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Pastors' Bible Versions

Which Bible translations pastors in the United States use, from published survey figures only. Every number below is copied exactly as the source reported it. Nothing is estimated: a version with no published figure is left out, not shown as zero.

Note The newest published nationwide figures by translation are from 2004. Newer survey data will be added only when a source publishes it.

Translations

All Protestant pastors, 2004

All U.S. Protestant senior pastors (n = 700): NIV 31%, KJV 23%, NRSV 14%, NKJV 13%, NASB 10%0%20%40%60%NIV31%KJV23%NRSV14%NKJV13%NASB10%
All U.S. Protestant senior pastors (n = 700). Percent of pastors who use each version.
All U.S. Protestant senior pastors, 2004 (n = 700)
VersionPercent of pastors
New International Version (NIV)31%
King James Version (KJV)23%
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)14%
New King James Version (NKJV)13%
New American Standard Bible (NASB)10%

Source: Ellison Research (Phoenix), published in Facts & Trends magazine, May/June 2004, LifeWay Christian Resources (2004); Senior pastors of Protestant churches in the United States, a nationwide sample covering a wide range of denominations; sample 700, margin of error plus or minus 3.6 percentage points (all pastors). Reported by Baptist Press and Religion News Service.

By denomination, 2004

Only the versions named for each group in the Baptist Press report are shown; other versions were not published for that group. Group sample sizes and margins of error were not published. Every panel uses the same 0 to 60% scale and the same colors.

Southern Baptist

Southern Baptist pastors: NIV 26%, NKJV 25%, KJV 23%, NASB 22%0%20%40%60%NIV26%NKJV25%KJV23%NASB22%

Other Baptist (not Southern Baptist)

Other Baptist (not Southern Baptist) pastors: KJV 51%, NIV 24%0%20%40%60%KJV51%NIV24%

Methodist

Methodist pastors: NIV 45%, NRSV 38%0%20%40%60%NIV45%NRSV38%

Lutheran

Lutheran pastors: NRSV 48%, NIV 23%0%20%40%60%NRSV48%NIV23%

Pentecostal

Pentecostal pastors: KJV 45%, NIV 23%, NKJV 15%0%20%40%60%KJV45%NIV23%NKJV15%
Percent of pastors using each version, by denomination (2004); a dash means the figure was not published
DenominationNIVKJVNRSVNKJVNASB
Southern Baptist26%23%not published25%22%
Other Baptist (not Southern Baptist)24%51%not publishednot publishednot published
Methodist45%not published38%not publishednot published
Lutheran23%not published48%not publishednot published
Pentecostal23%45%not published15%not published

Not published: no figures by translation were published for Presbyterian, Non-denominational, Other denominations pastors, so they are not shown.

Source: Ellison Research (Phoenix), published in Facts & Trends magazine, May/June 2004, LifeWay Christian Resources (2004); Senior pastors of Protestant churches in the United States, a nationwide sample covering a wide range of denominations; sample 700, margin of error plus or minus 3.6 percentage points (all pastors). Reported by Baptist Press and Religion News Service.

Sources checked but not shown

  • ECPA Bible Translations Bestsellers (Circana BookScan sales data): These rankings measure retail sales, not pastor usage, and the list states that publishing or redistributing it requires written consent from Circana, so the site links to it instead of copying it.
  • Newer national surveys of pastors' preaching translations (Lifeway Research, Barna): No published nationwide figures by translation were found in a search on 2026-10-17; Lifeway Research's recent pastor surveys cover Bible reading and sermons, not translation share.

Data file: /data/pastor_versions.json (updated 2026-10-17).