Since the outbreak of COVID-19, domestic churches have gone through various events such as temporary lockdowns, hosting services online and long waits to resume normal gatherings while keeping a constant guard against the virus as a new normal. These are not only changes in how churches gather, but pastors and believers have had different experiences because of the changes caused by the pandemic. In this situation, how can the Chinese Church continue to fulfill its mission and carry out its ministry?
On November 7, Rev. Wu Bin, a senior pastor of a church in Dalian shared how his church care for believers during the pandemic in an online lecture hosted by "Faith and Learning", a Chinese Christian academic journal. Used to teach in the national Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, he then returned to his hometown Dalian where he served in the church as a pastor for 14 years. He is also a nationally recognised pastoral counselor.
Below are the main points of the lecture:
How does his church care for believers during the pandemic?
Located in Dalian, Wu's church started its ministry in 2006. The construction of a new church building was completed in 2017 and opened in 2018 with a total area of more than 4,500 square meters, accommodating more than 1,000 people. In the past two years, the church has made administrative changes but encountered the pandemic after finalizing its budget plans and schedules for 2020. From January to July 2020, his church had to stop all gatherings and ministries, and their original plan could not be realized. Just as gatherings were resumed in July, another pandemic broke out in Dalian. The church closed down again until early September 2020. In less than two months after resuming, the number of worshipers in the church rose to the level before the pandemic. Despite strict requirements on pandemic prevention, the church made flexible adjustments by adding one more gathering and restoring the original Bible study and prayer meeting. The number of believers and the amount of donations have slightly increased. Up to now, except for Holy Communion, all other ministries of the church have basically been restored or are being restored.
Pastor Wu shared their experience in response to the pandemic and caring for its congregation. Since January when the news about the outbreak was reported on media, the church prayed for the situation at its prayer meetings every Saturday. When the first case was discovered in Dalian, they became nervous, and the local authorities and the municipal Christian counsel immediately told them to stop gathering for worship. At that time, some believers didn't quite understand it. Their reason was that the Bible says "never stop gathering". However, the authorities’ command was urgent. So the order was conveyed to believers through church committees and co-workers to persuade believers to leave the church on Sundays. As soon as the pandemic broke out, they realized the importance of wearing masks. 1,000 masks were bought for the service attendants. When the church suspended services, it donated the relevant materials to hundreds of passers-by with love.
As soon as the church stopped gathering, the co-workers began to plan their online ministry. After comparing the methods of live broadcast, Tencent conference, WeChat official account, and WeChat group considering the sacredness of worship, the capacity of people, and the sense of presence, they finally decided to set up three WeChat groups. These were able to cover all the believers of the church. During the lockdown period, the believers fellowshipped in groups and all the pastoral staff participated in the service to make things as normal as possible. Prayers and announcements are also issued at ordinary times. This is the first time that the church established a contact group for fellowship on the Internet. Because many churches had stopped gathering for a long time, believers were not dedicated to attending church, and some couldn’t even receive their wages as normal.
Pastor Wu's church didn't have this concern and collected donations from WeChat like normal. The QR scan code for donation was released in the group. As a result, the income of the church did not drop significantly during the whole pandemic period. In addition, colleagues regularly held meetings of the pastoral staff, church committees, and departments through Tencent meetings and WeChat groups. Pastor Wu said that these practices have strengthened the commitment and cohesion of believers to the church.
During the pandemic period, the church also paid attention to delivering messages. Each day they provided written study guides for the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. They also shared prayers and spiritual disciplines so believers could have ‘spiritual food’ every day. The pandemic brought many inconveniences, but Pastor Wu found that this way of ministering helped overcome the hindrances. However, after the outbreak was nearly at an end, the church immediately stopped the WeChat group worship and encouraged believers to attend on-site gatherings.
There were not many people in the first services and Pastor Wu was slightly lost, but he was moved by a scene at the entrance of the church. A sister was registering her personal information, and another sister was standing one meter away. Suddenly, they recognized each other and embraced with joy. Meanwhile, Pastor Wu said that their church's online ministry was also relationship-oriented, increasing mutual communication.
In addition to praying for the pandemic situation, they also contributed more than 30,000 yuan to the medical staff at the invitation of the Amity Foundation. During the special period, some believers died in the church, so they could not hold memorial services. Several pastors personally went to comfort their families and prayed for them. After gatherings resumed, the church service increased from two to three times a day and the group activities began. Last week, the group leader who was to lead the fellowship training, hoped to continue to unite brothers and sisters in the group and that believers would continue to connect with each other in love.
