Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-335) and index.

Foreword / Sione Lātūkefu -- Introduction (Approach to a phenomenon ; The South Pacific region ; Scope of the survey ; Aims of the survey ; Working conditions and research methods ; Definitions ; Concluding remarks)

Part one: We are the army of the Lord (The most widespread and well established new religious groups [The Assemblies of God (AOG) ; The Baha'i faith ; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) ; The Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) ; The Seventh-Day Adventist Church (SDA)] ; The most recent arrivals [Christian Outreach Centre (COC) ; Church of God (CG, Cleveland, Tennessee) ; Church of the Nazarene (CN) ; Fiji Gospel Churches (Plymouth Brethren) ; Independent Baptist churches ; The New Apostolic Church (NAC) ; The Salvation Army ; South Pacific Evangelical Fellowship (SPEF) ; United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI)] ; Breakaway new religious groups [Apostles' Gospel Outreach Fellowship International (AGOFI) ; Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) ; Reformed Congregational Church (RCC) ; Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (RLDS) ; Rhema Church ; Tokaikolo Christian Fellowship (TCF)] ; Evangelical-fundamentalist para-church organizations [Campus Crusade for Christ (CCFC) ; Child Evangelism Fellowship, Inc. (CEF) ; Every Home for Christ (EHC) / Christian Mission Fellowship (CMF) ; Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International [FGBMFI) ; Pacific Missionary Aviation (PMA) ; World Vision Inc. and World Vision International (WV) ; Wycliffe Bible Translators International / Summer Institute of Linguistics (WBTI / SIL) ; Youth With A Mission (YWAM)] ; Summary)

Part two: Winds of change (The region ; The arrival of the gospel ; Case studies [Solomon Islands (The religious situation in the Solomon Islands and contemporary developments ; The national churches ; Summary and outlook) ; French Polynesia (The religious situation in French Polynesia and contemporary developments ; Summary and outlook) ; Tonga (The religious situation in Tonga and contemporary developments ; The Tongan national churches and religious groups ; Summary and outlook) ; Western Samoa (The religious situation in Western Samoa and contemporary developments ; Christianity in Western Samoa: the national churches ; Summary and outlook) ; Marshall Islands (The religious situation in the Marshall Islands and contemporary developments ; The national churches in the Marshall Islands ; Summary and outlook) ; Fiji (The religious situation in Fiji and contemporary developments ; Growing in diversity: the national churches ; Ecumenism in Fiji ; Summary and outlook)] ; Summary)

Part three: The growth and impact of the new religious groups on the societies of the Pacific Islands: a sociological assessment (The perception of the historic mainline churches ; The sociological debate on new religious groups ; The problem of objectivity ; Approach to 'religion' from a social-psychological functionalist perspective ; Towards a new interpretation of new religious groups in the Pacific Island context [General trends: political and economic realignment ; Trends in the Pacific region (the consequences of World War II ; The impact of tourism and new industries ; A threatened environment ; The rise of the ruling new élites)] ; Why are they growing? The relation of social change to new religious groups [Rapid urbanisation and the growth of NRGs ; 'Good news' in a chaotic world: the cognitive level ; Meeting affective needs ; The new religious groups as promoting more adequate resource mobilization] ; Case histories [Lucas, French Polynesia ; Immanuel, Solomon Islands ; Rina, Fiji ; John, Polynesia ; Sitiveni, Fiji ; Commentary on the case histories] ; Filling a religious vacuum: the ineffectiveness of the historic mainline churches [The cost of independence ; 'Skin-deep' Christianity ; The hierarchical and 'politically connected' character of the historic mainline churches ; The inherent conservatism in the leadership of the Pacific Islands mainline churches ; Disappointed ambitions and misconduct ; Irrelevant, static and ritual forms of worship] ; The impact of the new religious groups on individuals and societies in the Pacific Islands [A new Christian right: common ideiological and theological roots of the NRGs ; Moral and social ethics of the NRGs ; Disintegration of social structures ; Fundamentalist ethics in a context of peripheral capitalism ; Characteristics of peripheral capitalism in the South Pacific ; Socialization for paternalistic attitudes ; 'Black skin, white masks': the reproduction of Western oriented values and ideas] ; Summary)

Appendix (Major historical events in the modern history of [Solomon Islands ; French Polynesia ; Tonga ; Western Samoa ; Marshall islands ; Fiji] ; Statistical appendix [The historic mainline churches ; Established new religious groups and most recent arrivals ; Breakaway groups from the historic mainline churches and NRGs ; Other religions and non-reigous people ; Evangelical-fundamentalist para-church organizations] ; Questionnaire ; Addresses of NRGs)