it is an old mainline denomination in which the national leadership is doing its liberal thing. The people in the pews don’t follow at all. It is basically a conservative congregation. Many families have been here for generations, the cemetery here is filled with their kinfolk, they have nursed the church through thick and thin and aren’t about to turn it over to the new crowd on the block. They are good friends with one another and got each other’s back..
I had friends in an old ELCA congregation who fought the national leadership tooth and nail and bled them to the point that the ELCA accepted a token contribution from the locals to change their affiliation to Missouri Synod. It wasn't easy, but I think it worked mainly because of two factors: (1)a rural and relatively isolated parish, (2)a united congregation willing to fight.