hymnsofheresy:

It’s not a dumb question at all. A lot of people try to define the line between evangelical and mainline, but I believe it is more like a spectrum. This is probably my favorite article on the issue.

I am going to explain John Green’s theory of Evangelicalism (and no… not that John Green):

Most Evangelical churches have these four beliefs.

1. The Bible is infallible and literal. The Bible is the Word of God and is not to be disputed. That it provides the absolute and only truth.
2. Salvation is only through Jesus Christ, all other religions are inherently false. 
3. Individuals must accept salvation themselves, and must be “Born Again.”
4. Evangelism is necessary in order to “save” the world. 

Mainline Protestants are different from Evangelical churches in these four ways:

1. The Bible is a very spiritual document, and it does contain within it the words of God. But there is room for historical and cultural context.
2. Salvation is through Jesus Christ, however, Jesus Christ isn’t necessarily the only way to salvation.
3.  Protestants aren’t concerned with personal conversion, however they do have “spiritual transformations” which they go through different stages of life. 
4. Not necessarily anti-proselytizing, but they aren’t obsessed with it. Sharing the “Good News” is not just telling everyone about Jesus, but rather should be focused around charity. 

Now these distinctions can get blurry at times, that’s why I call it a spectrum. Some churches lean toward Evangelical, but have Mainline aspects and vice versa. Fitting this into denominations gets difficult because not every part of the denomination is one way or the other. There are always exceptions.

The most common mainline Protestant Churches are called the “Seven Sisters of American Protestantism” (The United Methodist Church would be a part of it). The most common Evangelical churches tend to be Baptist, Holiness, Pentecostal, Reformed, and nondenominational. These are generalizations and not necessarily true 100% the time.