"COVID-19" brought challenges to theology and ministry.
The pandemic has had a severe impact on the church, posing a series of challenges in theology, ministry, and church affairs, all which deserve our attention.
First of all, we are concerned about the challenge of the outbreak to traditional theological understanding. Undoubtedly, in the hearts of the majority of believers in China's grass-roots churches, the understanding of disaster and problems often stays in the simple concept of "man sins, God punishes, and the devil manipulates". That is to say, the outbreak comes down to the fact that people committed sins and crimes and were beaten and punished by God, or the devil is the cause. This often leads to the inability to look at disasters in a correct and rational manner.
For instance, just after the facts of the pneumonia pandemic were exposed in Wuhan, some people trumpeted that it was because of local people's sins and idolatry that they were infected with the plague. This kind of understanding is one-sided and narrow, which is a simple and rough theological explanation - not even theological. The theological thought of Chinese churches has developed for more than 20 years, and there should be some mature theological thinking to encourage and support believers to make realistic, correct, and reasonable explanations to realistic problems.
Secondly, it challenges the traditional way of pastoral care. There is no doubt that in today's Chinese churches, gathering and worshiping are the most important way of providing pastoral care, and becomes the only way of pastoral care and religious expression in many churches.
Once again, it is a challenge from heretical cults. What deserves attention in this pandemic is the rampant activities of the heretical cult "Shinchonji" and its negative impact. In fact, the influence and destruction of the "Shinchonji" heresy on Chinese churches has a long history, but this pandemic has brought it into public view. The trouble is that all parties in society don't have a deep understanding of the heresy, and even some media reports irresponsibly confuse it with orthodox Christianity. It has left a negative influence on Christianity in the public mind. In addition, some foreign churches insist on gathering and this can cause a cluster infection, so this challenge is not limited to the intrusion of heretical cults into orthodox churches, but because of the rampant heretical cults, the public has negative and contradictory feelings towards the Christian faith.
Finally, it is a challenge for the church to get along with society. Is it appropriate for Christians to stand aside and warn the world with curses and accusations when all of society is united in the fight against the pandemic?
In fact, all of the above can be attributed to the challenge of the times and the sinicization of Christian church practice. These challenges seem to have occurred in a specific situation, but in fact they are all related to the essence of the Church in the process of sinicization.
Reflection on traditional theological thought and pastoral way
When we talk about Christ, we always like to talk about His triple positions - prophet, priest, and king. What needs to be considered is whether these three terms summarize the work of all the duties of Christ? Are these triple duties directly taught by the Bible or summarized by later generations? Pastor Wu said that when he looked into this aspect, he did not think that "prophet, priest and king" could sum up all the duties of Christ.
It was not the Bible or the apostle who first put forward this view. It originated from the traditional saying of Eusebius of Caesarea, who claimed that Christ's work could be integrated into three functions - prophet, priest, and king. During the Reformation, Calvin emphasized that God was an intermediary in Christ. He concluded that there was a close relationship between Christ's status and work. Therefore, the viewpoint of Eusebius is the church's traditional understanding of Christ's work.
In today's church, many believers don't understand these three duties properly, so they are out of step with society, and there are problems in the pastoral care that the church gives.
1. Prophet or friend? - reflection on the church's participation in social life
We emphasize that Christ is a prophet and we also emphasize the prophetic nature of the church so that we should be a prophet of the times. The narrow understanding of this concept leads some believers to criticize rather than devote themselves to working for change in society and the church. From the pulpit pastors give a lot of admonition and can severely reprimand believers. As can be seen from the gospel, Jesus Christ is not only a prophet and judge but also our closest friend, and he is willing to help us get rid of weakness and sin.
2. King or servant? - reflection on the church's construction of governance system
Since you are a king, you should emphasize sovereignty. In reality, many believers want to establish the kingdom of God in an aggressive and triumphant way. They may even equate the establishment of God's kingdom with some kind of political appeal or establish a pyramid management system in the church. As a result, the Church has become a powerful institution or an institution trying to gain power in people's eyes. But is this the way Jesus behaves in the world? It is true that the Church pays attention to authority and management, but the management of the Church is not management like that of a corporation, but management is there to build relationships and encourage service. As Jesus himself said, those who are willing to lead should be servants of all. The Church should be seen as providing social services in society, and the church’s management should encourage a system of serving each other.
