Mainline Church

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A mainline church in the United States is a Protestant church with moderate theology that is open to new ideas and social change.

The term mainline comes from the fact that sociologists of religion who coined the term considered the suburban milieus of Philadelphia to be characteristic of the establishment ; these suburbs were connected by the so-called " main line " of the Pennsylvania Railroad . The followers or the denomination are also called mainstream American Protestant or oldline Protestant .

The Mainline Churches had a significant influence on culture and society in the United States until the mid-20th century. 33 of the 45 US presidents to date were members of one of these churches. Since that time, however, both its influence and membership in the United States has declined sharply: For example, the United Methodist Church ( United Methodist Church ) lost 19.5% of its membership between 1965 and 1990, while the Presbyterian Church (USA) 33.1% and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) lost 45.8%. Not only have they been overtaken by other churches in terms of membership, but they have also lost their cultural binding power in an increasingly multicultural and secular society. According to a June 2008 study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life , mainline church supporters ranked 18.1% of the United States' population behind Evangelicals (26.3%) and Catholics (23.9%) only it is more the third strongest of the religious groups distinguished in the study.

Political and theological perspectives

Mainline churches are to be distinguished from the conservative-traditional, evangelical or fundamentalist churches. Like the national churches in German-speaking countries, they mostly cover a spectrum of opinions that can range from radical to conservative; From the evangelical side, however, they are accused of theological liberalism . If they have recently interfered in global political issues, it is often to criticize social injustices or a militaristic foreign policy - positions that are often identified with left-wing politics (in the USA: liberal ) in the American discourse. Mainline Churches are characterized by considerable theological breadth: practically all of them have liberal and conservative wings, and theological views vary between individual members or clergy of the same church.

Theological perspectives are generally moderate and more or less shaped by historical-critical exegesis . Mainline Churches represent the traditional belief in the Trinity of God and recognize the historical creeds . The verbal inspiration and absolute inerrancy of the Bible play no particular role. The general consensus is that biblical interpretation must use the God-given mind, including the culture in which the Bible was written. Mainline theologians believe that these methods are not intended to diminish the meaning of the Bible; they affirm that the Bible is the revelation of God's Word.

All of the mainline churches in the United States have ordained women .

There is no standard approach to homosexuality . In general - as in almost all liberal churches that represent a pluralistic understanding of truth - homosexual people are accepted as church members, and there is an acceptance of homosexual as well as heterosexual couple relationships outside of marriage. Blessings for same-sex couples are increasingly being allowed in mainline churches. Some mainline churches ordain pastors who live in same-sex partnerships.

Churches that are counted among the Mainline Churches

The boundary between conservative / evangelical churches on the one hand and mainline churches on the other hand is not the same for all authors. For example, ARDA, Beliefnet and Religioustolerance.org come up with different lists.

With reference to the years 1900 and 1960, William R. Hutchison coined the expression “the seven sisters of American Protestantism”. This meant the following churches, which include both liberal and conservative churches now and then:

Surname Denomination Constitution Number of members was standing
American Baptist Churches USA Baptist congregationalist 1,308,054 2010
Disciples of Christ reformed congregationalist 0.639.551 2010
Episcopal Church of the United States of America Anglican episcopal 1,951,907 2010
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Lutheran episcopal synodal 4,274,855 2010
Presbyterian Church (USA) reformed Presbyterian 2,675,873 2010
United Church of Christ reformed congregationalist 1,058,423 2010
United Methodist Church methodist "Connexional" (synodal-episcopal) 7,679,850 2009

The following churches in the United States are also included in the mainline churches:

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mapping the Mainline: Using Historical. GIS to Study American Religion. ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ecai.org
  2. ↑ James W. Lewis: American Denominational Studies: A Critical Assessment ( Memento of the original of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.resourcingchristianity.org
  3. ↑ The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: US Religious Landscape Survey (PDF; 2.6 MB), June 2008
  4. ^ William R. Hutchison: Between the Times: The Travail of the Protestant Establishment in America, 1900-1960. Cambridge University Press, 1989, ISBN 0-521-40601-3 .
  5. ↑ the ARDA (Association of Religion Data Archives): American Baptist Churches in the USA membership
  6. ↑ the ARDA: Disciples of Christ membership
  7. ↑ the ARDA: Episcopal Church Membership
  8. ↑ the ARDA: ELCA membership
  9. ↑ the ARDA: Presbyterian membership
  10. ↑ the ARDA: UCC membership
  11. ↑ the ARDA: UMC membership
  12. ↑ the ARDA: International Council of Community Churches
  13. ↑ the ARDA: UFMCC membership
  14. ↑ the ARDA: Moravian Northern Province
  15. ↑ the ARDA: Moravian Southern Province
  16. ↑ the ARDA: NACCC