Mainline denominations liberalized on sexuality and gender only after long time lags

Evidence

While we do propose that traditionalist conceptions of family, gender, and sexuality are somewhat bound to contemporary American religion, this does not mean the association cannot change. There may simply be a cultural lag as American Christianity begins to embrace different expressions of family, gender roles, and even sexuality. Many religious groups, even more liberal denominations, have only recently begun to liberalize in their views toward these issues. Consider same-sex marriage. In 2007 only two of nine large mainline denominations, which are usually considered more liberal, publically supported same-sex marriage, while one favored a traditional legal definition of marriage. In 2019, one of the largest mainline denominations in the United States, the United Methodist Church, was still debating its official stance toward homosexuality. Gender equality has a similar history. While women have officially had access to ordination in various denominations since the 1880s, it was a full century before the percentage of American clergy who were women exceeded five percent. — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 446

Categorization

• XREF: Dovetails with the general literature on institutional lag and demographic exits reshaping congregations. — connects to: English churches opposing women bishops grow while mainline congregations gray and shrink — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 1003