Editing Mainline Protestant (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of Protestantism in the United States}}
[[File:First Parish in Hingham MA.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Old Ship Church]], an old [[Puritan]] meetinghouse currently used by a [[Unitarian Universalist]] congregation]]
While the term "mainline" was not applied to churches until the 20th century, mainline churches trace their history to the [[Protestant Reformation]] of the 16th century. The largest and most influential Protestant denominations in Britain's [[Thirteen Colonies]] were the [[Anglican]]s (after the American Revolution called Episcopalians) and the [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregationalists]] (from which the [[American Unitarian Association|Unitarians]] would later split).{{Sfn | Lantzer | 2012 | p = 19}} These were later surpassed in size and influence by the evangelical denominations: the Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists. Sharing a common Reformation heritage with Episcopal and Congregational churches, these denominations together created the mainline.{{Sfn | Lantzer | 2012 | p = 29}} It was, according to historian Jason Lantzer, "the emerging evangelical movement that would help forge the Seven Sisters and which provides a core to the wide variety of theological and doctrinal differences, shaping them into a more coherent whole."{{Sfn | Lantzer | 2012 | p = 19}}

The [[Great Awakening]] ignited controversy within Protestant churches between [[Old and New Light|Old Lights and New Lights]] (or [[Old Side–New Side Controversy|Old Side and New Side]] among Presbyterians). Led by figures such as the Congregationalist minister [[Charles Chauncy (1705–1787)|Charles Chauncy]], Old Lights opposed the evangelical [[Christian revival|revivalism]] at the heart of the Awakening, while New Lights, led by fellow Congregationalist minister [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]], supported the revivals and argued for the importance of having a [[Religious conversion|conversion]] experience. By the 1800s, Chauncy's followers had drifted toward forms of theological liberalism, such as [[Universalism]], [[Unitarianism]] and [[Transcendentalism]].{{sfn|Balmer|Winner|2002|pp = 14-5}}

[[File:Lady Chapel Altar, Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania).jpg|thumb|left|[[Lady Chapel]] in [[Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)|Church of the Good Shepherd]], a 19th-Century [[Anglo-Catholic]] Episcopal Church in [[Pennsylvania]]]]

The [[Second Great Awakening]] would inaugurate a period of evangelical dominance within American mainline Protestantism that would last over a century.{{Sfn | Lantzer | 2012 | p = 29}} The Second Great Awakening was a catalyst for the reform of society. Efforts to improve the rights of women, reforming prisons, establishing free public schools, prohibiting alcohol, and (in the North) abolishing slavery were promoted by mainline churches.{{Sfn | Lantzer | 2012 | p = 31}}

After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], however, tensions between evangelicals and non-evangelicals would re-emerge. As the practice of [[historical criticism]] spread to the United States, conflict over [[biblical inspiration]] erupted within Protestant churches. Conservative Protestants led by [[A. A. Hodge]], [[B. B. Warfield]] and other [[Princeton Theology|Princeton theologians]] argued for [[biblical inerrancy]], while liberal theologians such as [[Charles Augustus Briggs|Charles A. Briggs]] of [[Union Theological Seminary (New York City)|Union Theological Seminary]] were open to using historical criticism to understand the Bible.{{sfn|Balmer|Winner|2002|p = 19}}

As 19th–century evangelicals embraced [[dispensational premillennialism]] and retreated from society in the face of mounting social problems caused by industrialization, urbanization and immigration, liberal Protestants embraced the [[Social Gospel]], which worked for the "regeneration of society" rather than only the conversion of individuals.{{sfn|Balmer|Winner|2002|p = 15}}

The [[Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy]] of the 1920s widened the division between evangelical and non-evangelical Protestants as the two sides fought for control over the mainline denominations. The [[Christian fundamentalism|fundamentalists]] lost these battles for control to the modernists or liberals.{{sfn|Balmer|Winner|2002|p = 19}} Since the 1920s, mainline churches have been associated with liberal Protestantism.{{sfn|Balmer|Winner|2002|p = 15}}

