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The mainline Protestant churches (also called mainstream American Protestant〔Moorhead, James H. ''World Without End: Mainstream American Protestant Visions of the Last Things, 1880–1925.'' (Religion in North America, number 28.) Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1999. Pp. xxii, 241〕 and oldline Protestant)〔 are a group of Protestant churches in the United States that contrast in history and practice with evangelical, fundamentalist, and charismatic Protestant denominations. Mainline Protestants were a majority of all Christians in the United States until the mid-20th century, but now constitute a minority among Protestants. Mainline churches include the United Methodist Church (UMC), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PCUSA), the Episcopal Church, the American Baptist Churches, the United Church of Christ (Congregationalist), the Disciples of Christ, and the Reformed Church in America, among others. Mainline churches share a liberal approach to social issues that often leads to collaboration in organizations such as the National Council of Churches.〔Robert Wuthnow and John H. Evans, eds. ''The Quiet Hand of God: Faith-Based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism'' (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.〔Richard G. Hutcheson, Jr., ''Mainline Churches and the Evangelicals: A Challenging Crisis?'' (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1981), p. 36-37.〕 These churches played a leading role in the Social Gospel movement and were active in social causes such as civil rights and equality for women.〔Oliver, Thomas. "Where have all the Protestants gone?" ''USA Today.'' 1 March 2010, p.17A〕 As a group, the mainline churches have maintained religious doctrine that stresses social justice and personal salvation.〔 Politically and theologically, mainline Protestants are more liberal than non-mainline Protestants. Members of mainline denominations have played leadership roles in many aspects of life, including politics, business, science, the arts, and education. They founded most of the country's leading institutes of higher education.〔McKinney, William. "Mainline Protestantism 2000." ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', Vol. 558, Americans and Religions in the Twenty-First Century (July, 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."〔George Marsden, ''The Twilight of the American Enlightenment'' (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, such as the Episcopal Church (56%), the United Church of Christ (46%), and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (46%), as well as the most of the American upper class. Episcopalians and Presbyterians also tend to be considerably wealthier and better educated than most other religious groups,〔Irving Lewis Allen, "WASP—From Sociological Concept to Epithet," ''Ethnicity,'' 1975 154+〕 and they are disproportionately represented in the upper reaches of American business and law. From 1854 until at least 1964 they were heavily Republican. In recent decades, Republicans slightly outnumber Democrats.〔"A Deep Dive Into Party Affiliation: Sharp Differences by Race, Gender, Generation, Education' (Pew Research Center April 7, 2015 )〕 Since the 1960s, however, mainline groups have shrunk as a percentage of the population as increasing numbers of Protestants have come to affiliate instead with fundamentalist, evangelical, or charismatic churches, or with no church at all. Mainline denominations peaked in membership in the 1950s and have declined steadily in the last half century. From 1965 to 1988, mainline church membership declined from 31 million to 25 million, then fell to 21 million in 2005.〔Mark A. Noll, ''A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada'' (1992) p. 465〕〔Ellen W. Linder, ed. ''Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches: 2009'' (2009)〕 While in 1970 the mainline churches claimed most Protestants and more than 30 percent of the population as members,〔 today they are a minority among Protestants; in 2009, only 15 percent of Americans were adherents.〔 ==Terminology== The term ''mainline Protestant'' was coined during debates between modernists and fundamentalists in the 1920s.〔Andrew D. Walsh ''Religion, economics, and public policy'' 2000 "The term "mainline Protestant" was coined during the modernist/ fundamentalist debates of the 1920s."〕 Several sources claim that the term is derived from the Philadelphia Main Line, a group of affluent suburbs of Philadelphia; most residents belonged to mainline denominations.〔(Lindsay, D. Michael. "Faith in the Halls of Power" )〕 Today, most mainline Protestants remain rooted in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. Charles H. Lippy (2006)〔Charles H. Lippy ''Faith in America: Organized religion today '' 2006 THE MAINLINE PRIOR TO THE ERA OF DECLINE〕 defines the term as follows: "the term "mainline Protestant" is used along with "mainstream Protestant" and "oldline Protestant" to categorize denominations that are affiliated with the National Council of Churches and have deep historic roots in and long-standing influence on American society." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mainline Protestant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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