BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF
DR. CLIFTON L. HOLLAND

President of IDEA Ministries and
Director of the Latin American Socio-Religious Studies Program
(PROLADES)

PERSONAL

• Birthdate & Place: July 9, 1939 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
• Citizenship:  USA
• Childhood:  Raised in Southern California (1941-1956)
• Military Service:  U.S. Air Force (December 1956-October 1960), Honorable Discharge
• Marital Status: Married to Linda J. Ives (July 26, 1958)
• Children: Richard L. (born 1961 in Lynwood, CA) and Suzan L. (born 1962 in Chicago, IL)
• Current Residence: San Jose, Costa Rica (since 1972)

EDUCATION

• Diploma, Compton High School, Compton, California (1956)
• Diploma, Electronics School, Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Illinois; Ground-to-Air Communications Specialist & Electronics Technician (six-month program)
• Course Work:  University of Wisconsin Extension Program; 8 credit hours taken during 1957-1960 while serving in the U.S. Air Force.
• Diploma, Pre-Aviation/Christian Education Major, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL (1961-1964)
• Course Work:  Fullerton Junior College, General Education requirements, Fullerton, CA; 12 credit hours taken during 1965-1966.
• B.A., General Bible Major, BIOLA College (now BIOLA University), La Mirada, CA (1965-1967)
• M.A., School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA: Missiology Major with concentrations in Latin American Studies & Cultural Anthropology, 1968-1971
• Graduate Studies at the Latin American Biblical Seminary, San Jose, Costa Rica: Dept. of Christian Ministry, Licentiate program, 1975-1977
• Doctoral Studies, School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA: Missiology Major with concentration in Church Growth Studies & Church History, resident studies 1980-1981, Doctoral Candidate 1981-1991 (discontinued program in l99l)

CHURCH AFFILIATIONS: 1954 to the present

• First Baptist Church, Compton, CA (American Baptist Churches in the USA)
• First Baptist Church, Ferndale, WA (independent)
• Galilee Baptist Church, Chicago, IL (Conservative Baptist Association)
• Bethel Baptist Church, Anaheim, CA (North American Baptist Association)
• Sunkist Baptist Church, Anaheim, CA (North American Baptist Association)
• Altadena Baptist Church, Altadena, CA (Baptist General Conference)
• Lake Avenue Congregational Church, Pasadena, CA (Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, CCCC);
• Trinity United Presbyterian Church, Santa Ana, CA (Presbyterian Church in the USA);
• Templo Bíblico (Costa Rican Bible Church Association, AIBC), San Jose, Costa Rica.
• Iglesia Bíblica Nazaret (Costa Rican Bible Church Association, AIBC), San Francisco de Dos Ríos, Costa Rica.
• Primera Iglesia Bautista de Desamparados (Independent), San José, Costa Rica.
• Iglesia "El Camino de Emaús" (Independent) San José, Costa Rica.

WORK EXPERIENCE: 1956-1972

• 1956-1960, Served in the U.S. Air Force as an inlisted man; received basic training in at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX (January 1957); graduated from Electronics School at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, IL (February-June 1957); worked as an Electronics Technician (July 1957 to October 1960) in ground-to-air communications systems at Blaine Air Force Station in Blaine, WA, and at San Clemente Island Air Force Station, San Clemente Island, CA; received Honorable Discharge as Airman First Class  from U.S. Air Force in October 1960.
• 1960-1961, Electronics Test Equipment Repairman at the Autonetics Division of North American Aviation in Downey, CA.
• 1962-1964, worked as an Electronics Technician during summers while attending Moody Bible Institute in Chicago; employed by Motorola Military Electronics and Zenith Television; also worked part-time as a Bindery Clerk at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago (1962-1964).
• 1964-1965, Director of Christian Education & Youth at Bethel Baptist Church, Anaheim, CA (North American Baptist Association)
• 1966, Director of Christian Education & Youth at Sunkist Baptist Church, Anaheim, CA (North American Baptist Association)
• 1967-1968, Electronics Technician at Hughes Ground Systems in Fullerton, CA.
• 1969, Associate Pastor at Altadena Baptist Church, Altadena, CA (Baptist General Conference)
• 1970, Electronics Technician at Resdel Engineering in Pasadena, CA.
• 1971-1972, Associate Minister of Pastoral Visitation, Lake Avenue Congregational Church, Pasadena, CA (Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, CCCC)

