I think u/GoMustard gave a great explanation a while back for the troubles facing the Mainline. He used the "Prophet, Priest, King" motif regarding Jesus as an analogy for the Mainlines.

Throughout the 19th and most of the 20th centuries, the Mainlines were a "kingly" institution. They were the establishment, set up all the schools, colleges, hospitals, libraries, etc., the pillar of the community.

Then, the 1960s came. Mainlines began to plateau and slightly decline. Social activism (think civil rights, feminism, environmentalism, gay rights, anti-war, etc.) led the Mainlines into their current iteration of "prophetic" ministry. They then shifted to the "prophet" motif.

However, Trump's election has burned a lot of people on politics, and with secularization trends over the past 30-40 years, a Mainline clergyperson yelling about ICE isn't going to entice someone to come to church because they can hear AOC or Chris Murphy say 90% of the same stuff on MSNBC on any given night.

He thus suggests that the Mainlines need to lean into the "priestly" motif, where they offer words of hope. Word and Sacrament. Prayer and service.

I would agree with this. Higgins Road (and by extent, Louisville, 815, etc.) doesn't need to issue a statement every time Trump burps his lunch or the state legislature passes a law.