Religion: The Protestant Future

For U.S. Protestantism, this decade may well be known as the self-critical '60s.

The boom-minded '50s, with their talk of "a religious revival" and their burgeoning statistics—on church membership, church building and church budgets—seem to be giving way to somber re-evaluations.

Last week readers of the New York Times were treated to another dim view: a survey of U.S. theological schools, which showed a 5.3% drop in Protestant enrollments last year—1,125 fewer students for the ministry than the 1959 total of 20,365. The survey's conclusion: Protestantism is failing to demonstrate its "relevance" in the modern world. Other contributing factors are the lure of...