• More laity (29 percent) than senior pastors (24 percent) agree people should never drink alcohol, according to the latest study by LifeWay Research.
• Senior pastors (68 percent) are more likely to agree that reasonable consumption of alcohol is a "biblical liberty" compared to lay people (54 percent).
• Ninety percent of clergy, compared to 63 percent of laity, say a Christian drinking alcohol could cause other believers to stumble or be confused.
• Southern Baptist clergy are less likely to agree that Scripture indicates it is not a sin to drink alcohol than other Protestants, the latest LifeWay survey found.
  • Among senior pastors, 41 percent of Southern Baptist pastors at least "somewhat" agree that Scripture says people should never drink alcohol compared to 21 percent of non-Southern Baptists.
  • Seventy-seven percent of Southern Baptist pastors say Christians should not use alcohol as a beverage while 59 percent of laity agree.
  • Only 3 percent of Southern Baptist senior pastors drink alcohol compared to 29 percent of lay people.
  • Among non-Southern Baptists, 25 percent of clergy consume alcohol while 42 percent of laity do so.
  • Three quarters of Southern Baptist pastors agree that when a Christian abstains from drinking alcohol, this makes non-believers who see this more interested in Jesus Christ.
  • Over half of SBC lay people (58 percent) agree. Non-Southern Baptist pastors and laity are even less likely to say the same, with less than half (47 percent and 44 percent, respectively) agreeing that abstinence from drinking may attract non-believers to Jesus Christ.

Read Lifeway Research

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