US Protestant churches rarely discipline their members, according to a survey released this week by LifeWay Research.

More than eight in 10 Protestant senior pastors say their church has not disciplined a member in the past year. More than half don't even know of such a case, the research first reported by Baptist Press found.

The phone survey conducted in September last year of 1,000 senior pastors found 16 per cent had disciplined a member in the past year. More than half (55 per cent) said no member had been disciplined during their time as pastor or previously. A fifth said a member was disciplined three or more years ago and five per cent said there was a case during the last two years. 

Church discipline for moral failings in Protestant churches can take various forms, including suspension or ejection from membership and restrictions on what activities members might participate in, including taking communion.

However, Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, said: 'It's one of the topics that churches rarely talk about.' 

LifeWay Research also asked pastors about how discipline was exercised. Only eight per cent said it was solely the pastor's responsibility. Eighteen per cent said there was no formal discipline process.

McConnell said that in some churches discipline was more informal, and that some members might choose to leave rather than going through a discipline process.