Hampton University’s New School of Theology Offers Associate To Doctoral Degrees

By Rosaland Tyler Associate Editor New Journal and Guide

Hampton University recently launched a new School of Theology, at a time when several reports show church attendance is declining nationwide in mainline denominations.

While a 2009 BARNA report showed that in the past 50 years, mainline Protestant church membership dropped by more than one-quarter to roughly 20 million people-while only about 15 percent of all adults said they are associated with a mainline church-- the age of the average Protestant congregant ranges from 89 to 100. This means younger members are replacing graying congregants at a slower pace.

A May 2023 American Bible Society survey showed Gen Z church attendance (those born from the late 1990s to early 2010) increased at in-person worship from 52 percent to 72 percent in 2023. The number of Gen Z who tended to only attend church online dropped from 40 percent in 2022 to 16 percent in 2023.

However, a recent American Bible Society survey showed that last year, 53 percent of those born before 1946 attended in-person worship services, a figure that rose after the pandemic to 60 percent in 2023. This means that last year’s millennials (56 percent), Baby Boomers (58 percent) and Generation X (those born from 1965-1980) said they preferred in-person worship (55 percent).

However, Hampton University President Darrell Williams said in a recent statement, “At this very challenging time in our nation’s history, especially with some of the divisiveness that we can see at both the societal and the political level, we think that broader thinking about these areas of religion is extraordinarily important.”

Hampton’s new School of Religion will offer associate, bachelor, masters and doctoral degrees. Hampton announced plans to launch its School of Religion on President’s Night at the recent Hampton University Ministers’ Conference, which was held in early June, according to its website.