| abstract | - The mainline (also sometimes called mainstream) or mainline Protestant denominations are those Protestant denominations that comprised the vast majority of American Protestantism in the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s. They were the dominant U. S. Protestant denominations. Most are rooted in the U. S. North, and most have maintained moderate theologies that stress both social justice concerns on the one hand, and personal salvation and evangelism on the other hand. With a steep rise of Evangelical Christian groups in the late 20th century, mainline Protestant denominations inversely declined sharply. From 1958 to 2008, mainline church membership declined from well over 50 percent of all American adults to 15 percent—but still roughly 20 million people. They continue to have pockets of strength in the Midwest and South where many communities are heavily Protestant, and where mainline churches are generally more conservative. Overall, the denominations have struggled vigorously to face their problems, distracted by never-ending debates over gay clergy and gay marriages that still threaten to split one or more denominations. Most mainline denominations were brought to the United States by their respective historic immigrant groups. The six major denominations typically considered to be mainline are the American Baptist Churches USA; The Episcopal Church (from English Anglican); the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (German, Scandinavian, and Baltic); the Presbyterian Church USA (Scottish); the United Church of Christ (historically known as the Congregationalists); and the United Methodist Church (English and Welsh). In typical usage, the term mainline is contrasted with evangelical. Mainline churches tend to be more liberal in terms of theology and political issues. This places them to the ideological left of the evangelical and fundamentalist churches.
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