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religion United States America protestants denominations
American Churches: Protestant Denominations
Figure 1.--Here are the Sunday School children at a church in Mattoon, Illinois about 1925. We are not certain
about which particular church this was, but believe it was a Protestant church. Generally Protestant churches had more active Sunday School programs. We do know that the church was built in 1896. Most of the children seem to be quite young, but kids up to about 11- 12 years of age seem to be involved. The youngest children in the front row wear a variety of outfits. The picture was taken apparently in Spring or Summer so we see a lot of knee socks and ankle
socks. Long stockings, however, are involved for both boys and girls.
Most of the American religions are Christian primarily Protestant. America was founded by Christians and the ethos of the country is strongly Protestant Christianity. For years the Roman Catholic in Europe prrserved tge unity of the Church with the primary exception of the Great schism with Eastern Orthodoxy. Heretics were burned and Crusades were waged against groups like the Cathars. Priests explained theology to the faithful who not encouraged to read the Bible or ask questions. The Bible was kept in Latin which prevented most people from reading the Bible if they wanted to do so. This all chaznged with the Reformation. Luthur asked a lot of questions, although he did not like others questioning his answers. He did, however, strongly encourage the individual to read the Bible and translated the Bible into German. Other translations followed in vernacular languages. And with Bible reading, many different denominations appeared. Protestants were not at first much more tolerant than Catholics, only so many Protestant denominations were founded that there proved to be no option to toleration. The American churches developed around the Protestant Puritantism of the Massachuseets Bay Colony and the Anglicancism of the Virginia. Over time other denominations were established in America brought by subsequent English settlers and continental immigrants, especially from Germany. And Catholcism became important beginning with the Potato Famine and large-scale Irish immigrartion. Immigration from southhern Europe added more Catholics as well as other Eastern European dominations. Jews entered America in large numbers for the first time. Evangelicas significantly increased the number of denomimations, founding often quite small churches.
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians who emerged on the radical wing of the Reformation in Europe during the 16th century. Some consider the Anabaptism as a religious movement which separated from Protesabtism, but more generally they are seen as a part of the Protestantism that emerged from the Reformation. The name Anabaptist comes from the Latin term 'anabaptista' meaning 'one who baptizes over again'. The names comes from the Anabaptist practice of re-baptizing converts who were already baptized in infancy, the most general Christian practice. Anabaptists believe that that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith at an age that the individual has some understanding. This infant baptism was not recognized. The first Anabaptists didcnot like the name, arguing that since infant baptism was seen as invalid, converts wre not in fact rebaptizd. As aesult of their beliefs, especually their stand on baptism, both Catholics and Protestahts Anabaptists were heavily persecuted (16th century and early 17th centuries). Theyvwere percecuted byvboth religious and civil authorities. Opposition to oaths and military service also resulted in persecution. As a result, Anabaptis fled their homelands (Switzerland and Germany) and sought refuge in areas where tge establishe churches werecweak. This commonly meant east to Poland and Russia and west to America. There is some diffeence as to what modern groups fall within the Anabaptist umbrella, but we would include the Amish, Bretheren, Hutterites, and Mennoites. There are a range of tgeological differences both between and within these different groups. As they often emigrated in groups, there islso an ethnic dimension to the various Anabaptist groups. Most are of German ethnicity. Some even speak a German dialect.
Baptist churches date from the Reformation, but Baptists identify with the early Church founded by Jesus. They deby the Roman Church and claim an unbrokwn line from the Apostles. A Baptist theologian writes, "... our principles, sometimes veiled and forgotten, like a river which may travel under ground for a little season, have always had honest and holy adherents." [Spurgeon] With the Reformation, there was more freedom to form churches and Lutger's encouragement of indicidual Bible study resulted in the formatiion of new Protestance sects. One of these was the Baptists. They were persecuted by both Catholic and Protestant authorities. Disident English Protestants fleeing religious persecution formed the first identfiable Baptist Church in Amsterdam (1608). Church leaders included John Smyth and Thomas Helwys who orgnized the small group along New Testament patterns. They believed that the Roman Church as well as the Church of England could not reformed and more fundamental change was required, a virtual reconstiturion of the Church. The developing new church placed great emphasis on personal conversion and as the name suggests focused on the sacrament of baptism, And here the Baptists differed with both the Roman Church and developing Protestant Churches who baptized infants. Baptists believed that Batism should be delayed until a youth was old enough to make a commitment and profess faith in Jesus Christ. Thus Baptism was only available to believers and on mutual covenanting between and among believers. These ideas began to crystalize in Amsterdam, a rare island of relative religious tolerance in Europe. Affiliated churches began to develop when members of the Amsterdam group went back to Britain and began calling themselves 'Baptist'. At the time the subjects of each nation or principality was expected to adopt the religious of the monatch. And there was no Baptist soverigns. Thus the Baptists were among the most persecuted of the new religions. Discenting groups in England conceived of the idea of setting up utopian religious communities in the New World where the corruption of the Old World did not exist and the power of the monarchy and estblished Church of englans were limited. The Spanish were careful about the relgious proclibities of who they allowed in their colonies. King James I dithered on this and a discenting group, the Puritans, founded the Plymouth Colony (1620). After this the English made no real effort to restict emigration to the colonies on a religious basis and were soom emersed in the Civil War (1642-51) which essentially left the colonies on their own. Baptist churches were among the many different churches established in the English colonies. Baptist churches appeared in several European countries (England, Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries), but it was in America where the idea of religious freedom beginning with Roger williams became increasingly accepted that the Baptists flourished.
