Views about size of government by religious denomination (2014) Switch to: Religious denomination by views about size of government

% of adults who would rather have…

Religious denominationSmaller government; fewer servicesBigger government; more servicesDependsDon't knowSample size
African Methodist Episcopal Church25%68%1%6%117
American Baptist Churches USA44%51%1%4%467
Anglican Church64%30%1%4%111
Assemblies of God59%33%3%5%460
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)48%46%2%3%111
Church of God in Christ28%67%2%3%165
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints75%21%2%2%641
Church of the Nazarene75%15%< 1%9%101
Churches of Christ58%36%3%3%498
Episcopal Church56%36%4%4%494
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)63%31%4%2%641
Independent Baptist (Evangelical Trad.)65%29%2%3%825
Interdenominational (Evangelical Trad.)56%38%5%2%206
Interdenominational (Mainline Trad.)53%40%5%3%139
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod72%24%2%3%459
National Baptist Convention20%75%2%3%462
Nondenominational charismatic63%28%4%4%187
Nondenominational evangelical78%18%2%2%684
Nondenominational fundamentalist76%23%1%< 1%107
Nothing in particular (religion important)45%49%3%4%2,015
Nothing in particular (religion not important)49%44%3%4%2,969
Presbyterian Church (USA)56%37%2%4%428
Presbyterian Church in America71%27%2%< 1%158
Seventh-day Adventist42%53%3%2%165
Southern Baptist Convention69%26%2%3%1,845
Spiritual but not religious48%31%9%12%128
Unitarian24%59%8%8%165
United Church of Christ45%48%4%3%227
United Methodist Church67%27%3%3%1,637
Sample sizes and margins of error vary from subgroup to subgroup, from year to year and from state to state. You can see the sample size for the estimates in this chart on rollover or in the last column of the table. And visit this table to see approximate margins of error for a group of a given size. Readers should always bear in mind the approximate margin of error for the group they are examining when making comparisons with other groups or assessing the significance of trends over time. For full question wording, see the survey questionnaire.

Learn More: Smaller government; fewer services, Bigger government; more services