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The mainline Protestant churches (also called mainstream American Protestant[1] and oldline Protestant)[2][3][4][5] are a group of Protestant churches in the United States that contrast in history and practice with evangelical, fundamentalist, and charismatic Protestant denominations. Mainline Protestants were a majority of all Christians in the United States until the mid-20th century, but now constitute a minority among Protestants. 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, among others.
Mainline churches share a liberal approach to social issues that often leads to collaboration in organizations such as the National Council of Churches.[6] Because of their involvement with the ecumenical movement, mainline churches are sometimes (especially outside the United States) given the alternative label of ecumenical Protestantism.[7] These churches played a leading role in the Social Gospel movement and were active in social causes such as civil rights and equality for women.[8] As a group, the mainline churches have maintained religious doctrine that stresses social justice and personal salvation.[9] Politically and theologically, mainline Protestants are more liberal than non-mainline Protestants.
Members of mainline denominations have played leadership roles in many aspects of life, including politics, business, science, the arts, and education. They founded most of the country's leading institutes of higher education.[10] Marsden argues that in the 1950s:
Some mainline Protestant denominations have the highest proportion of graduate and post-graduate degrees of any other denomination in the United States, such as the Episcopal Church (56%), the United Church of Christ (46%), and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (46%),[12][13] as well as the most of the American upper class.[14] Episcopalians and Presbyterians also tend to be considerably wealthier[15] and better educated than most other religious groups,[16] and they are disproportionately represented in the upper reaches of American business and law.[17] From 1854 until at least 1964 they were heavily Republican.[18] In recent decades, Republicans slightly outnumber Democrats.[19]
Since the 1960s, however, mainline groups have shrunk as a percentage of the population as increasing numbers of Protestants have come to affiliate instead with fundamentalist, evangelical, or charismatic churches, or with no church at all. Mainline denominations peaked in membership in the 1950s and have declined steadily in the last half century. From 1965 to 1988, mainline church membership declined from 31 million to 25 million, then fell to 21 million in 2005.[20][21] While in 1970 the mainline churches claimed most Protestants and more than 30 percent of the population as members,[22] today they are a minority among Protestants; in 2009, only 15 percent of Americans were adherents.[23]
The term mainline Protestant was coined during debates between modernists and fundamentalists in the 1920s.[24] Several sources claim that the term is derived from the Philadelphia Main Line, a group of affluent suburbs of Philadelphia; most residents belonged to mainline denominations.[25] Today, most mainline Protestants remain rooted in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. Charles H. Lippy (2006)[2] defines the term as follows: "the term "mainline Protestant" is used along with "mainstream Protestant" and "oldline Protestant" to categorize denominations that are affiliated with the National Council of Churches and have deep historic roots in and long-standing influence on American society."
Some have criticized the term mainline for its alleged ethnocentric and elitist assumptions, since it almost exclusively described white, non-fundamentalist Protestant Americans from its origin to the late twentieth century.[26][27]
The term "mainstream Christian" in academic usage is not equivalent to "mainline Protestant" and is often used as an attempt to find non-loaded sociological vocabulary in distinguishing "orthodoxy" and "heresy."[28] Hence in christological and doctrinal reference "mainstream Christianity" is often equivalent to "Trinitarianism." In Britain and Australia the term "mainline Protestant" is not used, and "mainstream" does not mean "liberal" Protestant.
The largest mainline churches are sometimes referred to as the "Seven Sisters of American Protestantism".[29] The term was apparently coined by William Hutchison.[30]
The Association of Religion Data Archives also considers these denominations to be mainline:[40]
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 Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), 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.
Mainline churches hold a wide range of theologies—conservative, moderate and liberal.[47] 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 clergy, 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 Movements or charismatic renewal movements which are more conservative in tone.
