Mainline
Encyclopedia
Mainline Protestant are certain Protestant churches in the United States that comprised a majority of Americans from the colonial era until the early 20th century. The group is contrasted with evangelical and fundamentalist groups. They include Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Methodists, northern Baptist
s, most Lutherans, and most Presbyterians, as well as some smaller denominations
.
Members of mainline denominations have played leadership roles in all aspects of American life, including politics, business, education, science and the arts. In recent years, however, the mainline groups have shrunken as a percentage of the American population, as increasing numbers of American Protestants have come to affiliate instead with fundamentalist or evangelical churches. Politically and theologically, contemporary mainline Protestants tend to be more liberal than non-mainline believers.
Mainline churches include the United Methodist Church
(UMC), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
(PCUSA), the Episcopal Church
, the American Baptist Churches, the United Church of Christ
(Congregationalist), the Disciples of Christ, and the Reformed Church in America
. These churches share a common approach to social issues that often leads to collaboration in organizations such as the National Council of Churches
.
The term is derived from the Philadelphia Main Line, a group of affluent inner suburbs of Philadelphia that were settled along the Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line. Most residents of these suburbs belonged to mainline denominations. Today, most mainline Protestants remain rooted in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States.
As a group, the mainline churches have maintained religious doctrine that stresses social justice
and personal salvation
. They were leaders of the Social Gospel
and were active in social causes such as civil rights, and equality for women. In addition, mainline churches and laity founded most of the leading educational institutes in the US.
Mainline denominations peaked in membership in the 1950s and have declined steadily in the last half century. From 1960 to 1988, mainline church membership declined from 31 million to 25 million, then fell to 21 million in 2005. Today, they are a minority among American Protestants, claiming approximately 15 percent of American adults among their adherents.
. The term was apparently coined by William Hutchison.
The Association of Religion Data Archives
also considers these denominations to be mainline:
The Association of Religion Data Archives has difficulties collecting data on traditionally African American
denominations. Those churches most likely to be identified as mainline include these Methodist
groups:
Some denominations with similar names and historical ties to mainline groups are not considered mainline. The Southern Baptist Convention
, Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, the Churches of Christ, the Presbyterian Church in America
(PCA), and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) are often considered too conservative for this category and thus grouped as evangelical.
, Francis Wayland
, and Horace Bushnell
, to reconcile their contradictory loyalties to the Bible and to antislavery reform. Unable to use the letter of the Bible to make a scriptural case against slavery in itself, the moderates argued that although slavery had been acceptable in biblical times, it had become a sin. Antislavery Protestantism required a theory of moral progress, a deeply unorthodox idea that became fundamental to the development of late-19th-century liberal Evangelical Protestantism. The antislavery argument from moral progress, along with the moral progress represented by abolition, established a progressive conception of revelation that was further developed by late-19th-century liberal theologians, including Newman Smyth, Lyman Abbott
, and Theodore Munger. Once they had adopted the idea that moral values evolve, it was not hard to come to terms with the impact of modernity, critical biblical scholarship, and Darwinism.
Mainline theology tends to be open to new ideas, new understandings of morality, and societal changes without abandoning what they consider to be the historical foundations of the Christian faith. For example, they have been increasingly open to the ordination of women
.
They hold a wide range of theologies—conservative, moderate and liberal. While about half of mainline Protestants label themselves as liberal, nearly one-third call themselves conservative. Most local mainline congregations have a strong, active conservative element.
Mainline theology tends to be moderate and influenced by higher criticism, an approach used by scholars to separate the Bible's earliest historical elements from later additions and even intentional distortions. Mainline denominations generally teach that the Bible is God's Word in function, but that it must be interpreted both through the lens of the cultures in which it was originally written, and examined using God-given reason. Mainline Christian groups are often more accepting of other beliefs and faiths. These church bodies are often comparatively more comfortable with gender inclusive language in contemporary translations of the Bible.
A 2008 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center
found that only 22 percent of the 7,500 mainline Christians surveyed said the Bible is God's Word and is to be interpreted as literally true, word for word. Thirty-eight percent thought that the Bible is God's Word but is not to be taken literally, word for word. Twenty-eight percent said the Bible was not the Word of God
but was of human origin.
