Conversion Growth of Protestant Churches in Thailand Bekeringsgroei van protestantse kerken in Thailand Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. J.C. Stoof, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 24 oktober 2008 des middags te 2.30 uur door Marten Visser geboren op 9 januari 1971 te Waalwijk Promotoren: prof.dr. J.A.B. Jongeneel prof.dr. Manat Phaituncharoenlap prof.dr. M.G. Phillips Conversion Growth of Protestant Churches in Thailand Marten Visser Uitgeverij Boekencentrum, Zoetermeer www.uitgeverijboekencentrum.nl This publication is no. 47 in the Mission series (Missiological Research in the Neth- erlands). Editorial board: Dr. G.J. van Butselaar Dr. Th. van den End Prof.dr. M.T. Frederiks Prof.dr. M.M. Jansen Prof.dr. J.A.B. Jongeneel Prof.dr. A.M. Kool Dr. J.J. Visser Cover design: Studio Anton Sinke ISBN 978 90 239 2327 5 NUR 706, 761 © 2008 Uitgeverij Boekencentrum, Zoetermeer (The Netherlands) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repoduced or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or other- wise – without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quota- tions embodied in articles or reviews. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface.....................................................................................................................viii Abbreviations .............................................................................................................x List of Tables............................................................................................................xii Glossary...................................................................................................................xiv Chapter 1: Introduction...............................................................................................1 1.1. Statement of the problem................................................................................1 1.1.1. Main problem..........................................................................................1 1.1.2. Limitations ..............................................................................................2 1.1.3. Sub-items of the main problem ...............................................................4 1.2. Structure of the study......................................................................................5 1.3. Methodology...................................................................................................5 1.3.1. Literature.................................................................................................6 1.3.2. Interviews................................................................................................6 1.3.3. Database building....................................................................................6 1.3.4. Hypothesis building and testing ..............................................................7 1.3.5. Survey .....................................................................................................7 1.4. Sources..........................................................................................................11 1.4.1. Primary sources.....................................................................................11 1.4.2. Secondary sources.................................................................................11 1.4.3. General literature...................................................................................12 Chapter 2: Thailand ..................................................................................................13 2.1. Geography.....................................................................................................13 2.2. History ..........................................................................................................13 2.2.1. Prehistory and Sukhothai era (1238-1376)............................................13 2.2.2. Ayutthaya era (1376-1767) ...................................................................14 2.2.3. Thonburi-Bangkok era: absolute monarchy (1769-1932) .....................15 2.2.4. Modern Bangkok era: constitutional monarchy (1932-present)............16 2.3. People ...........................................................................................................17 2.4. Economy.......................................................................................................19 2.5. Culture ..........................................................................................................21 2.6. Religion.........................................................................................................24 2.6.1. Past and present.....................................................................................24 2.6.2. Buddhism ..............................................................................................26 2.6.3. Islam......................................................................................................32 Chapter 3 Studying conversion and church growth.................................................35 3.1. Introduction...................................................................................................35 3.2. Sociology of religion and anthropology........................................................36 3.2.1. Conversion ............................................................................................37 3.2.2. Church growth.......................................................................................41 3.3. Missiology ...................................................................................................44 3.3.1. Conversion ............................................................................................46 3.3.2. Early studies about church growth........................................................47 3.3.3. Donald McGavran and the Church Growth School ..............................47 v 3.3.4. The Church Growth movement in the USA..........................................52 3.3.5. Christian Schwarz and the Institute for Natural Church Development .54 3.3.6. David Garrison and church planting movements ..................................55 3.4. An interdisciplinary model ...........................................................................56 3.5. Final observations .........................................................................................59 Chapter 4: Protestantism in Thailand........................................................................61 4.1. Introduction...................................................................................................61 4.2. History of the Thai Protestant church ...........................................................61 4.3. Thai Protestantism in the social sciences......................................................64 4.4. The number of Protestant Christians in 2005................................................67 4.4.1. Government data...................................................................................68 4.4.2. Christian sources...................................................................................69 4.4.3. Counting Protestant Christians..............................................................75 4.5. Distribution of Protestants ............................................................................76 4.5.1. Protestants per ethnic group ..................................................................76 4.5.2. Protestants per region............................................................................77 4.5.3. Protestants in Bangkok, provincial capitals, and the rest of the country ........................................................................................................................78 4.6. Denominations..............................................................................................79 4.6.1. CCT Presbyterian districts ....................................................................82 4.6.2. CCT non-Presbyterian districts .............................................................83 4.6.3. Non-charismatic mission founded denominations ................................85 4.6.4. Non-charismatic independent denominations .......................................94 4.6.5. Charismatic mission founded denominations........................................95 4.6.6. Charismatic independent denominations...............................................99 4.7. Growth in historical perspective .................................................................102 4.8. Final observations .......................................................................................103 Chapter 5 Conversion ............................................................................................105 5.1. Introduction.................................................................................................105 5.2. Context........................................................................................................107 5.2.1. Religion...............................................................................................107 5.2.2. Society.................................................................................................111 5.2.3. Economy .............................................................................................113