MISSIONARY EXPERIENCE: 1972-1989

• 1972-1989, Missionary Affiliate with the Latin America Mission of Coral Gables, Florida (interdenominational mission agency, member of IFMA); resided in San José, Costa Rica.
• 1972-1982, served as a staff member of the International Institute for In-Depth Evangelization (INDEPTH) and worked in the following positions: Director of In-Depth Publications and Editor of the quarterly bulletin IN-DEPTH EVANGELISM AROUND THE WORLD (1973-1975); Secretary of Financial Administration and Publications (1975); Secretary of Public Relations & Financial Development and INDEPTH advisor for Nicaragua (1976-1977); Director of PROCADES (Central America Socio-religious Studies Project) and INDEPTH advisor for the Republic of Panama (1978-1980); Director of the Department of Strategy & Research and Founder and Coordinator of the Latin America Socio-religious Studies Program (PROLADES), 1981-1982.
• 1983-1989: service contract with the Missiological Institute of the Americas (IMDELA) in San Jose, Costa Rica as Executive Director; and with In-Depth Evangelism Associates (IDEA) in Orange, CA, as President & Chairman of Board of Directors (IDEA is the support arm of IMDELA).
• 1988-1995: Chairman of the Latin American Church Growth Task Force (LACGTF), a network of researchers/missiologists who monitored the growth of the Protestant Movement in Latin American/Caribbean and tracked the development of new religious movements; also served as a Lausanne Associate for Latin America with the Strategy & Research Track, and attended the II Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Manila, Phillipines, in 1988, and assisted with workshops on Strategy & Research.

WORK EXPERIENCE: 1990 to the present

• Executive Director (CEO) of IDEA Ministries (resigned from the LAM effective December 31, 1989; signed a new service contract with IDEA Ministries effective January 1, 1990); resides in San José, Costa Rica:  http://www.ideaministries.com/
• Director of the Latin American Socio-Religious Studies Program (PROLADES) in San José, Costa Rica:  http://www.prolades.com/
• Professor of Missiology & Social Sciences at IMDELA-School of World Mission in San José, Costa Rica; Coordinator of extension programs in Mexico City and Los Angeles; IMDELA is now part of the Evangelical University of the Americas (UNELA) in San José:  http://www.unela.net
• Editorial Director of the monthly news journal MESOAMERICA, published by the Institute for Central American Studies (ICAS) in San Jose, Costa Rica (1997 to the present)
• Translator (Spanish to English) of book manuscripts and reports for several international organizations.
• Internet website developer:  creator of  http://www.ideaministries.com    http://www.prolades.com      http://www.mesoamericaonline.net

COURSES TAUGHT

• Non-formal Education (1974-1989). Taught over 60 seminars and workshops in ten countries of Latin America and among Hispanics in the USA.
• Formal Education (1975-2006). Taught more than 80 courses at the university or post-graduate levels for academic credit at the Latin American Biblical Seminary (3) in San José, Costa Rica; Fuller Theological Seminary (2) in Pasadena, CA; the Internationall Urban Institute-Los Angeles Field Site (1) for Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona; the Venezuelan Baptist Seminary (1), Caracas, Venezuela; the School of World Mission-IMDELA (+25) and the Evangelical University of the Americas (+50) in San José, Costa Rica; and the UNELA Extension Program in Urban Studies in Quito, Ecuador (1) .

