Who is responsible for administering formal church discipline
Percent of U.S. Protestant pastors, by who administers discipline, 2025 (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Two or more groups must agree (35%). Lowest: Deacons alone (1%).
- Two or more groups must agree: 35%
- Elders alone: 14%
- Pastor alone: 11%
Source: Lifeway Research, Churches Rarely Discipline Members · Phone survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors; 95% confidence, sampling error no more than plus or minus 3.3%. Article published 2025-06-24.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Highest: Two or more groups must agree (35%). Lowest: Deacons alone (1%). Two or more groups must agree: 35%. Elders alone: 14%. Pastor alone: 11%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2025. Source: Lifeway Research, Churches Rarely Discipline Members (https://research.lifeway.com/2025/06/24/church-discipline-research/).
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About this data
Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research by organizations such as Lifeway Research, Barna Group, Springtide, the American Bible Society and PRRI. Every number is checked against the wording of the original source before it is published, and each statistic links back to the study it came from. Figures are reproduced from the publishers named above; see the source for full methodology.