Can Conservative Christians Take Back Mainline Churches?

When you picture an American church building, what do you think of?

Is it a gothic, palatial cathedral that dwarfs its neighboring buildings and carries with it an air of ancient mystery? Is it a small, white chapel with a sharp steeple and a quiet humility about its presence? Or does an American church conjure up a visual that isn’t all that glorious and isn’t all that quaint—something like a strip mall or a sprawling campus of boxy structures reminiscent of a convention center?

While many Americans might picture the latter, equating all American Christianity with the sort of no-bells-and-whistles aesthetic approach of evangelicalism, American christianity is no stranger to beautiful architecture.

In nearly every American city, beautiful, complex church buildings can be found—spires, stained glass, clock towers, and vaulted ceilings are not only present in American protestant churches, they are downright common.

In fact, some of the most historically American church traditions such as the PCUSA and the Episcopal Church are in possession of many of these houses of worship. But for many conservative protestants, the beauty of the church building stands in sharp contrast to the theological departure many of the mainline traditions have from orthodoxy.

With many mainline traditions affirming LGBTQ lifestyles and, more importantly, calling into question core Christian doctrines such as the bodily resurrection of Christ or the authority of scripture, it has been generally accepted that theologically conservative believers ought to steer clear of the mainline and join more orthodox congregations—even if they meet in an old bank or a local elementary school.

But, that position may be changing. In 2023, Christian Gen-Z YouTuber Richard Ackerman, known online as Redeemed Zoomer, began Operation Reconquista. Operation Reconquista, which now appears to have changed its name to Operation Reformation, is a movement of American Christians who believe that restoring orthodoxy in mainline churches is possible and deeply important. And they don’t discriminate by denomination.

Operation Reformation seeks to reform the Episcopal Church, The United Methodist Church, The Presbyterian Church USA, The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and others. Their strategy is to have Christians join the few, but findable mainline congregations who hold to more traditional Christian views, thus strengthening the conservative minority as the progressive majority, in their view, inevitably dies out.

And, though it certainly is a motivation, the movement isn’t merely about reclaiming the physical church buildings. It is about reclaiming the cultural influence that many of these denominations hold in the American public. These churches often already have robust networks of service and outreach organizations, they are located conveniently in the center of American towns and they are generally well connected to many facets of American life, from local government to community events.

To better understand why conservative Christians are beginning to consider joining a mainline church and why their presence just might be effective, Culture Critic Joseph Holmes interviewed Joe Colletti, who is known online as Young Anglican.

Colletti was previously a member of the Anglican Church in North America, but has recently left the ACNA to join The Episcopal Church. Though he has been vocally cautious and even resistant of Operation Reconquista since its founding, he has now embraced the mainline, but with a key difference from the rest of the movement: Colletti is interested only in the reclaiming of the Church which sits at the center of historical American social influence: the Episcopal Church.