Exploring the Social Sources of Denominationalism: Schisms in American Protestant Denominations, 1890-1980

Schisms are a major source of new religious denominations in America, but have received little attention in the sociological literature. This study is critical of the conventional assumption that schisms arise primarily from internal doctrinal disputes. Drawing on the resource mobilization literature, we offer an alternative argument that vulnerability to schism is related to the organizational characteristics of denominations. We apply dynamic quantitative techniques to longitudinal data on Protestant denominations in the U.S. to test hypotheses about denominational centralization, linkages to the wider environment, and demographic characteristics. Findings suggest that the larger the denomination, the greater the tendency to schism; the size effect is inhibited, however, when denominations are linked to interorganizational federations.