By Cathy Lynn Grossman
WASHINGTON (RNS) Who are the mainline Protestants today? Vintage Protestants? The VPCC — Vanishing Progressive Christian Church? The Legacy Church?
Half a century ago, the denominations under the mainline umbrella dominated the American faith landscape. Now, after decades of declining numbers, only about one in five U.S. adults identifies with a mainline denomination such as United Methodists, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA) and American Baptists.
Could replacing the “mainline” name help stem the slide? The challenge came from scholar and Presbyterian pastor Carol Howard Merritt. Writing in the venerable Christian Century magazine, she called for a new brand that conveys her view of the mainline’s rising diversity and social justice leadership.
“The image of an all-white, elitist church is not going to fly for generations to come,” said Merritt, an author and speaker who lives in Chattanooga, Tenn. “’Mainline’ was a good historic marker but the future needs to reflect who we are now.”
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The theologically liberal mainline denominations are defined, first, by the belief that the Scriptures are prone to error and therefore not reliable, and second, by their willingness to compromise its theology (to a greater or lesser extent) to the world, especially in matters of religious pluralism and human sexuality. They represent organized religion in an age in which organized religion is no longer in vogue, while they represent a way to live a secular lifestyle while pretending to be Christian. Unlike Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Evangelical Protestant Christianity, theirs is not an alternative to the sin-sick, fallen world, but rather an affirmation of it over against the claims of Scripture.
Essentially, the theologically liberal mainline denominations have a heart problem that no amount of re-branding or marketing will solve. And until they grapple with this fundamental problem, they will continue to lose members and continue their decades-old slide into oblivion.