What a helpful article! Note on the “liberal mainline churches” — here in Ann Arbor (a pretty progressive place in general) many of the churches in the so-called liberal mainline are quite hamstrung when it comes to saying anything that might be perceived as political. My mainline clergy friends tell me that after the mainline started losing members over LGBTQ, women’s ordination, etc. there was a shift in the understanding of clergy role — from change agent (in 1960’s) to more a facilitator. So lots of mainline churches include members who are more conservative, and these members often give more money (being older, etc.) and this creates an anxious system that many clergy don’t want to upset.