Mainline Christianity: The Past and Future of America's Majority Faith

6. Unto the Ends of the Earth: Global Christianity and Mainline Decline

| 105 6 Unto the Ends of the Earth Global Christianity and Mainline Decline The historic squares in Savannah, Georgia, are full of churches. Visitors to Johnson Square are soon drawn to the classic columns of Christ Church. The plaques in front of the building inform readers that this is the mother church of Anglicanism in Georgia and that the congregation was served by both John and Charles Wesley as well as by George Whitefield. Visitors who venture inside will also quickly discover that the congregation is fighting to disassociate itself from the Episcopal Church, and now believes itself apart of an international Anglican renewal movement, steeped in evangelical terms, and led by bishops from Uganda and Nigeria.1 Far from Georgia, American missionaries are still spreading the Gospel . In places like Albania and Egypt, Christians from the United States are telling people (sometimes in spite of open hostility) about Jesus, using their own personal witness of their relationship with Christ alongside the Bible and films. They are also engaged in building churches, schools, recreational facilities, and helping with medicine and agriculture.2 The common denominator between Anglicans in Georgia and evangelicals spreading the Gospel in Albania is that while both are part of the modern realities of Christian missionary activity, neither is operating under the auspices of the Mainline. As the leading denominations in American Christianity, the Seven Sisters have been at the forefront of fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission, to carry the Gospel to all people. As America’s power and place in the world grew, the missionary impulse spread to every corner of the globe. By the twenty-first century, however, Global Christianity, specifically from the Southern Hemisphere, was preparing to offer a devastating critique of the Mainline, which would contribute to the continued decline of the Seven Sisters. 106 | Unto the Ends of the Earth God and America American Christianity has always been a part of global Christianity. Indeed, it is important to remember that Christianity is a global faith, and that American Christians have long viewed themselves as part of that faith in both word and deed.3 When it comes to missionary activity, this history comes readily into view. During the colonial period, American Christians were themselves missions, arms of European-based churches. Whether in a transplanted sense, such as with the colonists arriving bringing their faith with them (Congregationalists or Episcopalians), or in outright outreach (whether evangelical or Catholic in orientation), the faith was diverse and strongly connected to Europe, so that many were compelled to look back at their co-religionists across the Atlantic for guidance, support, and inspiration. Spreading and propagating the Good News was part of the impetus for colonization, and it drove Spanish, French, and English efforts in the New World. Still, it was not very long before American Christians were seeking to spread the faith by making converts of their own. Nearly all denominations, and especially those that came to make up the Seven Sisters, were active in seeking to win Native Americans to the cross of Christ.4 Among the most famous efforts were the “Praying towns” of Puritan era New England where Christian converts to the Congregational faith lived; wherever white Americans went they took with them the notion that Christianity was not just a hallmark of their civilization but that it would be a civilizing force for people many deemed to be “savages.” This belief persisted even as the tribes were often decimated, pacified, and placed on reservations.5 As they worked with Natives on the frontier, Christian pioneers themselves were part of the wider world of missions. The Second Great Awakening in the early nineteenth century was, in part, about winning the West for Christ. This was, after all, the theme of many of the sermons preached by Lyman Beecher and his sons, and was at the heart of evangelical Protestantism in one of its more dynamic phases. The domestic missionary impulse extended to African Americans as well. During the Great Awakenings, black slaves were a focus of evangelical efforts at conversion. Following the Civil War, northern white churches (especially those who were about to forge the Mainline of the Seven Sisters) were active in efforts to aid the former slaves. Baptists and Methodists, with their denominational ties to the South, had an advantage in these activities, Unto the Ends of the Earth | 107 but the Congregationalists were also noted for their work...