For much of its history, mainline Protestantism has sought to mediate or bridge tensions present in the wider culture. In an increasingly polarized society, its churches struggle to find ways to provide moral leadership while holding themselves together. The postwar period has been difficult for mainline Protestantism's institutions. Membership declines and financial pressures continue. New communities of reference are replacing the denominational seminary as the primary locus of theological inquiry. Nonetheless, congregations are reemerging as centers of religious vitality, and there are signs of progress as mainline Protestantism adapts to a rapidly changing social context.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ammerman, Nancy T. 1997. Congregations and Community. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
2.
Bass, Dorothy C. 1989. Ministry on the Margin: Protestants and Education. In Between the Times: The Travail of the Protestant Establishment in America, ed. William R. Hutchison. New York: Cambridge University Press.
3.
Coalter, Milton J. , John M. Mulder, and Louis Weeks. 1990-92. The Presbyterian Presence. Louisville, KY: Westminster, John Knox.
4.
Coalter, Milton J. , John M. Mulder, and Louis Weeks. 1996. Vital Signs: The Promise of Mainline Protestantism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
5.
Dykstra, Craig and James Hudnut-Beumler. 1992. The National Organizational Structures of Protestant Denominations. In The Organizational Revolution: Presbyterians and American Denominationalism, ed. Milton J. Coalter, John M. Mulder, and Louis Weeks. Louisville, NY: Westminster, John Knox.
6.
Finke, Roger and Rodney Stark. 1992. The Churching of America, 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
7.
Hadaway, Kirk and David A. Roozen. 1993. Rerouting the Protestant Mainstream. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.
8.
Hoge, Dean R.et al. 1996. Money Matters: Personal Giving in America's Churches. Louisville, KY:Westminster, John Knox.
9.
Hunter, James Davison . 1989. Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. New York: Basic Books.
10.
Hutchison, William R. 1989. Protestantism as Establishment. In Between the Times: The Travail of the Protestant Establishment in America, 1900-1960, ed. William R. Hutchison. New York: Cambridge University Press.
11.
Kelley, Dean M. 1997. Why Conservative Churches Are Growing. 2d ed.New York: Harper & Row.
12.
Lawrence, William B. , Dennis M. Campbell, and Russell E. Richey, eds. Forthcoming. The People(s) Called Methodist: Forms and Reforms of Their Life. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.
13.
Marsden, George . 1994. The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Unbelief. New York: Oxford University Press.
14.
McKinney, William . 1991. The NCC in a New Time: Finding a Place in the Culture. In Ethics in the Present Tense: Readings from Christianity and Crisis, 1966-1991, ed. Leon Howell and Vivian Lindermayer. New York: Friendship Press.
15.
Mead, Loren B. 1991. The Once and Future Church. Bethesda, MD: Alban Institute.
16.
Miller, Donald E. 1997. Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium. Berkeley: University of California Press.
17.
Oden, Thomas C. 1995. Requiem: A Lament in Three Movements. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.
18.
Richey, Russell E. , Dennis M. Campbell, and William B. Lawrence, eds. 1997. Connectionalism, Mission and Identity. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.
19.
Ronsvalle, John and Sylvia Ronsvalle. 1996. Behind the Stained Glass Window: Money Dynamics in the Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
20.
Roof, Wade Clark and William McKinney. 1987. American Mainline Religion: Its Changing Shape and Future. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
21.
Roof, Wade Clark and Robert Michaelsen, eds. 1986. Liberal Protestantism. New York: Pilgrim.
22.
Roozen, David A. and Kirk Hadaway. 1993. Church and Denominational Growth. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.
23.
Sine, Tom . 1995. Cease Fire: Searching for Sanity in America's Culture Wars. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
24.
Wilke, Richard B. 1986. Are We Yet Alive?Nashville, TN: Abingdon.
25.
Williams, D. Newell , ed. 1991. A Case Study of Mainstream Protestantism: The Disciples' Relation to American Culture, 1880-1989. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
26.
Willimon, William H. and Robert L. Wilson. 1987. Rekindling the Flame: Strategies for a Vital United Methodism. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.
27.
Wuthnow, Robert . 1988. The Restructuring of American Religion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
28.
Wuthnow, Robert . 1989. The Struggle for America's Soul. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
29.
Wuthnow, Robert . 1997. The Crisis in the Churches. New York: Oxford University Press.
