A WRITER WITH more than a dozen books to his credit, many of them on religion, has come up with a list of 300 "excellent" Protestant congregations, big and small, and another 300 excellent Catholic parishes around the country. One person's criteria and impressions, it might be said.

Nevertheless, author Paul Wilkes's approach enabled him to get a Lilly Endowment grant for the research, sign contracts for two books coming out this spring, and put together a Pastoral Summit May 30-June 1 in New Orleans featuring Martin Marty and Andrew Greeley.

Wilkes, a visiting professor who teaches writing classes at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, may be best known for a PBS documentary on the late Thomas Merton and such books as The Seven Secrets of Successful Catholics, The Good Enough Catholic: A Guide to the Perplexed and Beyond the Walls: Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Life.

Wilkes does not call the 600 congregations the "best" that U.S. Catholicism and Protestantism have to offer, he emphasized in a telephone interview. "I don't pretend every church in this study is a great church," he said. "Nor did I try to apportion [Protestant churches] by denomination."

But stamp-of-approval lists tend to engender curiosity. "Of the top 300 [in Protestantism], 36 are Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations," reported the Presbyterian News Service in early January. Only Baptist congregations (presumably of various affiliations) had more--54--with United Methodist churches at 31 and Episcopal parishes at 25. The ELCA News Service later reported that 15 congregations belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and five to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

In addition, 12 United Church o, Christ congregations, eight Assemblies of God and seven African Methodist Episcopal churches were among well-represented denominations. About 70 nondenominational "community" churches appeared on the list.

Wilkes, a Marquette University graduate, said he drew upon some three dozen experts such as seminary presidents, denominational officials and pastoral institutes in order to compile the names of stimulating, solid, innovative, caring congregations and parishes. "We then either called the churches on the phone or sent letters, then visited them," said Wilkes, who was aided in the two-year study by two researchers. "We did look for churches that serve Hispanic, Native American, Asian and black communities," he said.

"The pastors are mostly people you haven't heard of," he added. They do not include the likes of Robert Schuller and Bill Hybels, who have megachurches near Los Angeles and Chicago respectively.

Of the 600 churches, 17 were picked to be featured on Wilkes's Web site (www.pastoralsummit.org). The nine Protestant churches among the 17 include Denver's Riverside Baptist Church, revitalized by Pastor Rick Ferguson to build a constituency of 4,000, and one based in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, a dying area with a vibrant congregation led by LCMS pastor Bill Geis, "who has been offered great pulpits all over and yet stays in Lone Wolf," said Wilkes.

The other seven Protestant churches featured are: All Saints Episcopal Church, Worcester, Massachusetts; Chinese Christian Union Church, Chicago; First United Methodist Church, Santa Monica, California; Full Gospel Church of God in Christ, New Orleans; Mountaintop Community Church, Birmingham, Alabama; Seekers Church, Washington, D.C., and Warehouse 242, Charlotte, North Carolina.

The book on Protestant churches will be published in April by Westminster John Knox Press. Paulist Press will publish the Catholic version.

Wilkes said he got the idea for compiling a quasi-guidebook to excellent churches while giving a series of talks at a Catholic parish in New Jersey. "They were really enjoying themselves--it was not a false hilarity--and a lot of fresh-faced `generation X' young people were there," he said. "I get back to my home parish in Wilmington, North Carolina, and I think, `This is no fun.' That's when I started talking to Lilly about this project."

COPYRIGHT 2001 The Christian Century Foundation

For permission to reuse this article, contact Copyright Clearance Center.