A new study has found that Christian churches are more likely to fear refugees displaced by war, ISIS and poverty than they are actually to help them in any way.
Recent research sponsored by World Relief and World Vision and conducted by LifeWay Research asked nearly 1,000 Protestant pastors about their congregations’ feelings concerning the Syrian refugee crisis. They found that 44 percent had “a sense of fear about global refugees coming to the United States,” and only 27 percent are doing anything to help them.
There was some good news in the study, however: 86 percent of pastors said their church believes “Christians have a responsibility to care sacrificially for refugees and foreigners.” Still, only 8 percent are doing anything about it locally.
The issue may soon be one many churches will need to address. The United States government has announced plans to resettle 85,000 refugees this year alone.