By Jean Hopfensperger, Star Tribune. A Presbyterian glancing around the church would find lots of company — if they’re over age 50. With 70 percent of their churchgoers over that age, Presbyterians are the “oldest” religious group in the nation. United Methodists, Anglicans and United Church of Christ come next, with more than 60 percent…
By Lauren Markoe (RNS) Same-sex partners can’t marry in a United Methodist Church. But if one of the spouses works at one of the denomination’s 13 general agencies, the couple can get benefits if state laws allow it. The decision, made at last week’s meeting of the UMC’s Judicial Council in Little Rock, Ark., affirms…
By Mark Tooley Indiana’s United Methodist bishop recently opined against Indiana’s proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of man and woman. As other United Methodist officials nearly always do, he omitted that the United Methodist Church officially declares, in its Social Principles: “We support laws in civil society that define marriage as the…
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…
By Cathy Lynn Grossman Could re-branding rouse the dwindling mainline Protestant troops? The dozen church groups under the mainline umbrella — including United Methodists, Episcopalians, Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians (USA) and American Baptists — have been flagging for years. Mainline Protestants made up 18 percent of U.S. adults in 2008. Fifty years ago, its members were…