On The Main Line

As recently as the 1960s, more than half of all American adults belonged to just a handful of mainline Protestant denominations—Presbyterian, UCC, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and American Baptist. Presidents, congressmen, judges, business leaders, and other members of the elite overwhelmingly came from such backgrounds. But by 2010, fewer than 13 percent of adults belonged to a mainline Protestant church. What does the twenty-first century hold for this once-hegemonic religious group? In this volume, experts in American religious history and the sociology of religion examine the extraordinary decline of mainline Protestantism over the past half century and assess its future. Contributors discuss the demographics of mainline Protestants; their beliefs, practices, and modes of worship; their political views and partisan affiliations; and the social and moral questions that unite and divide Protestant communities. Other chapters examine Protestant institutions, including providers of health care and education; analyze churches’ public voice; and probe what will come from a diminished role relative to other groups in society, especially the ascendant evangelicals. Far from going extinct, the book argues, the mainline Protestant movement will continue to be a vital remnant in an American religious culture torn between the contending forces of secularism and evangelicalism.

Prison shows on TV cover only the mundane aspects of prison life--how meals are served or how many rolls of toilet paper each inmate receives. Mainline gives us the real version, no BS, sitting us down with gang leaders as they discuss which guy dies next, and who should stab him. Start this book a reader, finish as a convict, and try not to lose your head.

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which the GWR South Wales Main Line has changed and developed over the last century.

This book illustrates one of the country’s best loved railway companies in the days of steam. Maps, charts, timetables and photographs are used to give the reader a sense of a journey from the compact terminus in Manchester to Godley, the limits of the system, at first opening. The reader is transported back to the original London Road station, using maps, and is walked through the small station to notice the variety of engines, signals and trains that operated there. Gorton, the company’s shed and locomotive works as well as its across the track rivals of Beyer, Peacock, are studied. The railway cross-road at Guide Bridge is given due importance and readers may well ponder on the contrast of ruralness of Ardwick, Fairfield and Fallowfield, then, and now. Connections at the joint stations of Stalybridge and Manchester Central station are explored. The latter is expanded to include Old Trafford shed as well as the links to Trafford Park Estate. Included is a review of the impact of electrification on the system, especially the exchanges taking place where the two systems interact. The numerous Joint Lines in this district (to Oldham, Altrincham, Hayfield and Macclesfield) are looked at in a subsequent volume. Pictures, and extensive captions, have been selected to show the variety of engines used and facets of stations or procedures.

Since the Revolutionary War, Mainline Christianity has been comprised of the Seven Sisters of American Protestantism—the Congregational Church, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church, the American Baptist Convention, and the Disciples of Christ. These denominations have been the dominant cultural representatives since the nineteenth century of how and where the majority of American Christians worship. Today, however, the Seven Sisters no longer represent most American Christians. The Mainline has been shrinking while evangelical and fundamentalist churches, as well as non denominational congregations and mega churches, have been attracting more and more members. In this comprehensive and accessible book, Jason S. Lantzer chronicles the rise and fall of the Seven Sisters, documenting the ways in which they stopped shaping American culture and began to be shaped by it. After reviewing and critiquing the standard decline narrative of the Mainline he argues for a reconceptualization of the Mainline for the twenty-first century, a new grouping of Seven Sisters that seeks to recognize the vibrancy of American Christianity.

• The first detailed study of this huge mainline through its operational history • Features extended commentaries from the authors, rich in detail • Superbly illustrated with black and white photographs, many never seen before In this second and final volume, the whole of the East Coast Main Line between King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley stations is examined closely, with a particular emphasis on the ways and structures: the line, stations, connections, yards, and other physical features. Interposed are accounts of the traffic at the principal stations – including connecting and branch line services – with observations on changes over the period 1939 to 1959. Some emphasis is placed on freight traffic on account of its importance and, perhaps, its relative unfamiliarity to the reader. The lines, stations and many other elements are described as they were in August 1939, but as some plans on which they are based are dated before the late 1930s, there may be marginal differences from the precise layout in 1939.

For this second book in the Transport Philately series on public transport issues featured on postage stamps, once again the author will combine two of his lifelong hobbies as he looks at railways around the world on standard gauge tracks that encompasses the majority of the western worlds major railway arteries. The book will also illustrate railways on other, similar gauges of track where they constitute a country's major arteries, but it is not an exhaustive survey encompassing every country and every issue for that one needs to refer to major catalog issues by such well-known authorities as Stanley Gibbons Plc.There have been many and varied reasons why postal authorities have issued stamps featuring railway subjects, varying from major anniversaries to national pride, the latter often from the former Eastern-bloc countries but that is not by all means.The Royal Mail in the UK has certainly not ignored railways, especially in later years, and the author will visit probably more of his native country's stamps than most other countries', but he's biased.The author often looks in his albums to try to understand why a particular country will sometimes be represented by bulging sections, while others are represented by but one or two stamps. And so, the book follows the story around the world in roughly an eastern journey, learning about some of the national histories on the way and admiring the attentions of some extremely accomplished artists that mean philatelists and rail-lovers alike can enjoy many beautiful miniature works of art.