Theologically, mainline denominations are historically Trinitarian
and proclaim Jesus Christ
as Lord and Son of God; they adhere to the historic creed
s such as the Nicene Creed
, the Apostles' Creed
, and the Athanasian Creed
.
, accepts some of the beliefs generally held in common by other mainline churches. They allow considerable theological latitude. Moreover, mainline denominations have within them Confessing Movement
s or charismatic renewal movements
which are more conservative in tone.
, which usually involve politically liberal approaches to social and economic problems. Early in the 20th century, they actively supported the Social Gospel
.
Mainline churches were basically pacifistic before 1940, but under the influence of realists such as Reinhold Niebuhr
they supported World War II
and the Cold War
. They have been far from uniform in their reaction to homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals
, though generally more accepting than the Catholic Church or the more conservative Protestant churches.
While the term "mainline" once implied a certain numerical majority or dominant presence in mainstream society, that is no longer the case. Both evangelical and fundamentalist Christian groups have been growing, but mainline Christianity—both membership and worship attendance—has been shrinking.
The number of mainline congregations in the U. S. declined from more than 80,000 churches in the 1950s to about 72,000 in 2008.Report Examines the State of Mainline Protestant Churches The Barna Group. December 7, 2009. Web: 12 Dec. 2009 About 40% of Mainline Protestants in the 1990s were active in church affairs, compared to 46% of the conservatives.
Various causes have been cited, including monotonous and ponderous liturgies, intimidating worship surroundings, and too much tradition. Behaviorally, only one-third (31 percent) of mainline adults believe they have a personal responsibility to discuss their faith with people who have different beliefs. Tenure of pastors in mainline churches tends to be somewhat brief. On average, these pastors last four years before moving to another congregation. That is about half the average among Protestant pastors in non-mainline churches.
There are four basic factors: birth rates; switching between denominations; departure from Protestantism; and conversions from non-Protestant sources. By far the main cause is birth rates—low for the mainline bodies, and high for the conservatives. The second most important factor is that fewer conservatives switch to mainline denominations than before. Secularization (moving to "no religion") is a third factor.
Despite speculation to the contrary, switching from a mainline to a conservative denomination is not important in accounting for the trend, because it is fairly constant over the decades. Finally, conservative denominations have had a greater inflow of converts.
Evidence from the General Social Survey
indicates that higher fertility and earlier childbearing among women from conservative denominations explains 76% of the observed trend: conservative denominations have grown their own. Mainline denomination members have the lowest birthrate among American Christian groups. Unless there is a surge of new members, rising death rates are predicted to diminish their ranks even further in the years ahead.
Statistical analysis gives no support for the notion that theological or social conservatism or liberalism has much impact on long-term growth trends.
Recent statistics from the Pew Forum provide additional explanations for the decline.
Not paralleling the decline in membership is the household income of members of mainline denominations. Overall, it is higher than that of evangelicals:
Protestantism's hundreds of different denominations are loosely grouped according to three fairly distinct religious traditions—evangelical Protestant churches (26.3 percent of the overall adult population), mainline Protestant churches (18.1 percent) and historically black Protestant churches (6.9 percent).
The Association of Religion Data Archives ARDA counts 26,344,933 members of mainline churches versus 39,930,869 members of evangelical Protestant churches.
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
s, most Lutherans, and most Presbyterians, as well as some smaller denominations
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
.
Members of mainline denominations have played leadership roles in all aspects of American life, including politics, business, education, science and the arts. In recent years, however, the mainline groups have shrunken as a percentage of the American population, as increasing numbers of American Protestants have come to affiliate instead with fundamentalist or evangelical churches. Politically and theologically, contemporary mainline Protestants tend to be more liberal than non-mainline believers.
Mainline churches include the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
(UMC), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
(ELCA), the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
(PCUSA), the Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church
An episcopal church has bishops in its organisational structure which is calledEpiscopal polityEpiscopal Church may refer to:Anglican Communion:...
, the American Baptist Churches, the United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
(Congregationalist), the Disciples of Christ, and the Reformed Church in America
Reformed Church in America
The Reformed Church in America is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 170,000 members, with the total declining in recent decades. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1819, it...
. These churches share a common approach to social issues that often leads to collaboration in organizations such as the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
.
