A recent Lifeway Research study, which surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. Protestant pastors, found that only 1 in 6 reported that their church has formally disciplined anyone in the past year.
Most pastors (54%) stated their churches have not formally disciplined a member since they became the pastor, nor is it known to have happened previously.
More than 1 in 5 (22%) say it has been three or more years since the last discipline, with 3% indicating it has been around two years. Almost 1 in 7 have disciplined members recently, including 6% in the last year, 6% in the past six months, and 3% in the last month. These figures remain statistically unchanged from a 2017 study by Lifeway Research, according to Baptist Press.
Less than half (47%) of evangelical pastors say they are unaware of anyone being disciplined in their churches, while 70% of mainline pastors report the same. Methodists (82%) are the most likely to say that church discipline has not happened in their congregations.
Larger churches are among the least likely to avoid practicing discipline. About a third (35%) of pastors at churches with at least 250 worshippers report no one has been formally disciplined, fewer than in smaller congregations.
Despite the infrequent use of discipline, 4 in 5 churches have policies in place, and only 14% of pastors say their church has no official discipline policies.
When asked who is responsible for administering discipline, 14% say elders alone, 11% say the pastor alone, and 10% indicate the entire congregation. Smaller percentages specify responsibilities for a council or committee alone (5%), trustees or board members alone (4%), or deacons alone (1%).
Over a third (35%) say that two or more groups must agree to proceed with discipline, and 6% say no group is responsible.
Mainline pastors are nearly twice as likely as evangelical pastors to report having no official discipline policies (21% vs. 12%), with Methodists being the most likely among denominations to lack policies (36%).
Churches with fewer than 50 attendees are also roughly twice as likely as larger churches to report no formal discipline policies (19% vs. 9%).
Regarding the approach to discipline, around 83% of pastors say their churches seek to lovingly and biblically confront unconfessed sin, with 51% strongly agreeing. Few pastors (14%) disagree, and 3% are unsure.
Evangelical pastors are more likely than mainline pastors to affirm that their churches aim to confront unconfessed sin this way (89% vs. 74%). Denominations like the Restoration Movement (94%) and Baptists (90%) are more likely than Lutherans (82%), Presbyterians/Reformed (73%), and Methodists (69%) to agree with this approach.
