Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand explained

Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand
Native Name:สหกิจคริสเตียนแห่งประเทศไทย
Native Name Lang:Thai
Type:Evangelical organization
Headquarters:Bangkok
Affiliations:World Evangelical Alliance
Leader Title:President

The Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand (Thai: สหกิจคริสเตียนแห่งประเทศไทย) is a national evangelical alliance, and a member of the World Evangelical Alliance. It is a group of over 3,000 evangelical churches, and various parachurch organizations, and foundations, and is one of five Christian groups legally recognized by the Thai government. The headquarters is in Bangkok, Thailand.

History

Following World War II, many evangelical missionary groups began missionary work in Thailand. [1] These varied evangelical groups worked independently from both the CCT and each other, but in the mid-1950s a number of them decided that inter-denominational and inter-organizational co-operation and fellowship was needed. This desire on the part of both evangelical missionaries and Thai Christian leaders led to the formation of the Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand (EFT). The EFT was formally recognized as a legal entity on June 19, 1969, and its first moderator was Rev. Suk Phongnoi.[2] [3]

21st century

As of 2023, it had 3,090 member local churches.[4]

In the same year, the president is Prof. Dr. Teera Jenpiriyaprayoon.[5]

Affiliations

The EFT is a member and active participant in the Thailand Protestant Churches Coordinating Committee, whose goal is to promote evangelism and discipleship among Protestant churches in Thailand. [6]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Alex Smith, Siamese Gold, A History of Church Growth in Thailand: An Interpretive Analysis 1816-1982 (Bangkok: Kanok Bannasan (OMF Publishers Thailand),1982) 222, 226.
  2. Web site: History of the Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand. December 31, 2013. Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand. December 27, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131227065807/http://www.eft.or.th/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=27&lang=th. live.
  3. Tay Mui Lan, "Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand," in Dictionary of Asian Christianity, ed. Scott Sunquist (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001), 276-277.
  4. Web site: EFT website, retrieved 2023-08-08 . 2023-11-09 . 2023-08-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230822235107/https://tuthai.org/directory/denomination/%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%AA%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AB%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A8%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A2 . live .
  5. Web site: EFT website, retrieved 2023-08-08 . 2023-08-22 . 2023-08-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230822213539/https://eft.or.th/superboards/ . live .
  6. Web site: About Us . December 31, 2013 . Thailand Protestant Churches Coordinating Committee . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131231181344/http://www.thaivision2020.com/?page_id=843 . December 31, 2013 .