The term is derived from the Philadelphia Main Line, a group of affluent inner suburbs of Philadelphia that were settled along the Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line. Most residents of these suburbs belonged to mainline denominations. Today, most mainline Protestants remain rooted in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States.
As a group, the mainline churches have maintained religious doctrine that stresses social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
and personal salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
. They were leaders of the Social Gospel
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada...
and were active in social causes such as civil rights, and equality for women. In addition, mainline churches and laity founded most of the leading educational institutes in the US.
Mainline denominations peaked in membership in the 1950s and have declined steadily in the last half century. From 1960 to 1988, mainline church membership declined from 31 million to 25 million, then fell to 21 million in 2005. Today, they are a minority among American Protestants, claiming approximately 15 percent of American adults among their adherents.
Denominations
The largest U.S. mainline churches are sometimes referred to as the Seven Sisters of American ProtestantismProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
. The term was apparently coined by William Hutchison.
- With almost 8 million U.S. members in 2008 (down from over 11 million in 1968), the United Methodist ChurchUnited Methodist ChurchThe United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
remains the largest U. S. mainline Protestant denomination. - The second largest mainline denomination is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)Evangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaThe Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
, with approximately 4.7 million members in 2008. - The third largest mainline denomination is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
, with 2.4 million members (2008). - Fourth in size is the Episcopal ChurchEpiscopal Church (United States)The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
, with approximately 2.1 million members (2008). - American Baptist Churches USAAmerican Baptist Churches USAThe American Baptist Churches USA is a Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainline, although varying theological and mission emphases may be found among its...
are fifth in size, with approximately 1.4 million members (2008). - The United Church of ChristUnited Church of ChristThe United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
has 1.1 million members (2008). - The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...
claimed 691,160 in 2008.
The Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
also considers these denominations to be mainline:
- Religious Society of FriendsReligious Society of FriendsThe Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers) 350,000 members - Reformed Church in AmericaReformed Church in AmericaThe Reformed Church in America is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 170,000 members, with the total declining in recent decades. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1819, it...
269,815 members (2005) - International Council of Community ChurchesInternational Council of Community ChurchesThe International Council of Community Churches is a Christian religious association of ecumenically co-operating and Independent Catholics based in Frankfort, Illinois, in the United States. It is the main organization of the Community Church movement...
108,806 members (2005) - National Association of Congregational Christian ChurchesNational Association of Congregational Christian ChurchesThe National Association of Congregational Christian Churches is an association of about 400 churches providing fellowship for and services to churches from the Congregational tradition. The Association maintains its national office in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee...
65,569 members (2000) - North American Baptist ConferenceNorth American Baptist ConferenceNorth American Baptist Conference - initially an association of Baptists in the United States and Canada of German ethnic heritage.The roots of the NABC go back to 1839, when Konrad Anton Fleischmann began work in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with German immigrants. Fleischmann was a Swiss...
64,565 members (2002) - Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community ChurchesMetropolitan Community ChurchThe Metropolitan Community Church or The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is an international Protestant Christian denomination...
44,000 members (1998) - Moravian ChurchAmerican Provinces of the Moravian ChurchThe Moravian Church in America is part of the world wide Moravian Church Unity. It dates from the arrival of the first Moravian missionaries to the United States in 1735, from their Herrnhut settlement in present-day Saxony, Germany. They came to minister to the scattered German immigrants, to the...
in America, Northern Province 24,650 members (2003) - Moravian ChurchAmerican Provinces of the Moravian ChurchThe Moravian Church in America is part of the world wide Moravian Church Unity. It dates from the arrival of the first Moravian missionaries to the United States in 1735, from their Herrnhut settlement in present-day Saxony, Germany. They came to minister to the scattered German immigrants, to the...
in America, Southern Province 21,513 members (1991) - Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaLatvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaThe Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a Lutheran denomination, formed in 1957 as a federation, and reorganized in 1975 as a formal denomination. As of 2007, 12,000 congregants and 68 congregations of the church were present in the United States. It is headquartered in Milwaukee,...
12,000 members (2007) - Estonian Evangelical Lutheran ChurchEstonian Evangelical Lutheran ChurchThe Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Lutheran church in Estonia. EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation...
