A new survey of moderate evangelical leaders suggests they see no room for partisan politics in their pulpits. The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) last month asked the CEOs from 60 evangelical churches, universities and affiliated organizations if their "churches advise parishioners who to vote for."

The answer: "No!" (Most respondents, the article says, actually used an exclamation mark.)

NAE President Leith Anderson said in a press release that answers to such survey questions are usually across the board, "but this time was different." Only one out of 60 respondents said he tells parishioners which candidate(s) the church supports.

Some respondents even squeezed in personal observations on the subject, even though the survey didn't leave room for comments.

"We do not advise who to vote for," one denominational leader wrote. "We continually endeavor to have a prophetic note in our preaching that addresses the various social issues....We leave it to each parishioner to evaluate the candidates and to make their own personal decision about who they will vote for."

A university president said simply, "The pulpit is not the place for electioneering."

Anderson noted that this sentiment "fits [his] own experience with American evangelicals," It "surprises" him to "hear critics accuse[] evangelicals of promoting specific candidates," he said, because "that is a long way from reality."

Unfortunately, that has not always been Americans United's experience. I'm not saying evangelical churches are more culpable than those of other denominations, but many do bring partisan politics into the pulpit.

Indeed, there are several organized movements to make sure evangelical leaders get their churches behind certain candidates. The Ohio Restoration Project and James Dobson's 2006 efforts in states with hotly contested congressional races come immediately to mind.

I'm glad many moderate evangelicals are resisting the Religious Right's partisan political agenda. The survey suggests, however, that they have not altogether rejected it. The article noted that "several" respondents said their churches distribute voter guides during election season.

Distributing unbiased guides that cover a broad range of issues can be legal. Those produced by groups like the American Family Association and the Christian Coalition, however, are often stacked to favor one candidate over the others.

Biased voter guides aren't always easy to spot at first glance, so religious leaders should be extremely careful that voter guides they produce or accept from outside organizations meet Internal Revenue Service guidelines.