Congregationalists
Congregationalism is a Protestant denomination of some importance in both Britain and America. The central thread in Congregationalist beliefs is that each local congregation is autonomous entity under God and therefore not subject to any outside authority. Congregationlists are as a result sometimes called independents. There are no regional or national synod or bishopric to enforece doctrinal orthodoxy. Baptists are similar as regards to church giocvernamce, but Congregationlists generally adhere to infant baptism. Congregationalism is today not one of the mainline Protestant denominations in the United States are Britain,. They were, however, of some importance in the 19th century. One of the most important Congrecationlists evagelical preachers was Dwight L. Moody.
The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the Anglican Community. The Episopalian or Anglican Church is an offshot of the Church of England which King Henry VIII broke off from Rome during the Reformation (16th century). It was founded in America at the Jamestown Colony in Virginia (1609). It became the established church in the southern colonies. The idea of establishing a church became controversial, largely because there were so many other Protestant denominations in America. It was prohibited by the First Amendment of the Constitution. As a result, the American Episcopalian Church had to compete on an equal footing with the other denominations. Angliacans have often cinsidered themselves a Protestanr Church, but the modern trend which is generally followed by the American Episcipal Church is to pursue a middle way between Catholicism and Protestantism.
The Lutheran Church was founded in Germany and was the first Protestant Church. Luther did intend to break from the Catholic Church. He wanted to reform the Catholic Church which is why the movement is called the Reformation and not another Great Scism. It is also why the Lutheran Church is often seen as the Protestant church cloest in practice to Catholocism. Luther wanted a more personal relationship with God and downplayed the importance of the priesthood and saints. He also encouraged Bible reading. Neither did Luther name the church he helped bring about the Lutheran Church which spread throughout the Holy Roman Empire and north to the Netherlands and Scandanavia. The Church in Germany was called the Reformed or Evangelical Church, reflecting doctrinal differences among German Lutherans. The name Lutheran developed as Dutch and Swedish and finally German immigrants in America began founding churches. The Dutch and Swedes arrived first because the German states did not have large fleets and Germans did not emigrate in large numbers during the early colonial period. The first Luthgerans to reach America were the Dutch who reached Manhattan Island (1625). They founded New Amsterdam. Several churches were founded. Governor Peter Stuyvesant attempted to make the Dutch reformed Church the state religuin and supress Lutheran and other churches. Swedish colonists founded New Sweden in the Deleware River Valley to the south of the Dutch. The first Lutheran congregation we know of was founded there at Fort Christina (modern Wilmington) (1638). The Swedes built the first Lutheran church building on Tinicum Island near Wilmington (1646). The Dutch founded their first congregation (1648), The Palatinate in the German Rhineland was a major battleground of the Reformation and the 20 Years War (1618-48). It was devestated and largely depolulated. Many of the early German immigrants to America were refugees from the Palatinate who established Lutheran churches in many colonies (Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania). The Dutch seized New Sweden (1655) and the Englished seized New Amsterdam. The English, however, did not interfere in the religious beliefs of the people there. The Archbishop of Salzburg expelled about 20,000 Protestant farmers from the Alpine districts surronding the city (1731-32). Some of these dispossed peopled in the Salzburger migration settled in Georgia (1734). This introduced Lutheranism to the southern American colonies. Until this time, Lutheran churches in America existed as indivuidual congregations without any overall church structure. The Church began to organize on a colony (state) basis. Until the Revolutionary period, there was not a lot of interaction between the colonies. Heinrich Melchior M�hlenberg in Pennsylvania helped organize the first synod in the country (1748). America was split by the Revolutionary War, but most German and other Lutherans supported the Revolution. An additiional Lutheran synod was founded in New York (1786) as well as adjoining states. After the creation of the United States. The North Carolina Synod was founded (1803). As Americans moved west and more German and Scandinavians emigrated, Lutherans were among the imporetant grouos settling what is now referred to as the Midwest. Many small synods were formed by the Germans, Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and other national groups. This was not done on a territorial/state basis as the first synods, but often by the natiinality of the emigrants. There were some doctrinal issues, but language and ethnic familiarity were major elements in the organization of many small synods. Unlike many American churches, the Lutheran Church was not split by the Civil War because there was n national organization. The first national organization was the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America (1872).