3. Priests or doctors? - reflection on the life of a church where pastors and believers care for each other
Priests bring people to God and are mediators. As a place to preach the truth, the church can provide a way for people to know God, but the wrong emphasis on the role of a mediator can lead to the church monopolizing salvation. This can make believers feel that they have lost contact with Christ unless they go to a certain church. On the other hand, some churches threaten their believers with rude theological concepts so that they have to go to church. We should think about priesthood correctly. Should we give people help, healing, and encouragement? Priests play a healing role. When believers come to God, they can declare God's forgiveness and comfort and heal believers, but also bring the healing of Jesus Christ to their families and the world.
To sum up, when we say that the Church fulfills the will of Jesus, we should not only fulfill the duties of Christ as a prophet but also understand that he is a friend, which is reflected in the widely spread hymn "Song of Grace and Friends" in the church. This friend is a prophet who can point out our problems, change our sins and weaknesses, and is also our companion and helper. We say that Jesus is a king and a servant, and the church should "serve people instead of servants" and serve the society. In the post-pandemic period, Pastor Wu's church appeared in society as a service through joint service activities with the community, smartphone training, and lectures on legal knowledge for the elderly. As a priest, it emphasizes the function of healing, caring for people who encounter psychological and physical challenges, and giving them encouragement and help.
Walk a new road.
Through reflection on the pandemic situation, we can help the Church grow in three ways.
1. Build a theological system rooted in the true doctrine of the Bible and adapt to the development of the times. All this is reflected in details, such as how to explain suffering, help believers face life correctly, and pass on God's love.
2. Build a church management system that shares the good and the bad with the development of the country and society. Today, many churches have no rules in management or copy some secular systems, which is not in line with the reality of church management.
