Seven Sisters of American Protestantism

The Seven Sisters of American Protestantism are the denominational structures in the United States that are considered "mainline" and that historically were the largest and most influential of the Protestant churches in the U.S. The term was apparently coined by Hutchison (1989) in reference to Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and Methodists in general between 1900 and 1960. Today the term can be used to apply more specifically to certain branches within those denominations, namely:

• The Episcopal Church in the United States of America--organized 1789; descended from the Church of England; the church split from the Church of England when the American Revolution was ended: it was the official church in the Southern Colonies and New York

• The Presbyterian Church (USA)--organized 1983 by reunion of churches split since the civil war; first organized in America as Presbytery of Philadelphia, 1706; Synod of Philadelphia, 1716; first General Assembly 1789; originally strongly Calvinist; but no longer in agreement over doctrine; currently stressed by tensions between orthodox and liberals over homosexuality and support of radical groups in the U.S. and abroad.

• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America--organized 1988, completing a process which began in 1960 of mergers of formerly ethnic churches

• The United Church of Christ--organized 1957 as the union of the Congregational Christian Churches (going back to the "Pilgrims" and New England Puritans) with the German-heritage Evangelical and Reformed Church; stresses organic unity over doctrinal agreement

• American Baptist Churches USA--in 1630s Roger Williams was forced out of Massachusetts for his views, and then established the first Baptist church in America in what became Rhode Island; in 1707 first Baptist organization formed; in 1845 southern Baptists withdrew over issue of slavery; Northern Baptist Convention organized in 1907; renamed American Baptist Convention in 1950, and then American Baptist Churches USA in 1972. ABCUSA churches are active in social issues, but the trend is in the liberal direction. Although not as liberal as the Episcopal, Methodist, or Presbyterian church organizations, the orthodox-liberal tension is still there.

• Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)--formally organized 1968, but the movement goes back as far as 1808; this is the most liberal of the "Campbellite" movement

• The United Methodist Church--organized 1968 as the merger of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Evangelical United Brethren, but origins go back to colonial America; Methodist Episcopal Church organized 1784; currently stressed by tensions between liberals and orthodox over homosexuality and other issues

References

• Hutchison, William (1989). Between the Times: The Travail of the Protestant Establishment in America, 1900-1960. Cambridge U. Press. ISBN 0-521-40601-3.
• Reeves, Thomas (1996). The Empty Church, Does Organized Religion Matter Anymore?.
• Woodward, Kenneth (August 9, 1993). "Dead End for the Mainline?". Newsweek.
• http://www.ecai.org/nara/nara_article.html#5
• http://www.resourcingchristianity.org/Project.aspx?ID=850011
• http://www.freebooks.com/docs/html/gncf/foreword.htm