Dying Liberal Churches Continue To Elevate Unbiblical Leadership

There was a time when America's mainline Protestant denominations filled massive sanctuaries, shaped public culture, and sent missionaries around the world. Today, many of those same denominations are shrinking at a historic pace, closing churches, selling off properties, and watching younger generations drift away. Yet instead of asking why their pews continue to empty, many of their leaders appear determined to double down on the very theological changes that helped accelerate the decline.

The latest example comes from the Episcopal Church, where the Rev. Sarah Fisher was installed as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina. Fisher, who is in a same-sex relationship with the Rev. Mandy Brady, reportedly became the first openly lesbian Episcopal bishop leading a diocese in the southern United States. Her election was celebrated as a historic milestone by church leaders, but it also serves as another reminder of how far many mainline denominations have moved from historic biblical Christianity.

Supporters view such developments as progress. Critics see something very different: a denomination continuing to elevate leaders whose lifestyles openly contradict centuries of Christian teaching while wondering why membership continues to collapse.

The numbers tell a sobering story.

The Episcopal Church had approximately 2.1 million members in 2006. By 2023, membership had fallen to roughly 1.54 million. The decline has been relentless. Churches have closed, congregations have merged, and attendance has steadily weakened. The downward trend accelerated following the denomination's embrace of progressive theological positions, including the consecration of Gene Robinson in 2003 as the church's first openly gay bishop. That decision triggered a massive exodus of conservative congregations and years of legal battles over church property.

Yet rather than viewing these developments as a warning sign, many leaders appear committed to pushing even further.

The Episcopal Church is hardly alone.

The United Methodist Church recently experienced one of the largest denominational splits in modern American history. Thousands of congregations chose to leave over disagreements surrounding biblical authority, sexuality, and doctrine. In the midst of that turmoil, the denomination celebrated the election of another openly gay married bishop, Kristin Stoneking, after delegates voted to remove longstanding restrictions regarding LGBTQ clergy and leadership.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has followed a similar path. In 2025, the Metropolitan New York Synod elected Katrina Foster as its first openly gay bishop. The denomination has spent years embracing progressive positions on sexuality and gender identity, while also elevating transgender and openly LGBTQ leaders into prominent roles.

At some point, an obvious question must be asked.

If these changes are supposedly revitalizing Christianity, where are the crowds?

Where is the growth?

Where is the revival?

The answer is difficult to ignore.

Most of the denominations leading the charge into progressive theology are simultaneously among the fastest-declining religious bodies in North America.

This is not merely a political issue. It is fundamentally a theological one.

Historically, Christianity has grown when churches confidently proclaimed biblical truth, called people to repentance, preached salvation through Jesus Christ, and distinguished themselves from the surrounding culture. The early church did not attract converts because it mirrored Rome. It attracted converts because it stood apart from Rome.

Today, many liberal denominations appear to be pursuing the opposite strategy.

Rather than confronting culture, they often seek affirmation from it.

Rather than asking what Scripture teaches, many appear more concerned with what modern activists demand.

Rather than calling people to transformation through Christ, they increasingly reshape doctrine to accommodate contemporary social movements.

The result should not surprise anyone.

When churches become nearly indistinguishable from secular culture, people begin asking an uncomfortable question: why bother attending church at all?

If a congregation simply echoes the same messages people hear from universities, Hollywood, corporate diversity departments, and social media, the church ceases to offer something unique. It loses its prophetic voice. It loses its spiritual authority. Eventually, it loses its members.

Ironically, many of the fastest-growing churches around the world are those doing the exact opposite.

Across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and even pockets of North America, churches that maintain traditional biblical teachings continue to grow. They preach repentance. They preach the authority of Scripture. They preach Christ crucified and risen. They offer certainty in a confused age rather than confusion wrapped in religious language.

The contrast could hardly be clearer.

Liberal denominations frequently speak about inclusion, diversity, and relevance. Yet year after year, they continue reporting declining attendance, declining membership, declining baptisms, and aging congregations.

Meanwhile, churches that refuse to surrender biblical convictions often face criticism from the culture but continue attracting those hungry for truth.

None of this means every conservative church is healthy or every liberal church is empty. But broad trends matter. And the broad trend is undeniable.

When denominations spend decades undermining biblical authority, redefining morality, and elevating leaders whose lifestyles openly conflict with historic Christian teaching, they should not be shocked when fewer people view them as trustworthy guardians of the faith.

Galatians 6:7 contains a timeless principle: "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap."

For decades, many mainline denominations have sown theological compromise. They have sown accommodation to cultural pressures. They have sown doubt regarding the authority of Scripture.

Now they are reaping the harvest.

The tragedy is not merely declining membership statistics. The deeper tragedy is that many souls searching for truth enter these churches looking for biblical guidance and instead receive affirmation of the very culture that has already left so many spiritually empty.

A church cannot abandon its foundation and expect the structure to remain standing forever. History--and increasingly the membership rolls--are proving that lesson in real time.