Francis Schaeffer asserted that “the spirit of the age always finds its way into the church.” If true, and we have good reason to believe that it is, could the tsunami of discouragement sweeping away America’s pastors have been caused by hidden quakes and eruptions deep beneath the surface of our cultural landscape? How has the spirit of the age contributed to epidemic of pastors leaving the ministry?

It has always been true that pastoral ministry is laborious work requiring self-sacrifice, hardship, and dogged perseverance. And it has always been true that the ungodly behavior of church members inflict great misery on their pastors. But, because it has always been this way, this ugly reality is probably insufficient to explain the growing wave of pastors leaving their jobs.

If the spirit of the age has found its way into the church, and if it has altered how we perceive and think about pastors, we owe it to ourselves to retrace how that spirit has developed in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. When we do, we find that cultural shifts from 1950 to the 2020s have dramatically altered the way Americans think about members of the clergy.

In this article we will briefly explore how pastors and religious people were portrayed in the 1950s. This will reveal how they were perceived in American society and how those values were affirmed in the arts.

1950s

American Society

After WWII, America experienced a surge in church attendance and religious life. The American public and American institutions viewed pastors as upright pillars of moral authority. The clergy were held in high esteem and treated with respect.

The 1950s saw a post-war boom in the American economy. Millions of veterans returned from the war were able to buy houses, get an education, and start families. This was a period of rapid expansion of the middle class, massive growth in the suburbs, and widespread prosperity among the working classes.

The nuclear family was widely recognized as the cornerstone of civil society, the place where children were prepared to become productive adults who would form families of their own. The family was where children learned how to co-operate, to work out their differences, to share and care for others, and eventually become autonomous adults capable of maintaining healthy relationships with others out in the world. Pastors reinforced these values in their modeling and their teaching. America’s social and educational institutions supported these values as well.

During this period of rapid population growth and expanding wealth, conditions were ripe for the planting of hundreds of thousands of churches. This was also when we begin to see an increasing number of megachurches in major metropolitan areas. Pastors graduated from being respected by virtue of their ministry to becoming political influencers (to use an anachronism), community leaders, and business savvy executives capable of leading very large organizations that served thousands upon thousands of people.

But America was also wracked by serious social and political upheaval at this time. Rising fear of the “Red Menace” and craven political opportunists dragged the nation through McCarthyism and rabid anti-communism. Many clergy supported these movements and often placed themselves as defenders of America’s moral values and as bulwarks standing astride history to repel the threats of tyranny and communism.

This set the stage for the disillusionment with American institutions and the distrust of authority that swept across the cultural landscape in the 1960s.

To summarize, pastors were seen as pillars of stability, representatives of traditional American values, figures of moral authority, and community leaders. But at this time, seeds of future challenges were planted in the soil of growing secularism and polarizing politics.

How Pastors Were Portrayed in the 1950s

In Film

In the 1950s, film mostly offered idealized portrayals of the clergy. The characters reflected and supported the respect in which religious leaders of that decade were widely held.

”The Miracle Man” (1952) Reverend Michael Scott (Gregory Peck) exemplified unwavering faith and moral authority. This portrayal reinforced respect for religious leaders that was the social norm of the day.
“I Confess” (1953) – Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift): A film that deals with themes of confession and moral conflict, showcasing the clergy’s role as confidants and moral guides.
“The Robe (1953) A fictionalized story of a Roman tribune involved in Christ’s crucifixion. His subsequent guilt and spiritual journey lead to his conversion, portraying Christianity’s transformative power to release people from guilt and restore them to life.
“On the Waterfront” (1954) – Father Barry (Karl Malden) was a Catholic priest who supports dock workers against corrupt union bosses. He was a moral compass and advocate for social justice, reflecting a simplistic, one-dimensional view of clergy as moral and social crusaders, community pillars who were actively involved in social issues of the day.
“A Man Called Peter” (1955) tells the story of Peter Marshall (Richard Todd), a real-life Presbyterian minister and Chaplain of the United States Senate, emphasizing spirituality, integrity, and the power of faith.
“The Ten Commandments” (1956) Cecil B. DeMille’s epic uses Moses as the central figure, to showcases powerful roles for priests in ancient Israel. It emphasizes the need to obey God, the power of faith in the face of struggle, and the victory monotheism over polytheism.
“Ben-Hur” (1959) The protagonist, Judah Ben-Hur, is transformed by Christ’s message of grace, forgiveness, and salvation. The film was a powerful reminder to audiences of God’s power to cleanse them and bring them into a saving relationship with God.
“The Nun’s Story” (1959) Audrey Hepburn portrays a young woman who struggles with the strict regulations of convent life. The film reveals the complexity of religious life, and deals honestly with the problem of doubt, devotion, and sacrifice.