About half of mainline Protestants describe themselves as liberal.[47]
Mainline Christian groups are often more accepting of other beliefs and faiths, affirm the ordination of women, and have become increasingly affirming of gay ordination.[47]
Nearly one-third of mainline Protestants call themselves conservative, and most local mainline congregations have a strong, active conservative element.[47] Mainline denominations are historically Trinitarian and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Son of God; they adhere to the historic creeds such as the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.
In practice, mainline churches tend to be theologically moderate and influenced by [48]
The mainline denominations emphasize the biblical concept of justice, stressing the need for Christians to work for social justice, 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 people such as Reinhold Niebuhr they supported World War II and the Cold War.[49] They have been far from uniform in their reaction to homosexual behavior, though generally more accepting than the Catholic Church or the more conservative Protestant churches.[50]
The term "mainline" once implied a certain numerical majority or dominant presence in mainstream society, but that is no longer the case. Protestant churches as a whole have slowly declined in total membership since the 1960s. As the national population has grown they have shrunk from 63% of the population in 1970 to 54% by 2000. The mainline denominations slipped from 55% of all Protestants in 1973 to 46% in 1998.[3][22] 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.[23]
Various causes of mainline decline in population have been cited. Much analysis has taken place both from those within and outside mainline denominations. Key factors indicate that all types of churches can and do grow, regardless of hymnody or contemporary music, type of liturgy, average age of worshiper, or location [51] On average, however, churches in rural areas, churches with older congregants, and churches with less youth involved struggle most to add members and grow churches. For example, of all churches founded since 1993, 54% are experiencing growth, while that is true for only 28% of congregations founded prior to 1900.[52] As demographics change, the churches founded by earlier generations often struggle to adapt to changing conditions, including the declines or shifts in the age and ethnicity of local populations. Says David Roozen, Director of Hartford Seminary's Hartford Institute for Religion Research, "Location, Location, Location used to be the kind way that researchers described the extent to which the growth or decline of American congregations was captive to the demographic changes going on in their immediate neighborhoods." [53] Age demographics cannot be overlooked as a real factor in congregational decline, with the birthrate for mainline Protestants well below what is needed to maintain membership numbers.[54]
As congregational needs change, the institutions of mainline Protestant have struggled to adapt. The Barna Group, an Evangelical surveyor, has noted, Protestant pastors who serve mainline churches serve on average half as long as Protestant pastors in non-mainline churches.[23] This may contribute to decline and is influenced in part by the United Methodist Church practice of Itinerancy, where clergy are intentionally moved from one church to another as often as yearly in an effort to support and encourage the United Methodist tradition of strong lay ministry. Mainline churches have also had difficulty attracting minorities, particularly Hispanics. 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.[23]
In general, however, decline can be a difficult thing to statistically quantify. Many older Protestant churches lived a vibrant lifetime and continue to evidence vital ministry and faith regardless of declining populations or birthrates. For example, giving and engagement with need and justice, both indicators of strong Christian faith, have increased despite the aging and loss of congregational members.[55]
While mainline churches have seen shrinking membership and worship attendance, both evangelical and fundamentalist Christian groups have been growing.[9] About 40% of mainline Protestants in the 1990s were active in church affairs, compared to 46% of the conservatives.[56]
Demographers Hout, Greeley, and Wilde have attributed the long-term decline in the mainstream membership and the concomitant growth in the conservative denominations to four basic causes: birth rates; switching to conservative denominations; departure from Protestantism to "no religion" (i.e. secularization); and conversions from non-Protestant sources.[57] In their analysis, 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. Despite speculation to the contrary, Hout, Greeley, and Wilde argue that 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.[57] Their analysis gives no support for the notion that theological or social conservatism or liberalism has much impact on long-term growth trends.[58]
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.[47]
Some other findings of the Barna Group:
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).[59]
The Association of Religion Data Archives ARDA counts 26,344,933 members of mainline churches versus 39,930,869 members of evangelical Protestant churches.[40]
United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church
Calvinism, Christianity, Congregational polity, John Calvin, United Church of Christ