Favorite of the 7 largest US Mainline Protestant denominations

[TDAS04]

These are sometimes referred to as the "Seven Sisters of American Protestantism."

[vitoNova]

Scientology.

Because their officers go on cruise ships and bang lots of chicks.

Or so I've heard.   

[Progressive Pessimist]

Black southern Baptist churches at least look like they're having the most fun.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

They're all Dutch Reformed Church except for Catholic

[LabourJersey]

Episcopal Church (my denomination).

[UWS]

The UCC

[Illiniwek]

As a Catholic, I imagine I would find the Episcopal as the best among these seven. Lutheran could be up there too.

[Del Tachi]

The Disciples, of course.

[Podgy the Bear]

As a Catholic, I imagine I would find the Episcopal as the best among these seven. Lutheran could be up there too.

As a Catholic, I agree.  I have been to Episcopal services, and the structure isn't much different from the Catholic Mass.  Except for the more open communion (available to all baptized Christians) for the Episcopal service and the "closed" communion (Catholics and Orthodox only) in the Mass.

[RINO Tom]

ELCA, baby!

In reality, I wish a sort of hybrid between the ELCA and Missouri Synod Lutheran was more prominent.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

As a Catholic, I imagine I would find the Episcopal as the best among these seven. Lutheran could be up there too.

As a Catholic, I agree.  I have been to Episcopal services, and the structure isn't much different from the Catholic Mass.  Except for the more open communion (available to all baptized Christians) for the Episcopal service and the "closed" communion (Catholics and Orthodox only) in the Mass.

This reminds me that I still need to do a point-by-point historical comparison of the pre- and post-Liturgical Movement BCP communion services and the pre- and post-Vatican II Mass structures. They're much more similar now than they were a century ago, and I suspect most of the movement has been from the Anglican side.

[RINO Tom]

As a Catholic, I imagine I would find the Episcopal as the best among these seven. Lutheran could be up there too.

As a Catholic, I agree.  I have been to Episcopal services, and the structure isn't much different from the Catholic Mass.  Except for the more open communion (available to all baptized Christians) for the Episcopal service and the "closed" communion (Catholics and Orthodox only) in the Mass.

I feel like I have been to a lot of Catholic weddings lately, and it is always awkward when I just can't go up for communion, haha.

On another topic, I would be curious to hear people's thoughts on which of these denominations' "Evangelical matches" should be classified as "Evangelical" or "Mainline."  For example, as an ELCA Lutheran who went to a Missouri Synod church when I was younger, I really struggle with Pew categorizing Missouri Synod as "Evangelical."  It's an old-line church which claims theological ties to Europe, it's not "born again" and zero Missouri Synod Lutherans I know would feel more of an association with a Baptist than a literal fellow Lutheran.  Like, theologically conservative should not be synomimous with Evangelical.

I'm less knowledgeable about the "Evangelical" versions of Presbyterianism or Anglicanism or Methodism, however.  My selfish motive here is I am trying to make a county map using my own classifications of Catholic-Mainline-Evangelical-Other Christian.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Episcopalians provided they go full Anglo-Catholic. If I’m going to be Christian I need ritual, I need organ music, I need arcane devotional practices, I need daddy (or mommy).

[RINO Tom]

Episcopalians provided they go full Anglo-Catholic. If I’m going to be Christian I need ritual, I need organ music, I need arcane devotional practices, I need daddy (or mommy).

How much more Catholic would you reasonably expect the Episcopalians to go?  They accept the basic tenant of Protestantism that there is no man on earth whose authority on matters of the Bible could possibly supersede the Bible itself, but that is about it.

Then again, each new branch of Protestantism is pretty much "less Catholic" than the one before it, and the only services that would be jarring for a Catholic to attend would be truly contemporary evangelical services that literally reinvented the idea of what a church service is.

[muon2]

Episcopalians provided they go full Anglo-Catholic. If I’m going to be Christian I need ritual, I need organ music, I need arcane devotional practices, I need daddy (or mommy).

I was raised high-church Episcopal and served over 10 years as an acolyte so I get the role of ritual in worship. I too loved the organ as part of the service. After marriage to a New England Congregationalist I switched to the UCC, but my love of the organ remained. When our first church dissolved I helped get that church's organ donated to a local college's music department and I got a significant donation to upgrade the console of the organ at the UCC church I now attend.

[Torie]

Whichever one has the most elaborate costumes, incense, a talented choir, etc., with very short homilies, preferably in a gothic cathedral. The show is the thing.  I guess that is high church Episcopal with a generous endowment.