- Congregational Christian Churches, (not part of any national CCC body)
- Moravian Church in America, Alaska Province
The Association of Religion Data Archives has difficulties collecting data on traditionally African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
denominations. Those churches most likely to be identified as mainline include these Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
groups:
- African Methodist Episcopal ChurchAfrican Methodist Episcopal ChurchThe African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
- African Methodist Episcopal Zion ChurchAfrican Methodist Episcopal Zion ChurchThe African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or AME Zion Church, is a historically African-American Christian denomination. It was officially formed in 1821, but operated for a number of years before then....
- Christian Methodist Episcopal ChurchChristian Methodist Episcopal ChurchThe Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is a historically black denomination within the broader context of Methodism. The group was organized in 1870 when several black ministers, with the full support of their white counterparts in the former Methodist Episcopal Church, South, met to form an...
Some denominations with similar names and historical ties to mainline groups are not considered mainline. The Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
, Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, the Churches of Christ, the Presbyterian Church in America
Presbyterian Church in America
The Presbyterian Church in America is an evangelical Protestant Christian denomination, the second largest Presbyterian church body in the United States after the Presbyterian Church . The PCA professes a strong commitment to evangelism, missionary work, and Christian education...
(PCA), and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) are often considered too conservative for this category and thus grouped as evangelical.
Theology
The anti-slavery debates in the antebellum United States sparked a turning point in American theology from which mainline theology emerged. The issue of slavery forced antislavery theologians, including William Ellery ChanningWilliam Ellery Channing
Dr. William Ellery Channing was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton, one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. He was known for his articulate and impassioned sermons and public speeches, and as a prominent thinker...
, Francis Wayland
Francis Wayland
Francis Wayland , American Baptist educator and economist, was born in New York City, New York. He was president of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. In Washington, D.C., Wayland Seminary was established in 1867, primarily to educate...
, and Horace Bushnell
Horace Bushnell
Horace Bushnell was an American Congregational clergyman and theologian.-Life:Bushnell was a Yankee born in the village of Bantam, township of Litchfield, Connecticut. He attended Yale College where he roomed with future magazinist Nathaniel Parker Willis. Willis credited Bushnell with teaching...
, to reconcile their contradictory loyalties to the Bible and to antislavery reform. Unable to use the letter of the Bible to make a scriptural case against slavery in itself, the moderates argued that although slavery had been acceptable in biblical times, it had become a sin. Antislavery Protestantism required a theory of moral progress, a deeply unorthodox idea that became fundamental to the development of late-19th-century liberal Evangelical Protestantism. The antislavery argument from moral progress, along with the moral progress represented by abolition, established a progressive conception of revelation that was further developed by late-19th-century liberal theologians, including Newman Smyth, Lyman Abbott
Lyman Abbott
Lyman Abbott was an American Congregationalist theologian, editor, and author.-Early years:Lyman Abbott was born at Roxbury, Massachusetts on December 18, 1835, the son of the prolific author, educator and historian Jacob Abbott...
, and Theodore Munger. Once they had adopted the idea that moral values evolve, it was not hard to come to terms with the impact of modernity, critical biblical scholarship, and Darwinism.
Mainline theology tends to be open to new ideas, new understandings of morality, and societal changes without abandoning what they consider to be the historical foundations of the Christian faith. For example, they have been increasingly open to the ordination of women
Ordination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
.
They hold a wide range of theologies—conservative, moderate and liberal. While about half of mainline Protestants label themselves as liberal, nearly one-third call themselves conservative. Most local mainline congregations have a strong, active conservative element.
Mainline theology tends to be moderate and influenced by higher criticism, an approach used by scholars to separate the Bible's earliest historical elements from later additions and even intentional distortions. Mainline denominations generally teach that the Bible is God's Word in function, but that it must be interpreted both through the lens of the cultures in which it was originally written, and examined using God-given reason. Mainline Christian groups are often more accepting of other beliefs and faiths. These church bodies are often comparatively more comfortable with gender inclusive language in contemporary translations of the Bible.
A 2008 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. In 1990, Donald S...
found that only 22 percent of the 7,500 mainline Christians surveyed said the Bible is God's Word and is to be interpreted as literally true, word for word. Thirty-eight percent thought that the Bible is God's Word but is not to be taken literally, word for word. Twenty-eight percent said the Bible was not the Word of God
Word of God
Word of God or God's Word may refer to:*Divine revelation**certain Religious texts**Prophecy**Biblical literalism*Logos as "divine word"** in biblical creation, see Genesis creation narrative**in trinitarianism, see Jesus Christ the Logos...
but was of human origin.
