Encyclopedia of Religion
and Society

William H. Swatos, Jr. Editor

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MAINLINE CHURCHES

In the United States, so-called mainline churches are the large and established denominations that constitute the majority of organized American Christianity. The term, while somewhat inexact, is used informally to refer to the major players in the American religious sector, implying a shared concern for "public ordering" (see Table M. 1, from Roof and McKinney 1987).

In the United States, church-state separation produced a pattern of "denominational pluralism," with previously state-established "transplants" (Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian) reduced to nonmonopolies (denominations) in competition with and/or accommodation to each other. Denominations that mainly originated in the new world (e.g., Baptists, Disciples, Methodists) originally began with notions of pluralism.

Generally, mainline churches exhibit many or most of the following characteristics: They have their own (or predecessor) origins in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries; have a million or more members spread widely among the 50 states; are predominantly Caucasian (except for black Baptist or Methodist denomina

Table M.1 Religious Participation of Religious Groups

Church Attendance

High Denominational Commitment

Member Church Group

Belief in Life after Death

Religious Group

Low

Moderate

Regular

National

34

21

46

43

38

77

Liberal Protestants

37

24

39

33

43

82

Episcopalians

39

28

33

32

37

79

United Church of Christ

32

24

44

39

58

80

Presbyterians

37

22

40

32

42

84

Moderate Protestants

35

23

41

36

41

83

Methodists

38

24

38

32

40

83

Lutherans

29

26

45

41

43

81

Christians (Disciples of Christ)

30

19

51

50

49

89

Northern Baptists

44

19

37

34

34

86

Reformed

25

12

64

59

48

77

Black Protestants

20

25

56

52

51

72

Methodists

17

26

57

58

57

77

Northern Baptists

27

27

46

46

43

69

Southern Baptists

15

23

62

55

55

73

Conservative Protestants

24

19

58

53

48

89

Southern Baptists

26

22

52

48

44

90

Churches of Christ

19

19

62

57

51

91

Evangelicals/Fundamentalists

18

5

77

63

64

94

Nazarenes

24

12

64

63

53

91

Pentecostals/Holiness

19

16

65

58

50

89

Assemblies of God

16

11

73

70

56

91

Churches of God

31

12

57

59

49

85

Adventists

24

13

63

59

51

78

Catholics

25

20

55

42

30

75

Jews

48

39

13

42

38

27

Others

Mormons

27

9

64

59

61

93

Jehovah's Witnesses

13

10

77

58

49

48

Christian Scientists

31

25

44

40

35

69

Unitarian-Universalists

64

14

22

35

31

43

No Religious Preference

91

6

3

–

4

47

tions) but include proportions of African Americans, Hispanics, Asiatics, Native Americans, and others; are governed by elected, parliamentary assemblies, with agency offices and staffs at a central location; sponsor colleges, seminaries/theological schools, and part-time local church schools (sometimes also elementary and high schools); staff their congregations with full-time, professional, seminary-educated, ordained clergy who now increasingly include women; run publishing houses and publish theological journals, denominational magazines, and newspapers; operate program units in domestic and global missions, social action and social welfare, evangelism, and Christian education; issue "social statements" on political, economic, and social issues and sponsor representation (lobbying) to governmental agencies; contribute to and/or cooperate with councils of churches at local, state, national, and world levels.

"Mainline" churches thus may include the following bodies, listed according to denominational "family" and specific self-naming: Baptist (American, National, Southern), Catholic (Roman), Christian Churches-Disciples, Episcopal, Lutheran (Evangelical Lutheran, Missouri Synod), Methodist (African Episcopal, Christian, United), Orthodox (Greek, Russian, some other "Eastern"), Presbyterian, Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ. Sometimes coordinating associations of Reform and Conservative Jewish groups are also included. (Developing associations of Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim groups may over time also attain "mainline" status.) A deliberate policy on the part of specific denominations to play a sociopolitical role in the national arena is important in assigning a label of "mainline" for such groups.

There are many exceptions to and/or variations in the qualifying characteristics given above. It should be stressed that differences among conservative, moderate, and liberal individuals within any one denomination may be as great as those between the denominations overall themselves. That is, the correlation between denominational "profession" and pastoral and member "practice" may vary a great deal. Also, the degree of democracy in denominational government varies from much grassroots participation to high oligarchy. For the most part, however, mainline churches and their members tend to be "moderate" in degree of theological orthodoxy, personal lifestyle, and official openness to interchurch relations (ecumenism) and exhibit a sense of ethical responsibility toward the "public" sphere (e.g., concern for social justice versus purely individual morality or spirituality).

Regarding exceptions, the Roman Catholic Church does not permit divorce or abortion, the ordination of women, or marriage of its priests, and any policy assemblies are purely advisory. Missouri Lutheran and Southern Baptist bodies officially endorse scriptural "inerrancy" and disapprove abortion, women's ordination, and council memberships, although some clergy may join local ministerial alliances. The United Church of Christ alone approves ordination of active gays and lesbians. Latter-day Saints and Christian Scientists, while fairly prominent in the media and public life, are not considered part of the "mainline churches." Many conservative, established, smaller bodies in the United States, while usually not listed as "mainline," share many of the above characteristics, sometimes forming loose alliances in action groups like the National Association of Evangelicals. So-called evangelical groups often attribute mainline membership losses to allegedly less "strict" theological and moral stands. The Unitarian-Universalist Church, while possessing many "mainline" criteria, is usually excluded from the category because it is not officially Christian.

See also Church-Sect Theory, Denominationalism, Evangelicalism, Organization Theory

Ross P. Scherer

References

W. C. Roof and W. McKinney, American Mainline Religion (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1987)

R. Stark and C. Y. Glock, American Piety (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970)

R. Wuthnow, The Restructuring of American Religion (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1988).

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