 Despite wealth, liberal seminaries losing students The Layman Online Friday, April 19, 2002 Men and women who are studying for the Christian ministry are shunning mainline Protestant institutions and enrolling in conservative seminaries in greater numbers.
The transition has become so pronounced that at least one former world-class mainline seminary – Union Theological Seminary in New York – is struggling for survival. The Washington Times recently reported that Union has fallen on hard times financially and is calling on alumni to reverse an annual $2.75-million deficit. That is one of the first signs of financial vulnerability among the mainline institutions, which, although serving declining enrollments, remain viable because of their large endowments. According to a recent analysis by Christianity Today, Union's $61.5 million endowment in 1997 was the 14th largest among U.S. seminaries.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) claims to have 10 seminaries – although they are Presbyterian in name only. Their boards are independent and many of their courses are taught by professors who are opposed to classical Reformed theology and some historic Christian doctrines. Seven of the Presbyterian institutions rank in the top 20 in endowments, but only Princeton ranks in the top 20 in enrollment. Collectively, the seven Presbyterian institutions (Princeton, Columbia, Union in Virginia, Austin, McCormick, Louisville and San Francisco) hold 54 per cent of the total of the top 20 endowments. "What has been true in the pews has been true in the seminaries: The mainline schools get the money, but the evangelical schools get the people," said Christianity Today. Seventy-nine percent of the students in the top 20 seminaries are enrolled in conservative/evangelical schools. The Christianity Today analysis compared enrollments in 1964 and 1997 at the 20 seminaries with the largest number of students. In 1964, 14 of the top 20 seminaries were mainline Protestant and six were conservative and/or evangelical. In 1997, the numbers were reversed: 14 evangelical/conservative seminaries vs. six mainline Protestant institutions. Furthermore, the eight largest seminaries in 1997 were conservative/evangelical. Generally, most of the conservative/evangelical seminaries are living off their tuitions. Only three (Asbury, Fuller and Southern Baptist) have endowments that rank in the top 20. The larger endowments of the mainline institutions have enabled them to attract some students just on cost alone. Thus, the students who want an education at an evangelical/conservative school are more likely to pay higher tuition. Union in New York was founded in 1836, even then with a plan of being more liberal than most Christians. According to The Washington Times, the board of trustees has reduced staffing and other costs but doesn't intend to change theological directions. Instead, Union officials told The Washington Times, they plan to focus on training clergy with a "new Christian theology of religions" that appreciates other faiths, works to combat poverty and relates "spirituality to responsibility for the Earth," or environmentalism. Union has had a number of famous faculty members, including Harry Emerson Fosdick, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and, more recently, black liberation theologian James Cone. |
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