I’ve spent my entire life in congregations affiliated with
Mainline Protestant denominations. For Lent, I’m giving up something big: the church I always knew. And, unlike past Lenten disciplines that ended on Easter, this change is one I expect to be permanent.
Here in the final post in this series, I’m giving up the old and white church.
Old
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of all Americans is 38.4 years (2019).
By comparison, the Pew Research Center found that the median age of all Mainline Protestants in America is 52 years (2014). The Pew report also noted that the median age of Mainline Protestants is older than that of any other religious group in America.
In other words, the median age of Mainline Protestants is 13.6 years older or 35.4% than that of the median American.
Worse yet, the two denominations I’ve spent more time in than any other have the oldest median age of all religious traditions. According to the Pew Research Center, the median age in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ is 59, which is 20.6 years or 53.7% older than the median American.
White
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 76.3% of Americans are white while 60.1% are white, not Latino or Hispanic (2019).
White people comprise a much greater percentage of Mainline Protestant church membership. For example, according to its own reporting, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is 90% white.
Further, the Pew Research Center found all Mainline Protestant denominations to be more white than the general population. Included in this report:
- Lutheran (ELCA) – 96% white*
- United Methodist – 94% white
- Episcopal – 90% white
- United Church of Christ – 89% white
So What?
While the American population is projected to age in coming years, the median American age isn’t likely to rise to the level seen in the Mainline Protestant church. The American population has been becoming more racially and ethnically diverse for many years, and that trend is projected to accelerate in the years ahead.
I currently reside in Tarrant County, Texas, which became a majority minority county in 2013. And, I’m a member of two congregations, including one in Tarrant County: First Presbyterian Church (Fort Worth). According to the Presbyterian Church (USA) that congregation is 95.5% white.
American Christianity is experiencing a rise of multiracial congregations: faith communities with a minimum of 20% of membership from a racial or ethnic background different from the majority. According to a Baylor University study, multiracial Protestant congregations tripled between 1998 and 2012, rising from 4% to 12%.
In short, the best time for Mainline Protestants to overcome the reality that 11 o’clock on Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour of the week is the present. Congregations benefit from diversity in membership and in leadership. Such diversity will only be achieved in historically nearly all white congregations through significant, intentional, and sustained change.
*Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination by Lenny Duncan – an ELCA pastor – is a one resource I strongly recommend. It was named one of the top two books of 2019 here at So What Faith.