Theologically, mainline denominations are historically Trinitarian
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
and proclaim Jesus Christ
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
as Lord and Son of God; they adhere to the historic creed
Creed
A creed is a statement of belief—usually a statement of faith that describes the beliefs shared by a religious community—and is often recited as part of a religious service. When the statement of faith is longer and polemical, as well as didactic, it is not called a creed but a Confession of faith...
s such as the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
, the Apostles' Creed
Apostles' Creed
The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...
, and the Athanasian Creed
Athanasian Creed
The Athanasian Creed is a Christian statement of belief, focusing on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. The Latin name of the creed, Quicumque vult, is taken from the opening words, "Whosoever wishes." The Athanasian Creed has been used by Christian churches since the sixth century...
.
Variations
The inclusion of a denomination in the mainline Protestant category does not imply that every member of that denomination, nor even every member of their clergyClergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
, accepts some of the beliefs generally held in common by other mainline churches. They allow considerable theological latitude. Moreover, mainline denominations have within them Confessing Movement
Confessing Movement
The Confessing Movement is an Evangelical movement within several mainline Protestant denominations to return those churches to what the members of the movement see as theological orthodoxy....
s or charismatic renewal movements
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
which are more conservative in tone.
Justice
The mainline denominations emphasize the biblical concept of justice, stressing the need for Christians to work for social justiceSocial justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
, which usually involve politically liberal approaches to social and economic problems. Early in the 20th century, they actively supported the Social Gospel
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada...
.
Mainline churches were basically pacifistic before 1940, but under the influence of realists such as Reinhold Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world...
they supported World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. They have been far from uniform in their reaction to homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals
LGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
, though generally more accepting than the Catholic Church or the more conservative Protestant churches.
Statistics
Protestant churches as a whole have held steady in total membership in the last half century, but since the national population has grown they have shrunk from 63% of the population in 1970 to 54% by 2000. The Mainline denominations comprised 55% of all Protestants in 1973, and 46% in 1998.While the term "mainline" once implied a certain numerical majority or dominant presence in mainstream society, that is no longer the case. Both evangelical and fundamentalist Christian groups have been growing, but mainline Christianity—both membership and worship attendance—has been shrinking.
The number of mainline congregations in the U. S. declined from more than 80,000 churches in the 1950s to about 72,000 in 2008.Report Examines the State of Mainline Protestant Churches The Barna Group. December 7, 2009. Web: 12 Dec. 2009 About 40% of Mainline Protestants in the 1990s were active in church affairs, compared to 46% of the conservatives.
Various causes have been cited, including monotonous and ponderous liturgies, intimidating worship surroundings, and too much tradition. Behaviorally, only one-third (31 percent) of mainline adults believe they have a personal responsibility to discuss their faith with people who have different beliefs. Tenure of pastors in mainline churches tends to be somewhat brief. On average, these pastors last four years before moving to another congregation. That is about half the average among Protestant pastors in non-mainline churches.
Demography
Demographers have examined the statistical basis of the long-term decline in the mainstream membership versus the growth in the conservative denominations.There are four basic factors: birth rates; switching between denominations; departure from Protestantism; and conversions from non-Protestant sources. By far the main cause is birth rates—low for the mainline bodies, and high for the conservatives. The second most important factor is that fewer conservatives switch to mainline denominations than before. Secularization (moving to "no religion") is a third factor.
Despite speculation to the contrary, switching from a mainline to a conservative denomination is not important in accounting for the trend, because it is fairly constant over the decades. Finally, conservative denominations have had a greater inflow of converts.
Evidence from the General Social Survey
General Social Survey
The General Social Survey is a sociological survey used to collect data on demographic characteristics and attitudes of residents of the United States. The survey is conducted face-to-face with an in-person interview by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, of a...
indicates that higher fertility and earlier childbearing among women from conservative denominations explains 76% of the observed trend: conservative denominations have grown their own. Mainline denomination members have the lowest birthrate among American Christian groups. Unless there is a surge of new members, rising death rates are predicted to diminish their ranks even further in the years ahead.