PUBLICATIONS-ARTICLES-SPECIAL PROJECTS

• 1971, presented two papers at the International Consultation on In-Depth Evangelism in Alajuela, Costa Rica: "The Religious Dimension In Hispanic Los Angeles:  A Protestant Case Study" and "Church Growth and Evangelism-in-Depth."
• 1974, The Religious Dimension in Hispanic Los Angeles: A Protestant Case Study (Pasadena, CA: Wm. Carey Library)
• 1975, "A Profile of Evangelical Churches in Costa Rica," in In-Depth Evangelism Around The World, Vol. 2, No. 4 (January-March 1975).
• 1975, "Anglo-Hispanic Protestant Tensions in Southern California," in Missiology, An International Review, Vol. III, No. 3 (July 1975).
• 1977-1986, produced a series of National Protestant Church Directories for Costa Rica (1978, 1982, 1986), Nicaragua (1979), Panama (1979), Guatemala (1980), El Salvador (1981), Honduras (1981, 1985) and Belize (1981); served as chief technical advisor for these projects.
• 1979, "¡Crecen las Iglesias Evangélicas en Centro América!" in Ministerios en Comunidad (San Jose, Costa Rica: CLAME, October 1979).
• 1980, "Discovering the Facts, Planning New Strategies," in the Latin American Evangelist , September-October, 1980 (Miami, FL:  Latin America Mission).
• 1981, World Christianity: Central America and the Caribbean (a series of Status of Christianity Country Profiles), edited by Clifton L. Holland (MARC-World Vision)
• 1982, "A History of the Protestant Movement in Central America," unpublished Doctor of Missiology Dissertation (Fuller Theological Seminary, School of World Mission)
• 1982, "Oh, God, Please Let Us Do It Again!" in the Latin American Evangelist , September- October, 1982 (Miami, FL:  Latin America Mission).
• 1983, "Hacia una Historia del Movimiento Protestante en America Central," unpublished ms. based on doctoral dissertation. 
• 1986, general editor of A Directory of Hispanic Protestant Churches in Southern California (AHET-ILAS-IDEA).
• 1986-1995, produced an Urban Church Growth Studies series on the Mexico City Metro Area (MCMA, 5 volumes) as a joint venture between PROLADES and VELA; served as chief technical advisor for the project; created the National Evangelical Center for Research and Information (CENII, 1994), located at the VELA offices in Colonia Lindavista in Mexico City; designed and supervised the creation of a computer database of 1,200 Evangelical churches in MCMA; designed and supervised the creation of a computer database of more than 10,000 Evangelical churches at the national level (this database continues to grow as more information is added by VELA).
• 1989, "Los Pueblos Menos Evangelizados en América Central," a working document produced by PROLADES for students of IMDELA.
• 1989, a contributor to the Diccionario de Historia de la Iglesia, Wilton M. Nelson, general editor (Miami, FL:  Editorial Caribe, 1989).
• 1990, "Toward a Classification System of the Protestant Movement in Latin America and the Caribbean" (IDEA/ PROLADES: English and Spanish editions; updated 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006).
• 1990, "A Study of Unreached People Groups in Mexico," a working document produced for the U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, CA.
• 1991-1992, served as Executive Director of the Steering Committee for an Urban Conference in Los Angeles: "Celebrate Christ's Presence in the City of the Angels!" (held in April 1992 at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church)
• 1992, "A Study of Unreached People Groups in the Greater Los Angeles Metro Area," a working document for the U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, CA. (updated in 1993).
• 1992-1993, Director of the Resource Center for Urban Ministry for the Greater Los Angeles Metro Area (GLAMA), located on the campus of the William Carey International University, Pasadena, CA; sponsored by IDEA Ministries.
• 1993, produced the ICDS User's Manual (366 pages) for IDEA Church Directory Software (Orange, CA: IDEA Ministries); producer of IDEA Church Directory Software (ICDS) with technical assistance from Alan Young & Associates.
• 1993, wrote "Una Historia de los Primeros 120 Años de la Iglesia Evangélica Hispana del Sur de California," chapter 1 of Hacia Una Historia de la Iglesia Evangélica Hispana de California del Sur (Montebello, CA: AHET, 1993); member of AHET's History Committee and producer of the book.
• 1993, general editor of A Directory of Hispanic Protestant Churches in Southern California (IDEA Ministries); created a computer database of 1,500 Hispanic Protestant churches in Southern California for the Hispanic Association for Theological Education (AHET).
• 1993-1996, Director of the IDEA-GLAMA Resource Center for Urban Ministry, Orange, CA
