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My morning commute is a study in contrasts, starting from the western edge of Philadelphia, where the streets can be scruffy and mean, and passing through the always tidy and expensive neighborhoods of the suburban "mainline." The mainline's namesake is evident along my way—stately churches amid stately homes. But evangelical Protestantism is also evident and, as in other areas of the country, it is in these churches where the lion's share of Protestant growth is to be found. Some vibrant churches in the area are part of mainline denominations, but often the most successful ones lean toward an evangelical ethos. Religiously speaking, the local mainline scene conforms to a national mainline stereotype.
It would seem, therefore, that a study of mainline (some say "oldline") Protestantism's influence on public life should make for a short book. Is there anything interesting to say about the public role of a declining religious tradition? Clearly there is, as Robert Wuthnow and John H. Evans meticulously document in The Quiet Hand of God, a work that goes far beyond mere cataloging past achievements.
The book is the product of a three-year project directed by Wuthnow and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. One of seven such studies (the others examine the public role of evangelical Protestantism, African American Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Hispanic Christianity, and Islam in America), the mainline project commissioned an impressive collection of chapters, albeit Princeton- and sociology-centric: ten chapters are written by authors with a Princeton affiliation; only five of the 20 contributors are non-sociologists.
Subjects attended to include not only mainline Protestant history (Peter J. Thuesen offers an elegant historical overview of "The Logic of Mainline Churchliness") but also the mainline's contemporary demography, civic activities, political opinion and behavior, and organizations—from Washington offices to women's groups. There is also a range of chapters devoted to specific issue domains: racial justice, social welfare, the environment, homosexuality, the family, church and state, shareholder activism, and foreign policy.
The editors wisely avoid framing the inquiry exclusively within a stock narrative of mainline declension—a topic about which much has already been written, too often for the purpose of grinding one ax or another. While the precipitous decline in attendance, membership, and financial contributions endured by mainline Protestantism over the last three decades is certainly related to its prospects for exerting influence in public life, "influence" comes in many guises. Some make a lot of noise in the public square; others, as the title of the book suggests, are quieter yet important nonetheless. Tactics, methodologies, timing, policy substance, access, expertise, relationships … all can be as important as the size of one's mailing list.
Nor do the editors allow the book to get bogged down trying to answer the question of why mainliners have not been keeping up with the evangelical Joneses. To be sure, several of the chapters do isolate distinctives of mainline Protestantism by comparing it systematically with evangelicalism and other religious traditions. But in terms of influence on public life, there are numerous ways in which the comparison can become biased. For instance, if points for "influence" are awarded disproportionately on the basis of media capabilities, evangelicalism will of course appear more influential. Thankfully, this volume avoids such pitfalls.
More broadly, scholars of mobilization have to take into account the relative size and potentialities of the groups they study. Evangelicalism is now larger (especially when defined by a combination of doctrinal and denominational criteria) than mainline Protestantism. Normative considerations aside, by simple force of democratic representation evangelicals ought to have more influence than mainliners.
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