Joining New Congregations ― Motives, Ways and Consequences: a Comparative Study of New Congregations in a Norwegian Folk Church Context and a Thai Minority Context

In a revised version of his 2011 dissertation for a PhD in theology at the School of Mission and Theology, Stavanger, Norway, Sandland explores what happens when individuals join new Christian congregations. He emphasizes the inculturation and contextualization of individuals rather than the classical missiological motives of individual religiosity, such and conversion and commitment. Thus, he says, he contributes to a field of research that contemporary missiology addresses only to a limited extent. In particular, the asks how individuals in the distinctly different contexts of Thailand and Norway reflect on their motives for and ways of joining a new congregation, and how they reflect on the consequences that it had for their belief and behavior. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Morten Sandland received his PhD in Systematic Theology from the School of Mission and Theology in Stavanger (Norway). Since 2012 he serves as the head of the Church Development Department in the Diocese of Stavanger.