[[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalians]] and [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)|Presbyterian]] [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestant|WASPs]] tend to be considerably wealthier<ref name="THE EPISCOPALIANS">{{cite news|author=B.DRUMMOND AYRES Jr. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/28/us/the-episcopalians-an-american-elite-with-roots-going-back-to-jamestown.html |title=THE EPISCOPALIANS: AN AMERICAN ELITE WITH ROOTS GOING BACK TO JAMESTOWN |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2011-12-19 |access-date=2012-08-17}}</ref> and better educated than most other religious groups in America,<ref>Irving Lewis Allen, "WASP—From Sociological Concept to Epithet," ''Ethnicity,'' 1975 154+</ref> and are disproportionately represented in the upper reaches of American [[business]],{{sfn|Hacker|1957|p=1011}} law and politics, and for many years were especially dominant in the [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republican Party]].{{sfn|Baltzell|1964|p=9}} Numbers of the [[Old money|wealthiest and most affluent American families]], such as the [[Vanderbilts]] and [[Astor family|Astors]], [[Rockefeller family|Rockefeller]], who were Baptists,<ref name="W. Williams">{{cite book|title=Religion, Art, and Money: Episcopalians and American Culture from the Civil War to the Great Depression|first=Peter|last= W. Williams|year= 2016| isbn= 978-1-4696-2698-7| page =176|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|quote=The names of fashionable families who were already Episcopalian, like the Morgans, or those, like the Fricks, who now became so, goes on interminably: Aldrich, Astor, Biddle, Booth, Brown, Du Pont, Firestone, Ford, Gardner, Mellon, Morgan, Procter, the Vanderbilt, Whitney. Episcopalians branches of the Baptist Rockefellers and Jewish Guggenheims even appeared on these family trees.}}</ref> [[Du Pont family|Du Pont]], [[Roosevelt family|Roosevelt]], [[Forbes family|Forbes]], [[Ford family|Fords]],<ref name="W. Williams"/> [[Mellon family|Mellons]],<ref name="W. Williams"/> [[Whitney family|Whitneys]], the [[Morgan family|Morgans]] and Harrimans are Episcopalian and Presbyterian families.<ref name="THE EPISCOPALIANS"/>

Through the 1940s and 1950s, [[neo-orthodoxy]] had become the prevailing theological approach within the mainline churches. This neo-orthodox consensus, however, gave way to resurgent liberal theologies in the 1960s and to [[liberation theology]] during the 1970s.{{Sfn | Hutcheson | 1981 | p = 20}}

=== Recent history ===
Mainline Protestants were a majority of Protestants in the United States until the mid-20th century. A dip in membership across all Christian denominations was more pronounced among mainline groups, with the result that mainline groups no longer comprise the majority.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014 |title=Pew Research Center 2014 Religious Landscape Survey |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |access-date=May 11, 2018 |website=pewforum.org}}</ref> In 2020, Public Religion Research Institute conducted a religious census, based on self-identification, finding that an estimated 16% of U.S. Americans identified as non-Hispanic white mainline Protestants, slightly outnumbering non-Hispanic white evangelical Protestants who were 14% of the American population.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 July 2021 |title=The 2020 Census of American Religion |url=https://www.prri.org/research/2020-census-of-american-religion/ |access-date=2021-07-08 |website=PRRI |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 July 2021 |title=Mainline Protestantism is America's phantom limb |url=https://news.yahoo.com/mainline-protestantism-americas-phantom-limb-095209232.html |access-date=2021-07-19 |website=news.yahoo.com |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2014, Pew Research completed and published the ''Religious Landscape Survey'' in which it was estimated that 14.7% of American adults identified as mainline Protestant, excluding historically Black and African American denominations, while 25.4% identified as evangelical Protestants, also excluding membership in historically Black denominations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics |url=https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/ |access-date=2021-07-08 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2025, Pew Research published an updated ''Religious Landscape Survey'', finding that 11% of American adults identified as mainline Protestant while 23% identified as evangelical Protestants.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religious Landscape Study |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/ |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

