Every faith, regardless of theology, listed the economy as its top priority when University of Akron researchers asked Americans to name issues influencing their presidential vote in a poll taken this summer.

The fifth National Survey of Religion and Politics found that economic priorities weighed more heavily on every religious group -- from evangelicals to Catholics to Jews to atheists -- than foreign or social policy issues.

The current economic crisis, local religious leaders say, offers a chance to reflect on the morality of the marketplace.

Here, several offer their thoughts on the economy, what the situation can teach us about ourselves, and how the faithful are called to respond.

THE REV. CAROLYN MOORE

Mosaic United Methodist Church

ON PERSPECTIVE: "Jesus talked about money more than any other subject, other than love. So, obviously, finances matter to him. Most of his teachings were about keeping our financial life in perspective and not allowing it to become our God."

ON THE MISNOMER OF PERSONAL FINANCES: "There's a lesson here on greed. ... If we let our indebtedness pile up -- whether its spiritual, relational or financial -- we end up losing everything."

THE REV. MARGARET BEARD

Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta

ON SURVIVING THE CRISIS: "I think people are scared and hurting and that is what I need to address. I might have talked about conspicuous consumption last year, but now I need to talk about surviving this crisis."

ON ANXIETY: "There is an incredible amount of anxiety out there right now, and it is in congregations as well. I am seeing it in specific conversations about the economy and people losing jobs, unable to get a job and loss of retirement investments. And I am seeing it in some less direct ways -- more anger, sometimes misdirected; less tolerance about other things going on that are negative in one's life; more physical complaints; and less attendance for some church activities on other days because of gas-price increases."

THE SPIRITUAL VALUE OF MONEY: "Money is a spiritual issue. We make choices every day with any money we have, both as individuals, congregations, businesses and governments. And those choices reflect our values. For those of us who are deeply religious, our choices about money are a reflection of our deepest values."

THE REV. MICHAEL ROVERSE

St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church

ON REACHING THE FLOCK: "There is a famous quote that says something along the lines of, 'Preach with the Gospel in one hand and the newspaper in the other.' I take that saying to mean that there is a need to bring our modern questions to the answers found in Scripture when I speak from the pulpit."

ON GREED: "Most recently, I spoke about how we (in the pews) are not very different from the wicked tenants in the vineyard or the corporate titans who have moved our economic system to the brink. We, too, can become greedy, wanting something for nothing. It turns out that we are not too different from the people who have tried to maximize profit without any thought of long-term responsibility to the whole. We are as accountable for our choices as the tycoons who have brought us to this current mess."

THE REV. WILLIAM BLOUNT

Greater Young Zion Baptist Church

ON STEWARDSHIP: "It's a part of the church's overall goal to have good stewardship of its resources. We want to honor our debt and pay our creditors, and so that's what we teach. The Bible promotes living debt-free, on living with what God gives us."

ON CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY: "The first thing we do as Christians is to pray for our leaders and those who are in government. It's easy to criticize for our problems, but I think we should spend our time on the solutions, praying that God shows us how to get things back in order."

THE REV. JEREMY CARR

The Well Community Church

LOOKING INWARD: "The past couple months have been very introspective for me. We must all take a deep look inward. There are plenty of people we could point to and try to blame for our situation, but this is a time to look at ourselves and see how God has blessed us."

FALSE BALANCES AND JUST WEIGHTS: "With this current situation, Proverbs 11:1 says it. I was just reading it last night: 'A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.' God's talking about being fair and honest with your finances, however much you have."

ON PROSPERITY: "I'm not one of these prosperity gospel guys, because Jesus won't necessarily make you rich. There's nothing wrong with being wealthy, and there's nothing wrong with being poor, but we're not to trust in our money and our wealth. We're to trust in the God who gives us those things."

RABBI DAVID SIRULL

Adas Yeshurun Synagogue

ON EXCESS: "I think that there certainly is corruption among our financial leadership, but it's too easy to simply blame them. The truth is that most of us are guilty of buying into this culture of greed and excess."

ON RETHINKING OUR VALUES: "We have become a society that wants everything and we want it immediately. We need to rethink our value system and we need to learn how to live within our means ... It's time for us to transform ourselves from being slaves of our possessions and establish an appropriate balance between our spiritual selves and our material selves."

THE FESTIVAL OF BOOTHS: "This week, Jews around the world celebrate Sukkot, the Festival of Booths. One of the requirements for a sukkah (booth) is that it must be fragile, a temporary structure. It serves to remind us that no matter how secure we may feel at any given time, our lives can change in a moment of storm -- whether it be a weather storm or a cancer storm or the loss of a loved one.

"These are difficult times, and it will be a challenge for most of us. But the important things remain the same. Perhaps people will embrace these things that do not change -- our families, our communities, our prayers and our faith."