While most U.S. Protestant churches have policies in place to address significant misbehavior by members, formalized church discipline is rarely practiced, according to newly released data from Lifeway Research.
The survey, conducted among over 1,000 Protestant pastors between August and September 2024, found that one in six pastors reported their church had disciplined a member in the past year.
“The infrequency of church discipline is not because church members aren’t sinning,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Church discipline typically occurs when a member is not repentant for a sin or is no longer qualified for a role because of sin.”
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More than half (54%) of pastors reported that their churches have not formally disciplined a member during their tenure, nor were they aware of any previous instances.
Another 22% reported that discipline occurred three or more years ago, while 6% noted it within the last year, 6% in the past six months, and 3% in the last month — figures that align closely with a similar 2017 Lifeway Research study, according to McConnell.
Church discipline is notably less common in Mainline denominations.
While 47% of Evangelical pastors said they were not aware if their church had disciplined anyone, 70% of Mainline pastors reported the same. Methodist pastors (82%) were the most likely to say discipline had never occurred. Larger churches, however, are more likely to engage in discipline, with only 35% of pastors at churches with 250 or more attendees saying no one had been disciplined, compared to higher percentages in smaller congregations.
“The more people you have in your church, the more likely someone’s behavior warrants discipline,” McConnell explained. “Teachings and traditions also play into a church’s willingness to discipline someone.”
Despite rare enforcement, about 80% of churches have formal discipline policies. Only 14% of pastors reported that no official policies exist.
Responsibility for administering discipline varies: 14% said it falls to elders alone, 11% to the pastor alone, 10% to the entire congregation, and 35% indicated multiple groups must agree. Mainline pastors (21%) were nearly twice as likely as Evangelical pastors (12%) to report no discipline policies, with Methodists (36%) being the most likely to lack such measures.
Many commentators believe the biblical basis for church discipline stems from passages like Matthew 18:15-20, where Jesus outlines a process for addressing sin: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you. … If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul urges the Corinthian church to confront sin, warning that unaddressed sin spreads like “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
“For far too long, American churches have strayed away from practicing church discipline, and the product of that has been sexual assault allegations, greed, heresy from the pulpit, normalization of divorce and premarital sex, cowardice when it comes to confronting sin in our culture, biblical illiteracy, and more,” Christian conservative activist and influencer Reagan Scott wrote in an op-ed piece for The Christian Post in 2022. “Because a little leaven has been allowed within these churches, the whole lump has been leavened, and illegitimate children of God have maintained fellowship with true Christ followers, tainting the purity of the Church.”
The purpose of discipline, according to the study, is repentance and restoration. Around 83% of pastors said their churches aim to “lovingly and biblically confront unconfessed sin,” with 51% strongly agreeing. Evangelical pastors (89%) were more likely than Mainline pastors (74%) to affirm this approach, with Restorationist Movement (94%) and Baptist (90%) pastors showing the strongest agreement.
“Confronting unconfessed sin is both for the benefit of the local church and the individual,” McConnell said. “Most churches look to follow biblical guidelines in these cases.”
