Andy Rowell

Category: Sociology

  • More interesting facts from ATS about seminaries

    I noticed some interesting facts in the The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada 2009-2010 data tables. 

    1. 195 schools in the USA offer the MDiv degree  p.16 
    2. In 2009 in USA, there were 20,835 MDiv students at Protestant schools and 2,170 at Roman Catholic schools. p.25, 27 
    3. In 2009 in the USA, 6,482 MDiv degrees were completed. p.60.
    4. In the USA in 2009, MDiv degrees were completed by 4,444 men and 2,038 women. p.62.
    5. 1301 DMin degrees were completed at ATS schools in 2009. p.61.


    6. 401 ThD/PhD degrees were completed at ATS schools in 2009. p.61. 
    7. The average salary for a full-time faculty member at a seminary in the USA: $62-64,000. p.80.
    8. Assistant Professor average salaries: 4 year Public 59K; 4 year Private 62K; ATS Schools 54K. p.82. 

    See also: The 22 largest seminaries in North America

  • The 22 largest seminaries in North America

    According to data from The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, here are the theological schools in North America with the highest enrollment.  Fuller is the largest.  Southern Baptist Convention seminaries take up 5 of the top 10 spots. 

    Casual Name / Full Time Equivalent Enrollment / Real Name / Status / Independent, University-Affiliated, or College-Affiliated. / Predominate racial/ethnic identity / State / Denom

    1. Fuller 1940 Fuller Theological Seminary ACCRED I W CA INTER
    2. Southwestern 1477 Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary ACCRED I N TX SBC
    3. Southeastern 1430 Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary ACCRED I W NC SBC
    4. Southern 1364 Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ACCRED I W KY SBC
    5. Dallas 1108 Dallas Theological Seminary ACCRED I W TX INTER
    6. Gordon-Conwell 1037 Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary ACCRED I W MA INTER
    7. TEDS 908 Trinity Evangelical Divinity School ACCRED C W IL EFCA
    8. Asbury 781 Asbury Theological Seminary ACCRED I W KY INTER
    9. Golden Gate 772 Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary ACCRED I W CA SBC
    10. New Orleans 656 New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary ACCRED I W LA SBC
    11. Bethel 649 Bethel Seminary of Bethel University ACCRED C W MN BAPTGC
    12. Talbot 604 Talbot School of Theology ACCRED U W CA INTER
    13. RTS 584 Reformed Theological Seminary ACCRED I W MS INTER
    14. Princeton 578 Princeton Theological Seminary ACCRED I W NJ PCUSA
    15. Seventh Day Adventist 566 Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary ACCRED U W MI SDADV
    16. Luther Seminary 548 Luther Seminary ACCRED I W MN
    17. Duke 517 Duke University Divinity School ACCRED U W NC UMC
    18. Denver 479 Denver Seminary ACCRED I W CO INTER
    19. Ashland 473 Ashland Theological Seminary ACCRED U W OH BRCHAO
    20. Candler 458 Candler School of Theology of Emory University ACCRED U N GA UMC
    21. Covenant 451 Covenant Theological Seminary ACCRED I W MO PCA
    22. Concordia Seminary (MO) 450 Concordia Seminary (MO) ACCRED I W MO LUTHMS

    See Table 1.2 on pages 7-11 of the to the 2009-2010 Annual Data Tables from ATS.

  • Book review: Bradley Wright’s Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites…and Other Lies You’ve Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media

    Brad Wright's new book Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites…and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media (July 1, 2010) calmly and clearly sorts through statistics about Christians in America today.

    Wright is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut.  Sociologists Rodney Stark and Christian Smith blurb the book positively as does Scot McKnight.  Ed Stetzer writes the foreword.  Scot has been blogging about the book as has John Ortberg.  Wright blogs at http://brewright.blogspot.com/  In the book, he wisely points out the many reasons statistics can get garbled and exaggerated.  You may remember Wright as the sympathetic Willow Creek Association church attending sociologist who pointed out that Willow Creek's Reveal study does not reveal much.  In this book, many hyperbolic reports of the demise of Christians and
    evangelicals from a variety of sources are exposed as faulty.  Wright is generally gentle in his criticisms and his sense of humor pops up throughout the book.  

    The conclusion includes this summary judgment, "You know, I'm kind of
    enjoying this oversimplification, so let's take it a step further. 
    That's right, after about a year of reading the scholarly literature and
    analyzing scores of data sets, I am distilling my evaluation of
    Evangelical Christianity to a single grade.  I give American Evangelical
    Christianity a B" (213).  To a large extent, he finds evangelicals are doing quite well.  He is most concerned about the tendency of white evangelicals to
    be suspicious of people of other races.  But even this area has a bright spot as the trend appears to be improving.   

    What is perhaps most refreshing about Wright's book is his encouragement for regular people to have a healthy skepticism toward statistics.  "If nothing else, I hope you realize the need to be more skeptical when it comes to statistics about Christianity" (218).  The sloppy use of statistics is a stain on both secular journalists and Christian authors.  Wright's book is a significant dose of truth and sanity among the cacophony of shrill pronouncements.  Get it and become a voice of reason in your sphere of influence.        

    Notes: 

    I have delved into many of these issues myself: church attendance, church growth stats, the use of statistics by pastors, Willow Creek's Reveal, etc. at my Sociology category.