Editing Mainline Protestant (section)

====Trends====
[[File:Forest Hills Gardens, Queens, NY.jpg|thumb|right|[[Forest Hills, Queens]] in [[New York City]] area is an affluent area with a population of wealthy mainline Protestants]]
Some other findings:
* From 1958 to 2008, mainline church membership dropped by more than one-quarter to roughly 20 million people—15 percent of all American adults.<ref name="Barna" />
* 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.<ref name="Barna" />
* 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.<ref name="Barna" />
* From 1998 to 2008, volunteerism dropped 21 percent; adult [[Sunday school]] participation decreased 17 percent.<ref name="Barna" />
* The average age of a mainline pastor in 1998 was 48 and increased to 55 by 2009.<ref name="Barna" />
* Pastors on average remain with a congregation for four years compared to twice that length for non-mainline church leaders.<ref name="Barna"/>
* The decline in mainline Protestant identification has been so steep that Evangelical identification has risen among Protestants, even as it has declined among all U.S. adults.<ref name=":0" />

The Pew Research Center's 2023-2024 Religious Landscape Study provide additional explanations for the decline.
* Evangelical church members are younger than those in mainline denominations. 14 percent of evangelical congregations are between 18 and 29 (compared to 11 percent of mainline protestants), 30 percent between 30 and 49 (versus 24), 28 percent between 50 and 64 (versus 27), and 27 percent 65 or older (versus 38).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fahmy |first=Gregory A. Smith, Alan Cooperman, Becka A. Alper, Besheer Mohamed, Chip Rotolo, Patricia Tevington, Justin Nortey, Asta Kallo, Jeff Diamant and Dalia |date=2025-02-26 |title=24. Age, race, education and other demographic traits of U.S. religious groups |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/age-race-education-and-other-demographic-traits-of-us-religious-groups/#age |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

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 13 percent of evangelicals.{{sfn|Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life|2008b}}