Even so, by the turn-of-the 20th century, there were about 150 different Lutheran bodies in America that were not afliliated with the Evangelical Conference. Many of these small indeoendent Lutheran synods and other bodies merged into the United Lutheran Church of America (1918). We suspect the pressure on German Americans during World War I was a factor here. The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod was also part of the Evangelical Conference, but now is the second most important American Lutheran group. The American Lutheran Church (1961) and the the Lutheran Church in America (1962) joined to become the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1988) is now the largest American Lutheran organization. While almost all Lutherans belong to one of these bodies, there are still a small number of non-affliated Lutgeran churches. Canadian Lutherans also belong to the major American Lutheran bodies. Many Lutherans but not the more conservative Missouri Synod in recent years have pusued an ecumenical spirit with other major Protestant denominations. The Evangelical Lutheran's Churchwide Assembly decided (1997) on a full communion with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, and the Reformed Church in America. It reached a similar agreement with churches closer to Catholic practices, the Episcopal Church and the Moravian Church (1999).
Mennonites
Religious persecution in Europe drove the Mennonites to America, This was essentially the same process that earlier brought the Puritans to America. America at the time was not a utopia of religious toleration. But on the frontier, religious orthodoxy was difficult to enforce and civil authority was weak. The Mennoites were a form of Anabaptists. For more information see Ananaptists above. The Amish were asectbof the Mannoites.
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is the primary Methodist church in the United States. It is one of the most important mainline denominations and evangelical in character. The Methodist Church was founded by John Wesley. The name of the church resulted from the methodical character of John Wesley and his study of religion. John Wesley initially saw his efforts as a reform movement within the Church of England. The American Revolution separated the Methodists in the American colonies from the Church of England and the Methodist movement. Wesley when the Church of England refused to send a bidhop to the new American Republic, sent Thomas Coke to organize a Methodist Society in America. Coke brought a revision of the Anglican Prayerbook and the Articles of Religion. The Baltimore Christmas Conference officially establishing the Methodist Episcopal Church (1784). The name suggests the continuing connection with the Episcopal (Anglican) Church. The conference took place at the Lovely Lane Methodist Church. The church is now seen as the Mother Church of American Methodism. Wesley himself did not approve of the action. The new Church, however, grew rapidly in America. It would eventually grown larger than the Methodist movement in England. Methodists became known fir the lay circuit riders thsat spread the faith throughout rural America. There were an estimated 4,000 circuit riders (1840s). The Methodist Episcopal Church became the largest Protestant denomination and the most widely spread denomination in the country. Over time there wee divisions among the Methodists. The Methodist Protestant Church broke off (1830). The issue was the role of the laity. An even more divisive issue was slavery. The Methodists in England were a major force in the abolition movement. In America, significant differences on slavery developed between northern and southern churches. The Methodist Episcopal Church split into two conferences over slavery and the power of bishops in the denomination. The two conferences would take nearly a century to rejoin (1939). The Methodist Protestant Church
Alsobrejoined the inited conference which became the Methodist Church. The UMC was founded by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1968). The UMC theological orientation is Wesleyan with both liturgical and evangelical elements. The UMC is the largest mainline denomination and the second largest Protestant church in the United states. Only the Southern Baptist Convention. There are amount 8 million members in the Unuited states and Canada and 12 million wirldwide. The largest number of members outside Anerica are in Britain. The UMC belongs to the World Council of Churches, the World Methodist Council, and various other religious associations.
Unitarianism is a non-Trinitarian Christian theology. The Church believes that God is only one person, in contrast to the wideky accepted Catholic and Protestant doctrine of the Trinity--God in three persons. This of course is why they are referred tobas Unitarians. It is an important American denomination and also exists to a lesser extent in Britain. The Church is associated with many liberal Christian beliefs, generally down playing miracles and other super-human aspects of Christian theology. A small part of the Unitarian Church in America is the Universalists. The Church was known as the Universalist General Convention (1866). The Church changed irs name to the Universalist Church of America (1942). They merged with the American Unitarian Association (1961) to form the Unitarian Universalist Association. The core theology of Universalism is the doctrine of universal salvation. Universalists conceptualize the diety as the God of love and that it is inconceivanle that He would create an individual that would be inevitably destined for eternal damnation. Thus they berlieve that all people are destined at birth for salvation and only their free will life choices determine their future. There is a range of beliefs within the Church. One branch of Universalistswho call themselves Restorationists and as articulated by Paul Dean believe there is a period of reprobation in Hell following death that occurred prior to salvation. Another branch of the Church as articulasted by Hosea Ballou, entirely rejected the very existence of Hell.