Statistical analysis gives no support for the notion that theological or social conservatism or liberalism has much impact on long-term growth trends.
Minorities
Mainline churches have had difficulty attracting minorities, particularly Hispanics and Asians. Hispanics comprise 6 percent of the mainline population but 16 percent of the US population. The Barna Group considers the failure of mainline Protestants to add substantial numbers of Hispanics to be portent for the future, given both the rapid increase of the Hispanic population as well as the outflow of Hispanics from Catholicism to Protestant churches in the past decade, most of whom are selecting evangelical or Pentecostal Protestant churches. Asians represent 4 percent of the American public, but only half that proportion among mainline congregants.Trends
Some other findings of the Barna Group:- From 1958 to 2008, mainline church membership dropped by more than one-quarter to roughly 20 million people—15 percent of all American adults.
- From 1998 to 2008, there was a 22 percent drop in the percentage of adults attending mainline congregations who have children under the age of 18 living in their home.
- In 2009, nearly 40 percent of mainline church attendees were single. This increase has been driven higher by a rise in the number of divorced and widowed adherents.
- From 1998 to 2008, volunteerism dropped 21 percent; adult Sunday schoolSunday schoolSunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
participation decreased 17 percent. - The average age of a mainline pastor in 1998 was 48 and increased to 55 by 2009.
- Pastors on average remain with a congregation for four years compared to twice that length for non-mainline church leaders.
Recent statistics from the Pew Forum provide additional explanations for the decline.
- Evangelical church members are younger than those in mainline denominations. Fourteen percent of evangelical congregations are between 18 and 29 (compared to 2 percent), 36 percent between 30 and 49, 28 percent between 50 and 64, and 23 percent 65 or older.
Not paralleling the decline in membership is the household income of members of mainline denominations. Overall, it is higher than that of evangelicals:
- 25% Reported less than a $30,000 income per year.
- 21% Reported $30,000-$49,999 per year.
- 18% Reported $50,000-$74,999 per year.
- 15% Reported $75,000-$99,999 per year.
- 21% Reported an income of $100,000 per year or more, compared to only 13 percent of evangelicals.
Protestantism's hundreds of different denominations are loosely grouped according to three fairly distinct religious traditions—evangelical Protestant churches (26.3 percent of the overall adult population), mainline Protestant churches (18.1 percent) and historically black Protestant churches (6.9 percent).
The Association of Religion Data Archives ARDA counts 26,344,933 members of mainline churches versus 39,930,869 members of evangelical Protestant churches.
Further reading
- Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the American People (1976; 2004) excerpt and text search
- Balmer, Randall. Grant Us Courage: Travels along the Mainline of American Protestantism (1996) online edition
- Balmer, Randall, and Fitzmier, John R. The Presbyterians (1993). 274 pp. survey by two scholars
- Billingsley, K. L. From Mainline to Sideline: The Social Witness of the National Council of Churches (1991)
- Coalter, Milton J.; Mulder, John M.; and Weeks, Louis B., eds. The Mainstream Protestant "Decline": The Presbyterian Pattern. (1990). 263pp.
- Dorrien, Gary. The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion, 1805–1900 (2001); The Making of American Liberal Theology: Idealism, Realism, and Modernity, 1900–1950 (2003); The Making of American Liberal Theology: Crisis, Irony, and Postmodernity, 1950–2005 (2006).
- Hutchison, William R. ed. Between the Times: The Travail of the Protestant Establishment in America, 1900-1960 (1990) excerpt and text search
- Marty, Martin E. "The Establishment That Was, " Christian Century November 15, 1989, p. 1045. online
- Marty, Martin E. Modern American Religion, Volume 3: Under God, Indivisible, 1941-1960 (1999)
- Murchison, William. Mortal Follies: Episcopalians and the Crisis of Mainline Christianity (2009)
- Roof, Wade Clark, and William McKinney. American Mainline Religion: Its Changing Shape and Future (1990) excerpt and text search
- Tipton, Steven M. Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life (2008) excerpt and text search
- Utter, Glenn H. Mainline Christians and U.S. public policy: a reference handbook (2007)
- Wuthnow, Robert, and John H. Evans, eds. The Quiet Hand of God: Faith-Based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism, (2002), 430 pp.; essays by scholars