It has become an article of faith among social scientists that politics is a major force shaping whether people stick with religion or become religious nones. A wealth of generally indirect evidence supports this conclusion, especially the rise of the nones as a result of the rise of the Christian Right who happen to be more likely to be moderate or liberal. In a recent appearance on the “Courage Tour”, megachurch Pastor Jentezen Franklin noted the appeal of politics explicitly – his ministry has brought in millions of dollars since Trump promoted his church, saying: “If you'll get some courage, pastor, God will pay your bills.” It may be surprising to learn that social scientists have almost no data to evaluate the potentially new dynamics involving politics in choosing houses of worship. We propose a conjoint survey experiment that varies multiple treatments at once and can document the causal role of politics in the context of other church attributes (e.g., worship style, small group and youth programming, LGBT affirmation, siting, and naming). Local churches are cornerstones of their communities and important sites for building civic culture and belonging – this project identifies the reasons why people join local congregations.