Movies that included clergy members in the 1950s conveyed a positive yet complex reflection of how American culture viewed pastors at that time. Many films portrayed ministers as benevolent, guiding forces that offered wisdom, moral virtue, and courage in facing difficult life challenges. Yet in film of this era, religious figure were seen wrestling with doubt and enduring personal sacrifice even as they maintained their devotional lives.

On Television

“Life is Worth Living” (1952-1957) Bishop Fulton Sheen: This television series featured a real-life clergyman discussing various topics, reinforcing the image of clergy as accessible, wise figures. Bishop Sheen used television to directly speak about moral concerns, philosophy, and issues within the Catholic church. It showcased Roman Catholic theology and showed that Sheen as an accessible authority figure.
“Father Knows Best” (1954-1960) Not featuring clergy per se, but the title itself and the moral lessons reflect the societal reverence for authority figures, including religious ones.
“Life with Father” (1950-1955) – This sitcom offers a warm, respectful, and lighthearted portray of Reverence Michael Hillman, an Episcopal priest. It shows the audience his home life, how he relates to and interacts with his parishioners, and depicts his wise and gentle leadership as an upstanding member of his community. His clerical role is woven into the storylines in a warm and mildly humorous way.
“Going My Way” (1962-1963) Based on the Bing Crosby movie, ‘Going My Way’ movies, this program featured Father Chuck O’Malley, a young and spirited Catholic priest serving in New York City. In it we see how this priest managed the work/life balance and how he treated those around him. It portrayed the Church and its community as a bastion of compassion and understanding for all.

As in film, television in the 1950s reflected specific social and religious norms of that era. Perhaps the main difference between the two media is that the clergy shown on TV weren’t deeply complex characters (as were some in film), but they represented persons to respect who served as positive role models for all.

In Literature

In literature we see far more complex treatment of how religious figures were portrayed.

“The Power and the Glory” (1940, widely read in the 1950s) – Graham Greene: Features a “whisky priest” in Mexico grappling with his faith, sin, and redemption. Here a member of the clergy is on display with complex moral and personal struggles, offering a more nuanced, less idealized view than film or television. Perhaps more true to life than the other media, this novel shows that religious figures are like the rest of us—deeply flawed people whom God can redeem, and faithful to their ministry and spiritual life despite their wounds.
“Diary of a Country Priest” (1936, translated into English in the 1950s) – Georges Bernanos: Explores the life of a young priest in a small French village, highlighting the spiritual and emotional challenges faced by clergy.
”The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” (1950) – C. S. Lewis This fantasy novel does not portray a pastor or member of the clergy per se , but it promotes Christian values through allegory, indirectly reflecting the role of spiritual guidance. It delivers a firm message that God will ultimately prevail and evil will be defeated.
“Wise Bloodl” (1952) – Flannery O’Connor Hazel Motes, a disillusioned veteran, becomes an anti-religious street preacher, founding his own “Church Without Christ.” O’Connor’s depiction of faith as dark and grotesque was several decades ahead of American society. It wasn’t until decades later that this image of the clergy emerged into a wider audience.
The Devil’s Advocate (1959) – Morris West Monsignor Blaise Meredith, a terminally ill English priest, is tasked by the Vatican to determine why Giacomo Nerone should not be considered for sainthood. His investigation exposes Nerone’s complicated history and brings him face-to-face with his own spiritual struggles. As he delves into Nerone’s life, Meredith finds himself facing not only potential lies and exaggerations surrounding Nerone, but also his own failing health and spiritual struggles. The village doctor, a beautiful countess, and local figures further complicate his understanding of truth and belief. The book challenges us about the coexistence of good and evil, and the meaning of faith in the face of doubt.

Literature in the 1950s produced complex and diverse depictions of pastors and religious people. Many books captured the postwar return to faith, reflecting what was happening in American society at that time. But others posed challenging questions and offered spicy observations about the personal lives of those in ministry. Thus, we see deeply flawed people—members of the clergy—struggling with doubt portrayed alongside deeply pious believers.

But already in the 1950s we see another trend beginning to develop, perhaps well ahead of the rest of American society. We see O’Connor’s grotesque description of spirituality, subverting the more widely held positive view of faith and the faithful. Other novel wrestled with morality, hypocrisy, and the loss of faith—or the struggle hold on to it—in a changing world.

The next article in this series will explore how pastors and religious people were seen and portrayed in the 1960s, a decade of upheaval, growing distrust of social and government institutions, and the introduction of Eastern religion into the American psyche.