Episcopalian Shortage

On a sunny hilltop near Alexandria, Va., 85 Episcopal bishops, ministers and laymen assembled one day last week to consider a major crisis of their church. It was not a lack of members; the church's enrollment had ballooned 130% since 1900. But there were no longer enough shepherds to minister to this record flock. In the same 49 years the number of active ministers had grown by a mere 347 (7%).

The reason stood out plain: the church had plenty of potential ministers among its young men, but it was losing them for lack of training facilities. Last week's meeting was called by the Episcopalians' largest divinity school and one of the first in the country, 125-year-old Virginia Theological Seminary. Since the war, it has been swamped by applications for enrollment. Seven other Episcopal theological seminaries report a similar boom in applications.

But most of the aspirants for the ministry will probably end up on the layman's side of the chancel rail. Even with an ambitious building program well under way, Virginia Theological Seminary will be able to accept only 40% of this year's close-to-200 applicants. The total number of graduates from all Episcopal seminaries in 1949 will be only 190, as against an estimated 187 clergymen who will be withdrawn during the year because of death, retirement, etc. More than on any other single factor, the Alexandria conference agreed, the future of the Episcopal Church seems to depend upon the ability of its seminaries to expand.

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