Deregulated Faith: The Decline of Mainline Protestantism and the Rise of Nondenominational Mega churches in the United States, 1970s–Present

Mainline Protestant Churches were very predominant in American public religion until the mid- 20th century, when they lost half to three-quarters of their members’ to nondenominational Churches since 1965, and nondenominational Churches, many of which are mega churches, grew at a much faster rate than Protestant Churches. There has been the debate of what caused it. Some say theological liberalization is to blame. Others point to secularization or demographic change, or to competition in the market. Researchers are still divided on the trend. The popular media interprets it differently. It sees the growth of mega churches as evidence of the victory of conservative religion. This paper briefly summarizes that discussion. It is a blend of ethnographic and quantitative research that are recent. The aim is to discuss the meaning of the reversal. There are three key findings. The divide was primarily between two opposing views on fertility, rather than theology. The vast majority of the losses on the mainline are due to disaffiliation, not evangelical churches. And transfers are the source of most mega church growth, not new converts, as members move from a declining mainline church. Discussion suggests that the question of organizational form is the determining factor, not doctrine; the doctrine of the autonomous congregation did not win, it was the efficient competitive unit that won. The paper not only concludes that the American Protestantism in the post-mainline era is a consolidation and not a realignment. It also that the mega church “acquired rather than seized” the field that was deserted by the mainline church, and that today’s nondenominational churches face the same secularizing pressures that the mainline church faced.

Keywords: Mainline Protestantism, mega churches, nondenominational Christianity, secularization, religious disaffiliation, congregational studies.