• 1993-1996, Producer/Compiler of A Resource Directory on Ethnic and Religious Diversity in GLAMA: Regions I-VII (7 volumes, one for each region) and Los Angeles County (two volumes) (Orange, CA: IDEA); created a computer database of 12,500 religious groups for the Los Angeles 5-County Region; classified these religious groups based on Dr. J. Gordon Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions; created a series of over 100 computer-generated color maps using AtlasGIS for the GLAMA database project; installed the IDEA Church Directory Software (ICDS), the GLAMA Database of Religious Groups, and the AtlasGIS mapping programs on the computers of about 30 organizations in the Los Angeles area as part of the IDEA-GLAMA Research Network (see http://www.ideaministries.com/ for further information).
• 1993-1994, produced A National Directory of Hispanic Protestant Churches and Ministries in the USA (Pasadena, CA: IDEA-PROLADES-HABBM); created a computer database of 6,500 Hispanic Protestant churches in the USA for HABBM (Hispanic Association for Bilingual-Bicultural Ministries; served as a founding member of the Board of Directors of HABBM with headquarters at Templo Calvario (pastor Danny de León) in Santa Ana, CA.
• 1994-1995, produced a series of PNRF (Permanent National Research Function) working documents for PNRF projects in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Colombia.
• 1995, "Religion in Central America, Part I," in MESOAMERICA, Vol. 14, No. 2 (February).
• 1995 to present, Editorial Director of the monthly news journal MESOAMERICA, published by the Institute for Central American Studies (ICAS) in San José, Costa Rica: mesoamer@racsa.co.cr and http://www.mesoamericaonline.net/  
• 1996, "Religion in Central America, Part II," in MESOAMERICA, Vol. 15, No. 2 (February).
• 1996, creator and developer of the IDEA Ministries website at:  http://www.ideaministries.com/
• 1996 to present, began the creation of a computer database of all known religious groups in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is now known as RITA: Religion-In-The-Americas: see http://www.prolades.com
• 1997, compiled A Resource Directory on Spiritual Mapping for GLAMA (about 1,000 pages) for the California Prayer Evangelism Network (CPEN).
• 1997 to present, translator (Spanish to English) of a series of publications for the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) (for example: Doing Business With Healthcare Cooperatives in the Americas, ICA, 1997, 124 pages) in San José, Costa Rica, International Health Programs (IHP) in Santa Cruz, California; the Global Water Partnership (GWP), and other organizations.
• 1998, produced a series of eight research reports on the Protestant Movement in Costa Rica (average of 15 pages each) for the independent Center for Socio-Religious Research (CISRE) and the Evangelical Alliance of Costa Rica (EACR).
• 1999, compiled a research report on the Province of Cartago (90 pages) for CISRE and EACR.
• 1999, creator and developer of the Institute for Central American Studies (ICAS) website at:  http://www.mesoamericaonline.net/
• 1999, served as technical advisor for an update of the Mexico City Directory of Protestant Churches, produced by VELA Ministries in Mexico City.
• 2000, creator and developer of a computer database on all religious groups known to exist in 50 countries of Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal (Religion In The Americas Database, or RITA):  http://www.prolades.com/
• 2001, founding president of the Administrative Council of the Institute for Socio-Religious Research (IDES), affiliated with the Evangelical University of the Americas (UNELA) in San José, Costa Rica (IDES replaced CISRE):  http://www.unela.net/.
• 2001-2002, a regional editor and contributor (14 articles) to Religions of the World:  A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, 4 volumes, Drs. J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, general editors (Santa Barbara, CA:  ABC-Clio, 2002).
• 2002-2003, a contributor (seven articles) to the Wordmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices to be published by the Gale Group of Detroit, Michigan, in 2004.
• 2003, produced a Manual of Policies, Standards and Proceedures for the Evaluation of Christian Schools in Latin America (70 pages in Spanish) in partnership with Worldwide Christian Schools of Grand Rapids, MI.
• 2003, produced a document on Chronologies of the Protestant Movement in the Americas: see http://www.prolades.com/historical/chron-index.htm
• 2003, produced a +300 page document and CD on A Study of New Religious Movements in Costa Rica, 2003 (35 profiles in Spanish):  see http://www.prolades.com/profiles/perfiles2.htm
• 2005, produced a professional research document on "Ethnic and Religious Diversity in Central America: An Historical Perspective," which was presented in a focus group on Latin America at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) in Rochester, NY, in November.