I remember at one Episcopal event, all were invited to take communion, and I took up the offer. Why not?

[RINO Tom]

Episcopalians provided they go full Anglo-Catholic. If I’m going to be Christian I need ritual, I need organ music, I need arcane devotional practices, I need daddy (or mommy).

I was raised high-church Episcopal and served over 10 years as an acolyte so I get the role of ritual in worship. I too loved the organ as part of the service. After marriage to a New England Congregationalist I switched to the UCC, but my love of the organ remained. When our first church dissolved I helped get that church's organ donated to a local college's music department and I got a significant donation to upgrade the console of the organ at the UCC church I now attend.

I'm trying to make a county map of the US by Catholic-Mainline Protestant-Evangelical Protestant-Other Christian ... can you explain to me why it is so difficult for me to populate my category of "Congregationalist" with individual churches??  Haha, I grew up Lutheran in the Midwest so I am not knowledgeable about Congregationalists at all ... for some reason it's really confusing for me to navigate Wikipedia and find which churches should fall under this umbrella, besides the UCC.

[Torie]

In the 20th century, the Congregational tradition in America fragmented into three different denominations. The largest of these is the United Church of Christ, which resulted from a 1957 merger with the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Congregationalists who chose not to join the United Church of Christ founded two alternative denominations: the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.

Above is from wiki. I was wondering about that myself when I saw an old church (very fancy) that still called itself Congregational in Great Barrington.

[RINO Tom]

In the 20th century, the Congregational tradition in America fragmented into three different denominations. The largest of these is the United Church of Christ, which resulted from a 1957 merger with the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Congregationalists who chose not to join the United Church of Christ founded two alternative denominations: the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.

Above is from wiki. I was wondering about that myself when I saw an old church (very fancy) that still called itself Congregational in Great Barrington.

Awesome, thank you!  Part of my problem is I downloaded full county data by individual church into Excel, and I am using a hodge-podge of methods to fill in columns for more broader categories (e.g., "Lutheran" and "Protestant - Mainline").  So, for denominations I do not know a lot about, it's kind of confusing combining what I can find on Wikipedia with the Pew Religious Landscape Survey, especially when they seem to contradict each other.

[muon2]

In the 20th century, the Congregational tradition in America fragmented into three different denominations. The largest of these is the United Church of Christ, which resulted from a 1957 merger with the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Congregationalists who chose not to join the United Church of Christ founded two alternative denominations: the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.

Above is from wiki. I was wondering about that myself when I saw an old church (very fancy) that still called itself Congregational in Great Barrington.

Awesome, thank you!  Part of my problem is I downloaded full county data by individual church into Excel, and I am using a hodge-podge of methods to fill in columns for more broader categories (e.g., "Lutheran" and "Protestant - Mainline").  So, for denominations I do not know a lot about, it's kind of confusing combining what I can find on Wikipedia with the Pew Religious Landscape Survey, especially when they seem to contradict each other.

The Wiki history is correct, and the Congregrational churches have their origins with Puritan New England. The role of the church was so strong in colonial times that you couldn't form a town until you had a Congregational church (which often served as the meeting house). Today many UCC churches, especially in New England, have the name (nth) Congregational Church of placename. UCC churches with other names are generally from the E&R merger or adopted a new name in recent decades.

The UCC churches are certainly mainline, but the splinter Congregational churches are usually not considered mainline due to their more conservative theology. I view it as similar to ELCA vs other Lutheran denominations.

[Torie]

Here is the church to which I refer. I suspect some of its Medicare type congregants patronize the dispensary a few blocks away that was built in the same gothic architecture to attract the first licensed gynecologist in the Berkshires for his housing. Nothing but the best for GB, then and now. At least my fellow patrons at the time seemed to fit the stereotype to a tee.

[Bismarck]

Disciples all the way. They won’t exist in 20 years because the average age of people who attend their services is about 87 but it’s a good denomination that I was happy to be raised in.

[Skill and Chance]

Methodists, but I have more affinity for the part that is splitting.  Emphasizing free will and holiness, and treating women equally much earlier on than the others are all very good.  Communion having supernatural meaning but not being taken 100% literally seems reasonable to me.  I also think alcohol is a bad influence on most people most of the time, but I'm not absolutist about it.  However, I find some of the theological developments of the past 20-30 years concerning and would definitely fall on the conservative end of the Methodist spectrum. 

[Jim Crow]

ELCA!

[John Dule]

The Episcopagans are the closest to my beliefs.