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BOOK REVIEW: Leaving ‘mainline’ mindset behind Andrew C. Thompson, Nov 7, 2008
By Andrew C. Thompson Special Contributor
Mainline or Methodist? Rediscovering Our Evangelistic Mission Scott Kisker Discipleship Resources, 2008 128 pages, paperback
Is “mainline” a bad word?
United Methodists are familiar with the description of their church as a “mainline.” Scott Kisker wants them to rethink that label.
Dr. Kisker, a professor at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., has written widely in the area of Methodist history and evangelism. In Mainline or Methodist? he takes dead aim at a church that has sought far too long to conform itself to the larger American culture.
The book summarizes some of the central ideas of Wesleyan Methodism: the importance of holy living, the assurance of the Holy Spirit, the centrality of grace in all we can experience in the Christian life. Early on, these elements were all understood as part of a great evangelistic mission into which God had called the Methodist people.
But Dr. Kisker pulls no punches in describing how Methodists eventually began to strive for mainline respectability.
Methodism’s “fall,” he says, started when Methodists became more interested in respectability and conformity to the culture than to the mission they had been given. “Mainline” is thus an identity that cares more about worldly success than evangelistic mission. And Dr. Kisker sees it as a betrayal of Methodism’s true purpose; his goal is to help us get back on the right track.
He explains original Methodist concepts and structures in terms that contemporary church folk can understand and appreciate. He invites us to see the Wesleyan concept of salvation as an ongoing process that begins in the here-and-now and extends to the afterlife.
For instance: “Salvation, in a Wesleyan context, is not simply forgiveness, it is not simply a get-out-of-jail-free card. Rather, it is the complete restoration of who we have been created to be, here and now, in this life.”
Likewise, the original Methodist practices of open-air preaching, band and class meetings and annual conferences are described as geared toward helping people to understand repentance, justification by faith and the call to holy living.
These meanings have been lost today. Dr. Kisker writes, “As I go around and attend United Methodist churches, what strikes me is the way in which most of them (not all) are limited by what passes for possible in this world. United Methodists do not expect God’s Spirit to intervene in powerful ways—to win the battle for us. As a result, we are resigned to the way things are.”
Ultimately though, the book sounds a hopeful note. We are just as called to “spread scriptural holiness” across the land today as we always were. The only thing stopping us is the inertia of settling so long for mainline respectability.
But—and according to Dr. Krisker this is crucially important—we still have the theological and practical resources in our very own tradition to turn things around.
In the final chapter, he provides an excellent starting point for conversations about mission and ministry in local churches. There are sections on how best to move forward according to a truly Methodist mission, presented in a way that individuals and small groups will find easy to use. Questions for each section are offered as well. This book is highly recommended for use in local church settings.
One distraction: Some of the book is poorly edited, including numerous misspelled words and a consistent tendency to render George Whitefield’s name as Whitfield. However these are only minor slights against an otherwise strong work.
These meanings have been lost today. Dr. Kisker writes, “As I go around and attend United Methodist churches, what strikes me is the way in which most of them (not all) are limited by what passes for possible in this world. United Methodists do not expect God’s Spirit to intervene in powerful ways—to win the battle for us. As a result, we are resigned to the way things are.” 
