Evangelical Christians: firm faith and active citizenship

It's official: evangelical Christians are far more likely to be active in their communities than the average person.  

Some 1,151 evangelical Christians have been asked in an online survey about their understanding of central tenets of the Christian faith, as well as their involvement in public life and knowledge and opinions on current affairs. 

Overwhelmingly they expressed their confidence in the central message of Christianity: that Jesus died for our sins, and rose again from the dead. But this is not mere belief in a doctrine, but a powerful driver behind their active involvement in society. 

Findings showed that a quarter of respondents are trustees of a registered charity. That's compared to 2.2 per cent nationally. Nine per cent are serving as school governors, compared to 0.7 per cent nationally, and four out of every 100 are members of a political party in contrast to the national average of 1.3 per cent.

 These evangelical Christians also beat the national average for serving as councillors for their local authorities and as court magistrates. Astonishingly nine out of 10 had voted in the Alternative Vote referendum in May compared to UK-wide turnout of just 42 per cent.   

On foreign policy, slightly more than half the respondents are in favour of Allied intervention in Libya. However, nearly three quarters said they could not justify Western military invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The latest findings are published in Does belief touch society? - the first in a series of follow-ups to the landmark 21st  Century Evangelicals survey of 17,000 Christians conducted last year by the Evangelical Alliance and Christian Research.  

Church and community leaders are encouraged to order copies of the latest research booklet which details the findings in full and use the information to better serve their own communities.  

It is available to download and order from http://www.eauk.org/snapshot/does-belief-touch-society.cfm. Suggested donations are £3 for one copy, £4 for two copies, £5 for three, £6 for four, £7 for five, £8 for six, £8.50 for seven, £9 for eight. £9.50 for nine, £10 for ten. 

Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, says: "Evangelical Christians are not bystanders. We are actively involved in our communities. We hope that this report, by holding up a mirror, will inspire us to seek - and be certain of - God's truth in our lives and our communities."