mainline
Embattled Ecumenism, by Jill K. Gill
Jill Gill has produced a remarkable account of the declining influence of mainline Protestantism and the NCC in the 1960s and 70s.
reviewed by Randall Balmer
Church as problem and solution
Diana Butler Bass's new book is warm and winsome. But it lacks the particularizing power of her earlier work's grounding in stories about specific communities and people.
Culture changers: David Hollinger on what the mainline achieved
"Ecumenical leaders of the 1960s took a series of risks," says historian David Hollinger, "asking their constituency to follow them in directions that many resisted."
by Amy Frykholm
Erasing the mainline
Anytime you say something is new while also ignoring something old, it begs the question of what labels you use and how slippery their definitions are.
Living traditions
"Are we witnessing the death of America's denominations?" asks Russell D. Moore, pointing out that people tend to choose a church based mostly on the nursery or the music. This is not new information.