Mainline churches share an active approach to social issues that often leads to cooperation in organizations such as the [[National Council of Churches]].{{Sfn | Wuthnow | Evans | 2002 | p = 4}} Because of their involvement with the [[ecumenical movement]], mainline churches are sometimes (especially outside the United States) given the alternative label of ecumenical Protestantism.{{Sfn | Hutcheson | 1981 | pp = 36-7}} These churches played a leading role in the [[Social Gospel]] movement and were active in social causes such as the [[civil rights movement]] and the [[feminist movement|women's movement]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Oliver |year=2010 |title=Where have all the Protestants gone? |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20100301/column01_st.art.htm |access-date=October 3, 2016 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |page=17A}}</ref> As a group, the mainline churches have maintained religious doctrine that stresses [[social justice]] and personal [[salvation]].<ref name="Chang" /> Members of mainline denominations have played leadership roles in politics, business, science, the arts, and education. They were involved in the founding of leading institutes of higher education.{{Sfn | McKinney | 1998 | pp =  57-66 }} Marsden argues that in the 1950s, "Mainline Protestant leaders were part of the liberal-moderate cultural mainstream, and their leading spokespersons were respected participants in the national conversation."{{Sfn | Marsden | 2014 | p = 99}}

Some mainline Protestant denominations have the highest proportion of graduate and post-graduate degrees of any other denomination in the United States.<ref name="Faith, Education and Income">{{cite news |last=Leonhardt |first=David |date=May 13, 2011 |title=Faith, Education and Income |url=https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/faith-education-and-income/ |access-date=May 24, 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times |department=Economix}}</ref> Some also include the highest proportion of those with some college education, such as the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] (76%),<ref name="Faith, Education and Income" /> the [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)]] (64%),<ref name="Faith, Education and Income" /> and the [[United Church of Christ]] (46%),{{sfnm |1a1=Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life |1y=2008a |1p=85 |2a1=Pew Research Center |2y=2015b |2p=133}} as well as most of the [[American upper class]].<ref name="Faith, Education and Income" /> compared with the nationwide average of 50%.<ref name="Faith, Education and Income" /> Episcopalians and Presbyterians also tend to be considerably wealthier<ref>{{cite news |last=Ayres |first=B. Drummond Jr. |date=April 28, 1981 |title=The Episcopalians: An American Elite with Roots Going Back to Jamestown |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/28/us/the-episcopalians-an-american-elite-with-roots-going-back-to-jamestown.html |access-date=May 21, 2016 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> and better educated than most other religious groups,{{sfn|Allen|1975}} and they were disproportionately represented in the upper reaches of US business and law until the 1950s.{{Sfn | Hacker | 1957 | p = 1011}}

In the 1990s four of the US Supreme Court Justices were Mainline Protestants: [[Sandra Day O'Connor]], [[John Paul Stevens]], [[William Rehnquist]] and [[David Souter]].

From 1854 until at least 1964, Mainline Protestants and their descendants were heavily [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republican]].{{Sfn | Baltzell | 1964 | p = 9}} In recent decades, Republicans slightly outnumber Democrats.{{Sfn | Pew Research Center | 2015a | p = 11}}

From 1965 to 1988, mainline church membership declined from 31 million to 25 million, then fell to 21 million in 2005.{{Sfnm |1a1=Linder |1y=2009 |2a1=Noll |2y=1992 |2p=465}} While in 1970 the mainline churches claimed most Protestants and more than 30 percent of the population as members,{{Sfn | Hout | Greeley | Wilde | 2001 | p = }} today they are a minority among Protestants; in 2009, only 15 percent of Americans were adherents.<ref name="Barna" /> A [[Pew Forum]] statistic revealed the same share in 2014.<ref name="pew2014">{{cite web |date=May 12, 2015 |title=America's Changing Religious Landscape |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]: Religion & Public Life}}</ref>

==== Conservative factions ====
Recent efforts from [[Conservative Christianity|theological conservatives]] have resisted the liberal drift of Mainline churches.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hempel |first=Lynn M. |last2=Bartkowski |first2=John |last3=Matthews |first3=Todd |date=2012 |title=Trust in a "Fallen World": The Case of Protestant Theological Conservatism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41681809?seq=1 |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=522–541 |issn=0021-8294}}</ref> Through social media, conservative factions within the Mainline like 'Operation Reconquista' have evangelized a conservative perspective to [[Generation Z]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Patrick |date=2023-11-08 |title=Meet the Zoomers’ Martin Luther |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/2023/11/meet-zoomers-martin-luther-mainline-reformation-project-onl/ |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=Christianity Today |language=en-US}}</ref>