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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is driven almost entirely by mainline Protestant churches — not evangelical or RCC churches.

My view is that this is primarily a cynical attempt by these churches to try to increase membership — look at us, we are gay friendly, you should join our church.  As you said, they aren’t putting flags or special advertisements for any other group of people.

And yet what has happened?  These churches continue to bleed members and are a shell of their former selves.   They are only going to continue to decrease in members, and eventually those old buildings will close too because they are expensive to maintain.   Moreover, [b]if you go to most mainline Protestants, you hear VERY little about Jesus, the cross, justification by faith, etc.[/b]  You do hear a lot of progressive politics, etc.  
[/quote]

The bolded is not in line with my experience at all, as Presbyterian USA. 
But more relevantly, there are dozens of different Protestant denominations with different beliefs,  e.g., denominations that as a matter of doctrine are not overly concerned with the cross. These differences have deep historical and theological roots. You're entitled to think their beliefs are incorrect, but to suggest they arise from a desire to attract membership in the 21st century is pretty ignorant. [/quote]

I was the original person who replied.  My best friend growing up belonged to a PCUSA church and I frequently tagged along with his family to various church things.   My first wife also went to a PCUSA church and I occasionally went with her.   Maybe it was just purely me.   But I remember little very discussion  of Jesus and no discussion of the cross, or substitutionary atonement.   In my early 40s, I came across Tim Keller for the first time.   Despite seeming like I knew a lot about Christianity, I felt like I was hearing about a new religion for the first time after finding Keller’s sermons and then reading his books.   What Christianity actually meant, why it was profoundly deeper than “just do good stuff and maybe get to heaven,” Jesus becoming beautiful to me, developing a personal relationship with Jesus, seeing the Gospel actually change the worst habits in my life up until that point — it was nothing like the religion I grew up with or was around as a young adult.   Again, maybe it was just me, but it’s my experience in talking to other mainline Protestants, that [b]they do not, by and large, have a faith that truly changes them.[/b]   [/quote]

If you grow up with something then of course it doesn't feel like it changes you: it's your normal. That's why adult converts (to anything) are so much more zealous and often more vocal as compared to people who believe and do the exact same things but have from childhood.

Like most Protestant denominations, PCUSA congregations are each slightly different. The ministers have their choice of topics to preach. It sounds like the ones you encountered were uninspiring to you or perhaps really didn't base their sermons in the Bible (not my experience but I'm sure it happens). 
But it's a big leap to imply, as you repeatedly have, that because it didn't move [i]you[/i], these people don't have a deeply held faith. And it's unfortunate you can't imagine that congregations would be LGBT-welcoming as a sincere expression of religious values and Biblical teachings, even if you differ with them.[/quote]

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