Mainline RESURRECTS? and The Weird Way We Categorize Protestant Denominations

Is the Protestant Mainline making a comeback? Let's look at how we define things and how that may look things appear differently than they really are.

[davidleonard]

I suspect what muddies the waters is the growing trend of independent churches that tend to play down their theological distinctives resulting in church members who are not familiar with basic historic Christian terminology.

[historyteach_sd]

“...needs a reformation, and who better to start one of those than the Protestants?”
Clever! 😏😂

[Junkyarddog]

I think a big part that is missing is the large number of people leaving evangelical churches and joining churches who have split from the mainline protestants, such as the ACNA, LCMS, etc. Many conservative Anglicans and Lutherans wouldn't identify as evangelical because of some theological assumptions about evangelical churches.

[Fehlerhund]

I think what’s being overlooked is the growing number of deconstructed Christians in the US. Most of these people are coming from Evangelical churches, but they wouldn’t call themselves Mainline either. Idk if they are big enough to be categorize as their own group, but they definitely need to be taken into account in these surveys.

[pedroataide]

I'm from Brazil, and here about 30% of the population is Protestant (I'm one of them) and here we practically don't use these 3 terms that you from the United States use. We just use the word "evangélico". I think this is because there are hardly any mainline churches around here, so we use the word “evangélico” for all Protestant churches. And just out of curiosity, the two biggest Protestant churches here in Brazil are the Assembly of God and the Baptist

[bootmender]

Thank you! I don’t fit into anyone of those categories either. raised missionary Baptist; graduate Dallas theological seminary; now find myself in a independent Mennonite church. (?) 👍👍👍✝️❤️🛐

[MeLancer]

Thanks for your post on Mainline vs Evangelical and Black churches. One thing that caught my eye was your early listing for the Methodist Church in the 1960s. During the mid-1960s I was part of a youth group who travelled from Texas to Wisconsin to work as youth camp volunteer. When the camp closed for the summer, my group travelled to Madison, WI for some Missionary work.
While canvassing neighborhoods I noticed many people in Madison were members of the United Evangelical Brethren Church. When the Methodist Church merged with the UEB Church, the result became the United Methodist Church. I see now the merger took place in Dallas in 1968 just a few miles east of my residence.

[DavidOatney]

The reality is that there's no easy way to categorize religious affiliation in America anymore.

[vincentcoppola]

Identifiying as not a "Born again Christian" is not to say you are not born again. "Born again Christianity" is a certain style of doing church. A Roman Catholic, Lutheran or Anglican may not see their denomination as a born again kind of church and at the same time say, yes, I am born again in Christ.

[edjohnson]

I've found a common way to categorize churches is to see mainline churches as members of the National Council of Churches, evangelical churches as members of the National Association of Evangelicals, and fundamentalists as members of the Independent Fundamental Churches of America. You may want to consider doing a video on those groups.

[Elvertaw]

Love your video. An atheist but appreciate your non biased approach . And thank you for bringing up the categories. Sunday is the most segregated day in the week!

[frankmckinley]

You lay the subject and information out quite well. Thanks for the effort.

[robertsullivan]

Again thanks I needed this break down as a Catholic that's just trying to get a grip on religion today in the US it's helpful to understand the different Christian Denominations and who they are

[marinanguish]

1:01 note here that it has "Anglican Church" as a mainline denomination, which I presume means the ACNA and the other more theologically conservative churches that split off from the Episcopal Church, but due to them being more theologically conservative they don't really square up with the typical understanding of "Mainline" churches

[philipkeller]

Good analysis. Of course there are subdivisions. Charismatics, Mennonites, House church cults, and dour-faced Presbyterians could all be labeled as “Evangelicals, ” but they are quite different from each other in style as well as creed. Among the mainline folk, you’ll find great variety also - New Age mystics, social gospel adherents, left-over Deists, metaphysical speculators and aesthetic people who love sacred music and liturgy. These groups all have their competing perspectives.

[ThriftStoreBibles]

Great analysis! I heard about this recent report and wondered how they came to this conclusion, it helps to know how they went about identifying respondents. If I'd been in the survey I would have been counted as mainline based on how I'd respond, but I haven't attended a mainline church in years.

[ObsidianUrsine]

So it sounds like one survey was looking at institutional membership & attendance, while the other was examining individual identity and beliefs, and there is not a perfect correspondence between the two

[bukharagunboat]

This sounds right. It's certainly what I'm seeing in my church, which has an "Evangelical" teaching position (almost all the staff are graduates of Trinity), but many "Mainline" externals like robes and choirs. The term "Evangelical" is perceived as toxic now and many reject that label.

[AaronVriesman]

I agree. Evangelical and mainline are categories for social science purposes and not self-identification.

[aidanrileyaugustinebickel]

Interesting. The surveys tend to show about what we'd expect, and what many of us have experienced: Alot of people still maintain faith, even though they've left institutional churches. The main questions we as Christians need to draw from that seems to be these: What works to draw these people in, what do any churches that are growing have in common, and what strategies for union might be possible if certain denominational structures with historically similar theology might be willing to put aside certain differences and pool resources, clergy, and spaces, to create more unified blocks of Christianity that would prove more attractive to those turned off by perceived division within the faith?
Also, theologians really need a better way to classify denominations. I think everyone can agree on that. Great video.