At the end of 1997 there were over 300 churches (a "church" is defined as a village where there are believers worshiping together) comprising a total of about 3000 believers. The churches are grouped into six areas (or khehts) for purposes of representation at church-wide meetings and support. Every kheht has a coordinator (phuuprasaangankheht), who is the principal representative at meetings held both for the Udon region as well as the entire TCC, and is the primary support person for the individual church leaders. All of the churches are small and meet in houses -- there are no "church" buildings. The churches are classified as either "mother" or "daughter" churches; a mother church being one which is more mature and has planted and is nurturing daughter churches. The chain of teaching and support passes from the ISD to the kheht coordinators and mother church leaders, then to other leaders, church members, and the daughter churches.
A typical worship service, which may be on any day of the week depending on local schedules, will find the church members sitting around on mats on the floor or the ground (typical Issaan style: grass mats serve as the all-purpose furniture.) It begins with a time of music and songs, generally from the two songbooks which have been written and printed by the ISD, and often including people getting to their feet to dance. Following this is the study time, when a leader presents the Bible study lesson, usually using a question-and-answer method in such a way as to get the church members to participate. Everything is conducted in the local Issaan language (which differs from central Thai - see the "ISSAAN" section of this Website), and a typical Western "preaching" style is not used -- it is common in most other churches in Thailand, but often results in "speaking over the head" of the average church member. (A parallel with the Buddhist temple (or wat) where the monks preach in the Pali language, which no one understands but people listen to because it is the "right thing" to do.) Next is communion, using baked loaves of sticky rice (the Issaan staple) and a local plant juice, and including additional singing. The service usually concludes with a time of prayer, addressing any prayer requests that are made.