This book is an empirical study of why and how people in Norway and Thailand join new congregations and of the consequences this has for belief and behavior. While conversion is a key to understand what happens in Thailand, what happens in Norway is in most cases understood in terms of revitalized commitment.

Why do people join new congregations? How does this happen? And which consequences does this have for peoples belief and behavior? These are the main questions addressed in this comparative case study from the distinctively different contexts of Norway and Thailand. While joining a new congregation in Thailand in most cases is understood in terms of conversion, what happens in the Norwegian context is mainly referred to as a process of revitalized commitment. However, common in both contexts was that joining a new congregation implied an aspect of religious change. In order to understand this change, the author applies perspectives from contemporal conversion studies, such as Lewis R. Rambos typology of conversion, and from anthropological studies of change.

Autorentext

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.

Inhalt

Contents: Congregational studies New congregations Contextual Ecclesiology Church of Norway Folk church Thai Buddhism Animism Conversion Commitment.