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The following kinds of studies have been conducted in Central America by our ministry since 1977 under its origional name, the Central American Socio-religious Studies Project (PROCADES, in Spanish), and since 1983 we have worked on similar studies in other regions of the Americas under our new name, the Latin American Socio-Religious Studies Program (PROLADES).
1. National Directories of Protestant Churches and Service Agencies, also by cities and regions within a country.
2. Resource Manuals for Christian Leaders
3. Historical Studies: "Status of Christianity Country Profiles" and "Histories of the Protestant Movement" by countries, regions and cities.
4. "Unreached Peoples" Studies
5. Church Growth Case Studies
6. Public Opinion Research on religiosity, religion and social change, conversion influences, evangelical self-image and its public image, etc.
7. Research-in-progress Reports on current research projects
Specific Objectives of CGSP/PROLADES:
1. To study the history, context and dynamics of church growth in each country of Latin America and the Caribbean region, including Hispanics and Caribbean peoples in North America, in order to help Christian leaders understand more fully the origin, development and holistic growth of the Christian Church in each specific context throughout the Americas.
2. To analyze the factors that affect holistic church growth at the congregational and denominational levels, within each of the various religious subsocieties throughout the Americas, including the growth dynamics of non-Christian religious movements.
3. To discover those geographical areas and sociological groups (homogeneous units) that are the least evangelized and discipled by the Christian Church in the Americas.
4. To communicate the results of our research to Christian leaders in order to increase their understanding of the unfinished task...
5. To provide informational resources for Christian leaders to assist them in the process of evaluation and planning toward the development of more fruitful strategies and programs, in order to achieve a greater measure of holistic church growth for the glory of God.
6. To help encourage the formation and development of permanent national research teams and resource centers (i.e., PNRF = Permanent National Research Function) in every country of the Americas, and to assist in the training of researchers and the teaching of courses on missiological research.This will also be done in the context of major urban areas: Permanent City Research Functions (PCRF) and urban resource centers (such as COULD in Los Angeles and CENII in Mexico City).
7. To promote the development of an international network of Christian researchers and organizations with a research function, in order to encourage and assist one another in our mutual endeavors for the cause of Christ throughout the Americas.
The following services are offered through our programs of missiological research and communication throughout the Americas:
1. Direct research designed and implemented by PROLADES (example: a series of Church Growth Studies on Central America conducted during 1977-81; follow-up studies on Costa Rica, 1982-88; and updates on other countries, 1986 to present).
2. Project management....
3. Technical assistance...
4. Consultive Services: creative design of research projects, organizational development, project planning, program evaluation, human and material resource development, etc.
5. Development of Permanent National Research Functions (PNRF) and National Resource Centers (NRC) in Latin America and the Caribbean: we are networking with evangelical organizations in 25 countries to facilitate the establishment and development of these research programs and resource centers as a means of empowering and training Third World leaders. Each of the PNRF/Resource Centers will continuously monitor the growth and expansion of the Evangelical Church in their nation and region, especially among the least evangelized and discipled people groups and geographical areas. Hopefully, all of these Centers will be linked soon via e-mail and public and private conferences on MAFxc (formerly CrossConnect); via the IDEA/PROLADES World Wide Web page on the Internet with each other and with members of the Latin American Church Growth Task Force (LACGTF); via modem with Global Mapping, International, in Colorado Springs, CO, for technical support for ATLAS GIS software and the Global Research Data Base (GRDB); and with other international organizations that are similarly committed to the Great Commission.
6. Training of Researchers (academic and fieldwork): this is already taking place at IMDELA's School of World Mission in Costa Rica, and now we are launching a similar effort in Mexico City in the summer of 1998 as part of the IMDELA-Mexico City Urban Studies Program (IMCUSP). The Mexico City program is a joint venture with more than a dozen programs of theological education in Mexico and a network of Christian universities and seminaries in the USA....
7. Software Development & Distribution....
8. Strategic Planning and Networking with international organizations: Academia para la Historia de la Iglesia Latina (APHILA), Asociación de Educadores Teológicos Hispanos (AETH), Confraternidad Evangélica Latinoamericana (CONELA), Cooperación Misionera Iberoamericana (COMIBAM), AD 2000 Movement/ Cooperación 2000, Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamericana (FTL), Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism (LCWE), World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF), etc.
9. Fundraising assistance for organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean that desire to sponsor research and leadership development projects at the city, regional and/or national levels.
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"We can reasonably assume that the Great Commission will be accomplished when at least one evangelical congregation exists for every 1,000 people in every people group throughout the world, and when evangelicals in every people group demonstrate the truth of the Gospel in their family and congregational life and in their local community--where they live, work and serve others as obedient disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ."
--Clifton L. Holland
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