How the 1960s Transformed America’s Faith and Accelerated its Moral Decline

In his book, All Failing Faiths, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III writes, “In the end, when all else had been leveled, the 1960s went after God.[1]

Unfortunately, those words are true – as our nation has become increasingly confused spiritually as the Left took over America’s churches in the 1960s.

While the march toward liberalism immolating mainline Protestant churches started back in the progressive era, much of it, like with our universities, was hatched in the relatively silent liberal takeover of seminaries in the 1950s while America was perhaps at its churchgoing peak.

In the 1960s, nearly every mainline Protestant denomination, but particularly, the Church of Christ (Congregationalist), Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian churches, discarded belief in the fundamental tenets of the Bible such as biblical inerrancy and that it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that one can obtain eternal life.

In addition, these churches rejected sexual purity, and male-female complementarianism, and embraced radical sexual liberation and the progressive ethos. In addition, these churches started to attack America and its role in the world.

While the 1950s are still looked upon as the height of American spirituality, there were definite storm clouds on the horizon. Yes, record numbers of Americans were going to church, and many still espoused, even if they didn’t necessarily adhere to, an established moral code. The mainline religion of the 1950s was socially acceptable, did not require sacrifice, and in many instances, was more therapeutic than challenging. For many, church attendance was simply a box to be checked off each week. In many ways, American spirituality was a mile wide but an inch deep.

Thus, churches focusing more on preaching platitudes than on genuine and authentic faith and discipleship, were ripe for takeover by radical leftists seeking spiritual cover and approval for their secular agendas. By trying to be relevant they became irrelevant instead—and in the process enabled the acceleration of moral and cultural decay while losing fans quicker than a 100-loss baseball team.

Because of the mainline denomination’s embrace of liberalism in the 1960s, there is no longer a clear and consistent message of Christ from our churches. Instead, America increasingly hears a confused and muddled voice when it comes to matters of faith.

This has also resulted in the weakening of Christian witness and in providing cover for the full societal implementation of the progressive sexual agenda—including abortion, the redefinition of marriage, gender identity, and leftist economic theory—through organized religion.

And without that clear voice, Americans tuned religion out. The mainline Protestant congregations have now become increasingly irrelevant, living off endowments and with aging populations who attend more out of tradition than a vibrant, growing faith, slowly dying off and leaving nothing but empty pews and decaying buildings. In fact, increasing numbers of mainline churches are closing their doors at an alarming rate.

The biggest decline has been in the denominations that discarded biblical truth in the 1960s. At their peak in 1965, mainline Protestant churches counted 31 million members out of a U.S. population of fewer than 200 million.[2] But then the great decline started and remains unabated to this day. Ten years later, nearly a third of Americans were still affiliated with mainline denominations. But now, just one in ten Americans are.[3] The United Methodist Church has declined from 11.2 million members in 1967 to 5,714,815 in 2022, with many of its members aged 60 and above. [4]

The downward trend in religious faith in America, particularly among the old mainline denominations, started to occur when they drifted away from preaching truth to embrace “social justice.” Without absolute truth as an anchor to fortify one’s faith, the church became nothing more than another philanthropic group or social club of like-minded adherents without a compelling reason to be a member.

Thus, while those on the Left decry what they perceive to be the politicalization of the church, it is the Left’s actual politicalization of our churches in the 1960s that led to the decline of so many denominations.

The abandonment of biblical truth in churches since the 1960s has not only led to a hemorrhaging of members but also increasing numbers of youth who have become alienated from the faith. Because these churches are no longer salt and light in their communities, they have become increasingly irrelevant. By conforming to the culture, rather than transforming it, they are rapidly disappearing from the culture completely.

Sadly, similar voices, including some in orthodox and evangelical circles, who led to the church’s abandonment of truth and subsequent decline are calling for the church to repeat this mistake and forsake truth to reach younger generations. These voices are recommending the church embrace a bevy of trendy social issues and concerns to entice young churchgoers.

