This study attempts to understand the evolution of organized religion in America by focusing on the life-histories of mainstream Protestant denominations over nearly a century. In particular, it analyzes the determinants of schisms, by which most new denominations have come into existence, and the demise of existing denominations through merger. The more conventional approach focuses on doctrinal disputes as the major determinant of denominational boundaries. By contrast, this study follows Weber, Troeltsch, and Niebuhr in treating doctrinal disputes as reflections of larger debates about the relationship between denominations and the wider social order, and about the nature of authority within religious communities. Schism and merger are treated as organizational processes. Drawing on life-histories of 175 mainstream Protestant denominations between 1890 and 1980, the empirical analysis will be conducted in two parallel phases. First, they plan to collect detailed qualitative data from archival sources on subsets of denominations that have experienced schisms and mergers. The goal is to understand the internal processes by which disputes become codified into ideologies that set the terms for insurgency and coalition- building. In the second phase, they will use longitudinal data from the entire sample of denominations to test hypotheses about the propensity to schism and merger. They will draw on organizational theory to develop three kinds of models: structural models that emphasize the internal characteristics of denominations; ecological models that emphasize competition for organizational resources; and institutional models that emphasize shifts in the normative structure of society. The potential contribution of the study to organizational theory arises from its attention to rates, types, and processes of birth and death. By synthesizing micro- and macro-level analyses, this study promises to yield a comprehensive understanding of the process of denominational reorganization in America.
