ABSTRACT
Church growth in unfavorable circumstances has brought to the fore questions that scholars have grappled with for years. The question that has drawn most attention is what makes a church strong. Variations in vitality among religious organizations in different parts of the world have been of great interest to sociologists of religion and to rational choice theorists in particular (Iannac-cone 1994; Young 1997; Stark and Finke 2000; Iannaccone and Bainbridge 2010). Since the rational choice theory assumes that people always evaluate costs and benefits before acting to maximize their net benefits, theorists regard churches as religious producers that maximize “members, net resources, government support, or some other basic determinant of institutional success” (Iannaccone 1995: 77). This perspective, also called a new paradigm for sociological studies of religion, examines fusions and divisions of Christian denominations, which gained recognition especially in the USA. It claims that pluralistic competition can encourage a high percentage of population into churches, while a monopoly undermines efficiency and church activities.
