Mainline Protestant Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == 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|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/|title=Pew Research Center 2014 Religious Landscape Survey|date=2014|website=pewforum.org|access-date=May 11, 2018}}</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|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|date=8 July 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|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|date=16 July 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2014, Pew Research completed and published the ''Religious Landscape Survey'' in which it was estimated that 14.7% of Americans 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> 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 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |page=17A |access-date=October 3, 2016}}</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/ |department=Economix |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=May 24, 2016}}</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 the 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 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=May 21, 2016}}</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 |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |title=America's Changing Religious Landscape |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]: Religion & Public Life |date=May 12, 2015 }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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