Reports of the Demise of Mainline Churches Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

A fresh report from the Barna Group has yielded some surprising results: Mainline churches are not dying! I should be honest with you, nation wide, mainline churches are not growing either.  In the past decade, the six mainline church denominations (American Baptist Churches in the USA, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America;  Presbyterian Church (USA);  United Church of Christ; and United Methodist Church) have experienced some stability.  The Barna Group concluded:

Over the course of the past decade, the number of adults who attend a mainline church on any given weekend has remained relatively stable, ranging from 89 to 100.

In addition, some other encouraging news was reported:

One reason why that average has remained steady has been the population growth of the United States, with the mainline churches attracting just enough newcomers to maintain attendance levels that are similar to the years when the nation’s population was considerably smaller.

Even though these have been tough economical times, signs of finical growth occurred:

… during the past decade the median church budget of mainline congregations has risen substantially – up 51%, to about $165,000 annually.

This is fantastic!  Although I am an American Baptist clergyman, I whole-heartily support and have great affection  for “mainline churches” (I served in 3 different mainline denominations: ABC, UMC, & PC USA).  For years, the mega-church moment has told Christians, “Come here!  We are young, happening, and different.  Your old corner church is weak and feeble.”  Not really. I’m joking, but you get the picture.  I have been very clear in past posts that I believe megachurches are not evil and are worshiping, faithful, and Godly communities – but they are not the end-all-be-all of “church.”

What does this Barna report mean for the mainline church? (There is also some bad news)

It means that the claim for the past 10 years concerning your corner mainline church is incorrect.  True, mainline churches have lost tens of thousands of members since their peak in the 1950’s, but mainline churches are not dead.  Diana Buttler Bass in her book, Christianity for the Rest of Us, How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith, has said for years that the mainline church has not kicked the bucket:

Man people think mainline Protestantism is dying, that it is going the way of the dodo in favor of a more lively form of conservative Christianity found in suburban evangelical megachurches… At the edges of mainline institutional decay, some remarkable congregations are finding new ways of being faithful – ways that offer hope to those Americans who want to be a Christian but are wary of the religion found in those suburban megachurches.  (pg. 6)

Bass identifies what kind of mainline church is growing:

I discovered mainline churches that were deepening spiritually, and often growing numerically…  congregation involved in my study were not usually the largest in their towns.  Rather, they were solid, healthy churches that exhibited Christian authenticity, expressed a coherent faith, and offered members ways of living with passion and purpose.  They excluded a renewed sense of mission and identity… (pg. 7)

Bass is right on.  Churches can reclaim what mainline church used to mean: Christ centered, community centered, and community service.

Despite, all of the encouraging news, there is some bad news from the report:

…in the past decade there has been a 22% drop in the percentage of adults attending mainline congregations who have children under the age of 18 living in their home. Also, the proportion of single adults has risen, now representing 39% of all adult attenders. That has been driven higher by a rise in the number of divorced and widowed adherents.

and…

Another hurdle for the mainline bodies has been attracting minorities. These churches struggle in reaching Hispanics and Asians. While Hispanics make up 16% of the US population, they are only 6% of the mainline population. Asians represent 4% of the American public, but only half that proportion among mainline congregants.

finally…

The nature of those who lead mainline congregations has been rapidly changing, too. One of the most telling findings in the Barna study was the aging of mainline pastors. A decade ago the median age of mainline Senior Pastors was 48; today it is 55.

We mainline churches have some work to do.  Although there is some encouraging news in this report, it is not the dark and bleak picture that is usually presented to us.  There are strong pockets of churches that are stable or are growing.  Let’s not have a dooms-day approach to mainline churches.  We mainline churches have to adapt.  We have to blend our worship, seek the divine, serve the community, preach Jesus, and have a sense of mission.

Although we are usually smaller, town centered, and traditional we are recovering the rich heritage afforded to us by Christians who have gone before us.   Like the lightweight boxer, we are not the biggest, but we pack a punch (metaphorically speaking).