Read an Aug. 18, 2009, Religion News Service story about the religious element to the health care debate.

The Public Influences of African-American Churches Project conducted focus groups and surveyed black congregations and church leaders over three years to learn about congregational involvement in elections and setting public policy since the civil rights era. Despite the existence of 8,000 black elected officials and dozens of black civic and lobbying organizations, the survey found that black churches […]

The Pew Research Center surveyed religious groups about their reactions to the 2006 elections, about religious mobilization in congregations and about attitudes toward 2008 presidential candidates. Data is presented for black Protestants.

The Faith Communities Today (FACT) surveys by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and the Cooperative Congregations Studies Partnership include statistics on historically black denominations.

Kerry Shook is pastor of Woodlands Church in Houston, where members are encouraged to tweet during sermons.

Jason Ingram is pastor of Highland Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Okla., which has a MyChurch.org page. Ingram also has a personal Facebook page he invites everyone to visit.

John Voelz is pastor of Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Mich. The church has its own social network, called Community W. Congregants are encouraged to tweet about sermons, and a Twitter feed is posted on the church’s website. Voelz also writes a blog popular with church members.

Rabbi Andrea London leads Beth Emet The Free Synagogue of Evanston, Ill., which has a Facebook page.

Craig Strickland is senior pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church in Cordova, Tenn., which bills itself as a “church for the unchurched” and relies on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to provide a sense of community.