New Lifeway Research Survey Indicates Protestant Pastor Support for Global Humanitarian Needs, Objections to Funding Cuts

Survey sponsored by World Relief explores attitudes around global health

BALTIMORE, Md. – Last week, Lifeway Research, the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, released the results of a new survey conducted in partnership with World Relief, highlighting the attitudes of Protestant pastors toward global health needs. The research found that nearly half of pastors reported their churches had begun to increase their support of humanitarian issues in light of government cuts to foreign assistance, which were fully supported by only 22% of pastors.

Following recent cuts to U.S. foreign assistance impacting food, health, and humanitarian disaster response programs, 46% of pastors indicated that their church had stepped up to do more to address those needs, and another 6% indicated they hadn’t yet stepped up but plan to. Most (62%) pastors who lead churches of more than 250 members said their church was doing more.

Overall, the cuts to U.S. foreign assistance were relatively unpopular with pastors: just 22% of pastors surveyed said they fully supported the cuts, including 26% of evangelical pastors and 12% of Mainline Protestant pastors. 19% of pastors overall said some cuts were appropriate but that these went too far. One in five pastors have petitioned or plan to petition their elected officials to restore the funds, and 14% have spoken or plan to speak to their congregation about advocating for restoring the funding.

“Abrupt reductions to foreign assistance have been devastating to vulnerable communities around the world, and I’m not surprised relatively few pastors fully support these cuts,” commented Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief. “At World Relief, we’ve been encouraged to witness many churches stepping up both to advocate and to partner with us and peer organizations to respond directly to humanitarian crises with lifesaving interventions.”

When asked about proposed cuts to PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a policy initiative first introduced by President George W. Bush in 2003 and notable for its extensive evangelical support during its genesis, most (51%) Protestant pastors oppose cuts to PEPFAR, while 33% support these cuts, including 40% of evangelical pastors.

“It’s heartening to see so many churches stepping up to meet the needs of their neighbors at home and around the world,” commented Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy and World Relief. “In addition to the burden of shepherding their local flock, pastors must also discern how to guide their congregations to care for the orphan, widow and stranger, near and far. Churches in the U.S. have been at the forefront of stepping into the gap for generations, and we believe the church can and will continue in that legacy.”

The survey was conducted between January and March 2026 and captured the perspectives of 667 American Protestant pastors, weighted for average church attendance, region and self-identified affiliation as Mainline or evangelical. The survey included topics related to immigration, humanitarian issues and global health.

The full summary of the survey results can be found here.

To learn more about World Relief, visit worldrelief.org.