Religion: The Ravens on the Branch

Is U.S. Protestantism suffering from a surfeit of crapehangers ? The Rev. John Sutherland Bonnell, 68, of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, believes so. Mounting the pulpit last week, he sounded off against the "handwringing, breast-beating and doleful prophecies about the future of Protestantism" from the very churchmen on whom its future depends.

Spiritual Advance. "All the ravens seem to be perched on a single branch. We hear about 'the post-Protestant era,' 'the end of Protestant influence in the nation,' 'the retreat of Protestantism,' and so forth." On the contrary, declared Presbyterian...

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