ExMos, ProgMos and FrogMos Posting their L’s | PhD

“Why did Mainline Protestantism die?” Because of thousands of little interactions like this. The selection of clergy for a Mainline congregation often rests with a small “committee” made up of influential local members (those who have donated a great deal—and, often, their children generations later, who may control a trust). Eventually, as future generations revert to the mean, the fail son / daughter of noble men from generations past wields power without wisdom, and selects the “theological genius” whose brilliance consists entirely in agreeing with the politics of said fail son / daughter. The “genius” clergyman isn’t terribly bright, but *does* understand that keeping the committee happy is what keeps him / her in the job—the congregation is secondary at best. So the clergyman strokes the ego of the committee, the committee basks in its own “genius” at having selected such a “genius” and the congregation dwindles and departs. Eventually, they are left with an old building, a few dutiful parishioners driven by inertia as much as anything else, and a clergyman with a sinecure. A whited sepulcher, filled with corruption, yes, but mostly just empty.