Theology School's Enrollment Drops

so what do you do? go online of course

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/19/us/theology-schools-facing-lean-times-look-to-one-another-and-the-web.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Feducation&action=click&contentCollection=education&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

 

The nature of ministry is changing. Gone are the days of going from seminary to relatively secure lifelong pulpit ministry. The model of a Masters degree (MDiv) that is approximately three times the length of a normal Masters degree, accompanied by substantial debt and needing to be bivocational, is not necessarily a sustainable model. The once prominent older, liberal denominations are losing members like flies.

Not just seminaries but in general the US seems to have a lot of colleges of every stripe (profit, non profit, campus based, online). Heck, we pump out enough lawyers to supply several other nations.

 

Times have changed. One thing has not is the fact that the US has been one of the few country's to remain steady in our populist in term of faithful. There is a shift away from main stream religious denominations has been occurring to some extent. Some denoms are increasing in numbers still. Many seminary students now days simple go to non ats schools like Liberty so it skews the numbers.

 

Here's an oldish article that indicates that seminary enrollments are good but the grads are not headed toward a pulpit

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/17/national/17seminary.html?pagewanted=all

This is a newer and similar article

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/seminary-graduates-not-always-ministering-from-the-pulpit/2013/05/17/d50b17ea-bd71-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story.html

 

One of my 7th grade teachers had his M.Div. from Andover-Newton Theological School, he was the minister of a very small Protestant church in a small town, which, in his words, "doesn't pay the bills". The again, this was at a private school, and I'm not sure how he would have been received in a public school, especially these days.

 

Interesting read. I was just reading that the Catholics numbers up for the last few years, something which this article contradicts.

 

The number of priests is drastically declining, but here are other anomalous rounded figures (in comparison to the decline in the number of priests:

Number of Catholic priests:
- 1965: 58 thousand
- 2015: 37 thousand
- Decrease of 21 thousand

Catholic population
- 1965: 46m
- 2015: 68m
- Increase of 22m (see below stat)

Foreign born Catholics
- 1975: 4.7m (first year of reporting)
- 2015: 22m
- Increase of 17m (see above stat)

Number of infant baptisms:
- 1965: 1.310m
- 2015: 693 thousand

Source:
FAQ

 

Catholicism is the single biggest religion in the world, yes? At least I heard that once. And I live in a very Catholic place with multiple generations of French, Italian, Irish, Polish Catholics having created the foundation of a newer wave of Hispanic Catholics (with a few Koreans thrown in there too). Yet Catholic churches are closing and even more Catholic k-12 schools closing. My casual observation is that Catholics don't generally go to church and don't always observe the rules (like birth control, etc.) but they are really pretty careful about the 10 commandments and they continue to self-identify as Catholic. Some people have a problem with this but for me it's not strange because that's kind of the way Buddhism is . . . the four noble truths and the eightfold path and if you eat meat no one is going to criticize. You might go to temple on special days but regular attendance is mostly for the nuns and monks with a few dedicated laypersons as well. You can know someone for years without the subject of their religion coming up.

 

Ministry in the Catholic church is all very controlled, including education and seminary. It is the more general area of christian ministry higher education that seems to be declining. Living in a part of the US that I do I can say there are plenty of christian ministers without any college education (or from unaccredited schools).