beaconchurches

In the secular world, it looks like what a person believes is less important than that they believe. Here's the link to a USA Today recap of new Pew Research:
New Pew Research

Similarly, for religious folks, the same thing is taking place: Fluid Faith

What was interesting to me was the disparity between Mainline churches and Evangelical or Traditionally Black Churches. Neither group compares well with Jehovah witness for frequecny of attendance or adherence to doctrine, but for those I would consider more Biblically oriented, (a question that is not asked) Over half attend at least once a week, where as with Mainline churches attendance for the majority is less than once a month with 46% at a few times a year to seldom or never.

From a strictly utilitarian perspective, it appears that the JW does the best job of using their spirituality to shape the lives of their followers. (Mormons probably come in second.) But between Mainline and Evangelical or Traditional Black, there is no contest.

Which leads me to wonder, is the Mainline interested in shaping the lives of followers? Is there a kind of laissez-faire spirituality that just doesn't care? And if so, why does anyone care about it? It just seems to me that if making a difference in the lives of adherents is important at all, within the halls of anything approaching orthodoxy, why doesn't the Mainline adopt more of the Evangelical perspective?

I am presuming they define success differently, but how?

Art