicized sermons, what accounts for differences in clerical thought and opinion on undocumented immigrants and lastly what the impact of politicized sermons is on congregants and how they perceive said impact. Methodology: This study is based on interviews and surveys conducted in January and February of 2021. The interviews were with clergy or clergy-adjacent persons in Mercer County. They covered topics on personal backgrounds, political and social reform in the context of church missions, views on immigration policy and undocumented immigrants and actions taken with regard to supporting undocumented immigrants in the community. The surveys were distributed to the clergy’s congregations. They covered demographic information; views towards undocumented immigrants and relevant policy; as well as perceived impact of clerical action and faith on views. The churches involved in this study are Princeton United Methodist Church, Nassau Presbyterian Church, Worship Church, Mother of God Orthodox Church, St. Paul Lutheran Church and Trinity Church. A total of thirty-one churches were contacted, and the aforementioned six are the only that agreed to be involved in the study. Results and Conclusions: This study offers a new framework for understanding clergy politicking, namely a combined ideological and contextual approach. In an attempt to explain positive attitudes towards undocumented immigrants, it combines relevant research on the influence of contextual factors with theological beliefs. Lastly, the results of these surveys indicate that while previous studies have found politicized sermons to have an impact on congregants’ immigrant sentiment, congregants themselves do not perceive the influence of clergy on these views to be very great. My findings suggest that the catalyst for the impact is the personal nature of the clergy-congregant relationship and that further studies should look not at politicized sermons but rather how personal contact with clergy might impact congregants’ views.