Talk:Mainline (Protestant)

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Contents 1 Brethren 2 Seven sisters 3 Black Mainline question 4 Merging in the Seven Sisters page 5 Should this not be titled "Mainline Protestant"? 6 Is this definition really accurate? 7 Beliefs 8 Macedonian Orthodox? 9 Confessing Movements

[edit] Brethren

The page refers, in paragraph 2, to the church of the brethren as mainline, but this is not in the list of mainline denominations at the bottom of the page. Which is correct?

[edit] Seven sisters

A scholarly reference to the use of the term "seven sisters" in reference to mainline protestant churches has been provided in a footnote. The term is also used by conservative author Thomas Reeves in his book The Empty Church, Does Organized Religion Matter Anymore? (1996), using the same list. Again, it is used by Kenneth Woodward in his article "Dead End for the Mainline?", in Newsweek, August 9, 1993. If you are looking for a web reference, try this [1], here [2] or here: [3] --Blainster 16:13, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Black Mainline question

I have never heard these assertions before... Could someone please provide references if this is true?? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bremkus (talk • contribs) 09:15, August 6, 2006 (UTC)

Because this section contained only vague "weasel words", I deleted it. If the contributor can find appropriate references, it could be re-added. --Blainster 17:28, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merging in the Seven Sisters page

It seems that most all of the Seven Sisters page information is redundant, and that which is not would be a helpful addition to the Mainline page. Furthermore, the term "Seven Sisters of American Protestantism" is an obscure reference that most people do not know--heck, I just gratuated from seminary and am getting ordained in one of the "Seven Sisters" denominations (UCC) in less than 2 months from now, and I hadn't heard of it. I think a reference on the Mainline page to that grouping is more than appropriate, but a separate page seems redundant. Emerymat 14:16, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

This is reasonable to me, but you might want to leave a note on the talk page of the article creator. --Blainster 23:05, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Agree it looks like an accidental duplicate article --Hroðulf (or Hrothulf) (Talk) 13:36, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Should this not be titled "Mainline Protestant"?

There are other uses for "mainline" than just to Protestant Christianity. if no one objects, i'll move the pages soon. r b-j 02:12, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

The word "mainline" is used as a standalone descriptive word covering some Protestant denominations, so a move to "Mainline (Protestant)" would be more accurate. If you decide to move, don't forget to update its entry at Mainline (disambiguation). --Blainster 19:44, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

I disagree. I'm not certain a move is necessary, but if it's done, Mainline Protestant would be perfectly valid as an article title. Powers ^T 15:43, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Changing the name to Mainline Protestant makes sense to me. Dawn22 00:55, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree: This needs to be moved to Mainline Protestant. Simply Mainline is not at all descriptive, and is highly ambiguous. For some reason unknown to me, it won't move. I hope someone will be successful. Thanks...Afaprof01 21:31, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Again, it is not a two word phrase. If you read the article you will see that mainline is a standalone descriptor of these particular denominations. "Mainline Protestant" is redundant because there are no mainline Catholic or Orthodox denominations. Therefore if it is renamed, it should be to Mainline (Protestant). --Blainster 22:45, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Of course it is a two word phrase, even if that phrase i s somewhat redundant. It's stupid to have a parenthetical disambiguator when there's no particular reason to. Notice that of t hose who expressed opinions, Rbj, LtPowers, Dawn22, and Afaprof01 all suggested Mainline Protestant, and only Blainster supported Mainline (Protestant), but yet it got moved to the latter. Most irritating. john k 14:21, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Is this definition really accurate?

I do not find that this is what my Protestant, Southern Baptist church believes. For instance, we definitely believe that the only way to God the Father is through Jesus the Son. We believe it because He said it. Another example is that we are not open to gay, lesbian, and other forms for this. And, we most certainly do not go for women being ordained. Am I the only one noticing this stuff? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.72.98.109 (talk) 04:03, 27 February 2007 (UTC).

If you carefully read the article, you will see that the Southern Baptist churches are not considered mainline, so yes, the definition is accurate. --Blainster 05:27, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Beliefs

The statement "In particular, some mainline Christians do not accept the biblical statement of John 14:6 that Jesus represents the sole legitimate path to God" seems oddly worded to me. Is there a source to back this statement up? My own experience with mainline Christians would lead me to believe that, while they may interpret the text of John 14:6 differently than other Christians, they probably wouldn't outright reject it. I suppose in the strictest sense, there probably is _some_ mainline Christian out there somewhere who does reject John 14:6, but again, a citation would help to make that claim. 12.206.224.138 01:30, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree with you, this type of assertion needs to be sourced to make sure it is not just Wikipinion. --Blainster 19:23, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Macedonian Orthodox?

What's with all the eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches listed here? I can't imagine how these would be considered mainline. john k 04:27, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

I would suggest instead of the ARDA list to list the sixteen non-Orthodox, non-Black churches in the National Council of Churches. john k 14:38, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Confessing Movements

The article currently says "each mainline denomination has within it a Confessing Movement or renewal movement which is more conservative in tone." Given the list of mainline churches that follows, is it accurate to say that they all have Confessing Movements? For example, does the Moravian Church really have a confessing movement? Would it be better to reword that sentence to say "most mainline denominations have within them a Confesssing Movement..."? —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 04:53, 3 August 2007 (UTC)