Much of the current discussion in academic and religious leadership focuses on the “crisis” within liberal Protestant churches. The crisis is marked by a dramatic decline in church membership since the 1960s and is linked to a loss of theological identity. One critical aspect of the crisis is the defection of youth from liberal Protestant churches. In this thesis, I will provide historical depth and test key assumptions to the current discussion by studying another period when the youth dropped out of the churches and by examining the response of Protestant church leaders. In particular, the thesis explores the origins, growth, and fragmentation of the Christian Endeavor movement between 1881 and 1940. The movement arose as a response to the loss of young people and represented an extremely successful strategy for re-incorporating young people into churches and training them for church leadership. The societies created a space for young people within Protestant churches and became a key vehicle for the construction and transmission of Protestant identity and culture. The thesis examines from multiple interpretative angles the contests that developed around this space. From one angle, the growth of Christian Endeavor societies paralleled the development of public high schools. Endeavor leaders applied new educational and developmental theories about young people toward youth work. Thus, the study of Christian Endeavor demonstrates how Protestant churches participated in the “rediscovery of youth” at the end of the nineteenth century. From a different angle, Endeavor societies placed high demands on the young people and trained them in an active and public practice of faith. The movement was an effort to renew spiritual discipline and to reconstruct a Protestant identity which was based upon a common purpose and mission. This renewed and revitalized Protestant identity was then used to attempt to re-assert Protestant hegemony across American culture. From a third angle, the relationship between the Endeavor movement and denominational bodies was fluid. Yet with the rise of denominational specialists, many of the tasks and roles performed by Endeavor leaders and lay members were taken over and incorporated into denominational structures.