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES: 

• Conducted on-site church and mission-related research projects in the following regions and countries between 1968-1998: 

NORTH AMERICA: Hispanics in the USA (Los Angeles, Southern California, Chicago and Miami) and Mexico (Mexico City and Baja California).

CENTRAL AMERICA: Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize.

          CARIBBEAN: Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico.

          SOUTH AMERICA: Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina.

          OTHER COUNTRIES:  England, Holland and the Philippines

• Since 1998 research activities have been concentrated on the study of all known religious groups in 50 countries of the Americas for the RITA Database Project:  http://www.prolades.com/   Most of the research has been conducted via the Internet and e-mail, as well as during occasional travels to other countries (Mexico in 1999, Nicaragua in 2000 and 2003, and Ecuador and Colombia in 2001).  However, additional fieldwork has also been done in Costa Rica.

COSTA RICA, 2000-2001:  supervised the fieldwork of two researchers who interviewed leaders of all Protestant denominations (232 church associations) as part of an update on the National Study of Protestant Church Growth in Costa Rica; designed and supervised the creation of a computer database of 2,700 Protestant congregations at the national level; created a series of computer-generated color maps for the national study; produced a CD with the results of the national study, including databases (denominational headquarters, the geographical distribution of churches throughout the country, service agencies, etc.), reports, maps, tables and other graphics (May-December 2001).  See documents in Spanish at:  http://www.prolades.com/costarica/!primero.htm

COSTA RICA, 2001-2003:  supervised the fieldwork of 12 researchers (students in the schools of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Communications of the University of Costa Rica), who interviewed leaders of 37 religious groups (both Christian and non-Christian groups) during 2001-2003, as part of A Study of New Religious Movements (NRMs) in Costa Rica, sponsored by PROLADES; the researchers produced a series of 35 Profiles of NRMs in Spanish, which were edited and placed on the PROLADES Internet website at: http://www.prolades.com/profiles/perfiles2.htm

AMERICAS-IBERIAN PENINSULA, 2003-2004:  began the production of an Encyclopedia of Religious Groups in the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula (in Spanish); for an overview of this project, see:  http://www.prolades.com/encyclopedia/encyclopedia-main-index.htm

MEMBERSHIPS & HONORS

• Member of the General Council of the International Institute of In-Depth Evangelization (IINDEF) in San José, Costa Rica; former staff member of IINDEF from 1972-1983.
• Member of the Association of Professors of Mission, APM (founding member); and a member of the Evangelical Missiological Society, EMS.
• Research Associate for Latin America with the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism (1980-1995)
• Member of AHET (Hispanic Association for Theological Education), Montebello, CA (1985-1997); also a member of AHET's History Committee.
• Member of the Board of Directors of HABBM (Hispanic Association for Bilingual-Bicultural Ministries), Santa Ana, CA (1985-1992)
• Member of the Academy for the Study of the Hispanic Church in America (APHILA), 1993 to present.
• Member of the Association of Hispanic Theological Educators (AETH), 1993 to present (APHILA and AETH have now merged into one organization).
• Member of the National Hispanic Ministerial Association (AMEN) in the USA, 1994 to present.
• Former board member of the Center for Socio-Religious Research (CISRE) in San Jose, Costa Rica; affiliated with the Evangelical Alliance of Costa Rica, 1997-2001; current board member of the Institute of Socio-Religious Studies (IDES) that replaced CISRE in 2001, affiliated with the Evangelical University of the Americas (UNELA).
• Member of the Board of Directors of the Evangelical University of the Americas (UNELA), 1998 to present; has served as President or Vice-President of the Board of Directors since 2000.
• Received an Honorary Doctorate in the Science of Religion (November 30, 2001) from UNELA in recognition of nearly 30 years of ministry in Costa Rica as a missionary and co-founder of IMDELA, as well as for assisting in the development of UNELA.
• Member of the Editorial Board (includes 20 international scholars) for the ABC-Clio Encyclopedia of the World's Religions (ABC-Clio, a major publisher of reference books, is located in Santa Barbara, California), as of April 2008; Dr. J. Gordon Melton of the Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR) is the project Coordinator.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Clifton L. Holland
Apartado 1524-2050, San Pedro, Costa Rica
Telephones:  (506) 283-8300; Fax (506) 234-7682

For further information, send e-mail to: prolades@racsa.co.cr

(last revised on 30 May 2008)