Today, just
over half of all Americans are Protestants, worshipping in 300,000
congregations, in many hundreds of denominations -- and, often,
apart from any denomination.
The old Protestant main line
used to be the bastion of America's business and political
establishment. The main line lost members until about 10 years
ago, when its decline leveled off. Now, our best estimate is that
mainline Protestants are nearly 15 percent of all adult
Christians.
The historically black churches
probably have another 10 percent. The big change -- and the news,
for many people -- is that evangelicals are now the largest
Protestant group, by far.
We estimate the total number of
evangelicals, including Pentecostals, at more than a third of all
Christians -- twice the size of the main line. Southern Baptists
are the largest evangelical denomination and the largest of all
Protestant denominations, with 16 million members.
Very generally, the
evangelicals and the black churches are more conservative
theologically than the main line, and more contemporary and
enthusiastic in styles of worship. Evangelicals emphasize the
experience of being born again, and the authority of the Bible.
Pentecostals emphasize the power of the Holy Spirit, especially
through speaking in tongues.
Robert Wuthnow is a sociologist
of religion at Princeton University.