Yet true social justice only occurs from a citizenry that embraces the truth of Scripture—that we are all made Imago Dei, in the image of God, and thus all human beings should be treated with dignity and respect. The “social justice” drift of the past sixty years has only left empty pews, often with a few gray-haired individuals scattered across an increasingly cavernous sanctuary.

For instance, according to a 2022 Pew Research Study, 73 percent of adults between the ages of thirty to thirty-four (millennials born in the 1980s and early 1990s) now have no religious affiliation. The number in that age range raised in homes identifying as Christian dropped from 90 percent in 1990 to 65 percent in 2020.[5]

Over the past sixty years, churches have poured millions of dollars into youth programs emphasizing entertainment and marketing over truth. The result is many young people walked away because they saw no difference between the church and the world, or because they had no biblical foundation the minute their faith was challenged, or simply because they faced temptations they were not equipped to combat. Kids want boundaries and truth, in the home and at church. When neither provides them, they end up shunning both institutions.

As the church chooses to conform to the culture rather than transforming it, its voice in our culture becomes weaker—to the point of irrelevance—and our children are paying the price. This is evident in the following statistics, especially when it comes to today’s young adults—even those in what are perceived to be conservative, evangelical churches.

A few years ago, Pew Research reported 58 percent of white evangelicals said cohabitation was acceptable as long as the couple eventually plans to marry.[6] Alarming as that statistic is, it is more sobering among young evangelicals. Nine years ago, a General Social Survey reported more than 40 percent of evangelicals between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine thought cohabitation was acceptable even if they had no plans to marry.[7]

But there is hope. While public opinion polls share what seem to be depressing statistics about the religiosity of young Americans, those polls only share numbers, not commitment.

Many Bible-believing churches that have opened their doors have found young adults flocking inside—drawn to authentic faith, instead of the “going through the motions” faith of the churches that abandoned biblical truths in the 1960s. They are also rejecting the evangelical overcorrection to “be relevant” by watering down messages or trying to conform, rather than transform the culture.

A good friend of mine and his wife who live in a large metropolitan area launched a young adult ministry about four years ago—deciding to open their house to any young adult who wished to come and experience serious Bible discussion and authentic community. That small group eventually led to the church becoming aware of the need to reach young adults between the ages of twenty and thirty-five and starting a Tuesday night young adults’ group. That group now draws well over one hundred young adults each week, many of whom drive from over fifty miles away, because they are hungry for biblical truth.

That is how we are going to reverse the 1960s’ damage to religion—not by trying to out-social justice each other or water down truth to make it “palatable,” but by opening our doors and hearts to future generations—who, once they hear the real gospel will respond and reject the false gospel of the 1960s.

[1] J. Harvie Wilkinson III, All Falling Faiths: Reflections on the Promise and Failure of the 1960s (New York: Encounter Books, 2017), 163.

[2] Jones, “U.S. Church Membership Falls.”

[3] Ryan P. Burge, “Nondenominational Churches Are Adding Millions of Members,” Christianity Today, August 5, 2022, https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/august/nondenominational-growth-mainline-protestant-decline-survey.html (Accessed March 29, 2023).

[4] https://www.churchtrac.com/articles/the-state-of-church-membership

[5] “Modeling the Future of Religion in America,” Pew Research Center, September 13, 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/ (Accessed March 16, 2023).

[6] Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Nikki Graf, and Gretchen Livingston, “The state of marriage and cohabitation in the U.S.,” Pew Research Center, November 6, 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/11/06/the-landscape-of-marriage-and-cohabitation-in-the-u-s/ (Accessed March 4, 2023).[7] David Ayers, “Cohabitation Among Evangelicals: A New Norm?” Institute for Family Studies, April 19, 2021, https://ifstudies.org/blog/cohabitation-among-evangelicals-a-new-norm (Accessed February 1, 2023).