Churches don’t just follow their congregants’ views and actions on political issues, they may be shaping them, too.

Despite the US Constitution’s separation of church and state, American religious institutions and movements are often active in politics. But are they following their congregants’ existing views and actions or influencing them? Using national survey data, Andre P. Audette and Christopher L. Weaver find that churches do engage their congregants politically; at least 50 percent of congregants engage in at least one form of political activity such as attending a rally or registering voters, and a substantial number have also heard sermons addressing political issues such as voting, the Black Lives Matter movement, and abortion.