3. Build a pastoral system with harmonious relations as serving the society and healing the soul are the ideas that Christ and his church fulfill their duties as friends, servants, and healers.
- Translated by Charlie Li
后疫情时期的教会牧养与关怀
自“新冠”疫情爆发，国内教会经历了停止实地聚会、线上崇拜再到防疫常态化中恢复聚会的过程，这不仅仅是聚会方式的变化，背后的牧者和信徒们都随着疫情的变化而各有不同的经历。在这种状况下，教会如何继续践行使命，开展牧养和关怀工作呢？11月7日，“信仰和学术”（Faith and Learning）进行了第21场线上讲座，特邀吴兵牧师进行分享，他曾在金陵协和神学院任教，之后回到家乡大连教会牧养已14年，也是国家二级心理咨询师。
Part 01 所在教会在疫情期间如何牧养信徒
吴牧师所在的教会位于大连市，信徒们从2006年开始聚会。新堂于2017年落成，次年献堂，共4500多平方米，平时有1000多人聚会。过去两年，该堂调整了堂务管理和牧养事工，做好了2020年预算和计划时却遭遇了疫情。从今年1月到7月，教会不得不停止所有聚会和事工，计划完全不能实现；7月刚恢复聚会，大连当地又出现疫情，因此直到9月初才恢复聚会。教会恢复聚会后不到两个月，礼拜人数已经回升到疫情开始之前。尽管防疫上要求严格，但教会做了灵活的调整，多增加了一场聚会，原有的查经和祷告会也恢复了，人数和奉献还略有增加。到现在为止，除了圣餐，教会的其他事工已基本恢复或正在恢复中。
教会如何应对疫情和牧养信徒呢？吴牧师分享，自1月时收到疫情爆发的信息，教会就在礼拜六的祷告会上为此祷告。当大连市出现了首例确诊，他们开始紧张，当地部门和市基督教立马告知要停止聚会。那时，有些信徒不太理解，他们的理由是圣经上说“不可停止聚会”。但疫情命令如山，就通过堂委会和同工传达给信徒们，劝离礼拜天到教会的信徒。疫情刚发生，他们就意识到了戴口罩的重要性，购买了1000只口罩给预备服侍人员使用，当聚会停止之时，教会发挥爱心拿出几百个向路人发放并向相关方面捐赠。
教会一停止聚会，同工们就开始思考进行线上牧养，对比了直播、腾讯会议、微信公众号和微信群等方式，考虑到礼拜的神圣性、人数容纳量和现场感等问题，最后决定建立3个微信群，基本上能覆盖堂里所有的信徒。停止实地聚会的期间，教会就在群里进行礼拜，所有教牧人员都参与服侍，增强现场感，平时也发布祷文、公告。这是该教会首次建立联络群，在网络上进行团契。很多教会因为长期停止聚会，信徒们不去教会就没有奉献，有些甚至连同工工资都无法正常发放。
吴牧师所在的教会却没有这个顾虑，之前就办理了微信收奉献款的业务。在群里发布收款码，结果，整个疫情期间，教会的奉献没有大幅下降。此外，同工们定期通过腾讯会议、微信群召开教牧人员会议、堂委会及部门会议。吴牧师说，这些实践增强了信徒们对教会的委身和凝聚。
疫情期间，教会也注重文字牧养，将《路加福音》和《使徒行传》的讲解每天写成几百字的灵修文，定时发送；还分享祷告和信仰生活实践，让信徒每一天都有灵粮。疫情带来诸多不便，但吴牧师发现，这样的牧养方式反而打破了时间和空间的限制。但是疫情过去后，教会立即停止了微信群礼拜，教导信徒们要参加实地聚会。
首场礼拜人不多，吴牧师略微失落，可教堂门口的一个场面令他动容：一位姐妹在登记信息，后面一位站在一米线之外等待。突然，她们认出了对方，欣喜地拥抱在一起。同时，吴牧师说，他们教会的线上牧养也是以关系为导向，增加彼此交流。
除了为疫情祷告，他们也应爱德基金会的邀请，为医务人员奉献，两天的时间内共奉献了3万余元。特殊时期，教会有信徒离世，不能举行追思礼拜，教会的几位同工牧者亲自去安慰家属，为其祷告。恢复聚会后，教会礼拜由原来的一天两场增加到三场，小组活动开始开展，上个礼拜还召集小组长进行团契训练，希望在小组中继续凝聚弟兄姐妹，也希望信徒们在爱中继续彼此相连。
Part 02 “新冠”疫情对教会神学和牧养的挑战
对于教会来说，疫情带来了严峻的冲击，在神学、牧养和教会的事工上构成了一系列的挑战，值得我们倍加关注。
首先，我们关注的是疫情的发生对于传统神学理解的挑战。毋庸置疑的是，在中国基层教会广大信徒的心中，对于灾难问题的理解往往还停留在简单的“人犯罪、神惩罚、鬼作祟”这样的观念之中。也就是说，当疫情爆发之后，不管三七二十一，都归结为是人犯了罪遭到上帝的击打刑罚，或者是魔鬼在其中捣乱的结果。这就常常导致无法以正确和科学的观念看待灾难现象。
比方武汉刚刚曝出肺炎流行的新闻后，就有人大肆宣扬是因为当地人犯罪、拜偶像等等的原因而导致他们沾染上瘟疫的。这样的理解片面而狭隘，是一种简单而粗暴的神学解释，甚至连神学都谈不上。中国教会神学思想建设二十多年了，应该有一些成熟的神学思考，用以鼓励和支持信徒对现实的问题做出现实、正确与合理的解释。
其次是对传统牧养方式的挑战。毫无疑问，在今天的中国教会，聚会礼拜是我们牧养中最主要的方式，甚至在很多教会中成为了唯一的牧养方式和宗教表现形式。
再次是来自异端邪教的挑战。此次疫情中，值得人注意的就是异端邪教“新天地”的猖狂活动和带来的负面影响。事实上，“新天地”异端对中国教会的影响和破坏由来已久，但是这次疫情却使进入到了公众的视野。麻烦的是社会的各方面对其认识不深，甚至某些媒体报道时不负责任的把其和正统的基督教混为一谈。在公众心中对基督教留下了负面的影响。加上国外某些教会坚持疫情中聚集造成群聚性感染的例子，这种挑战就不仅仅限于异端邪教对正统教会的侵扰，而成为因为异端邪教的猖狂，社会公众对基督教信仰产生了负面与抵触的情绪。
最后是对于教会与社会相处的挑战。当全社会都在举国同心、舍生忘死投入抗疫时，基督徒却站在一边以咒诅和指责来进行所谓的警醒世人，这是合宜的吗？
以上林林总总，其实都可以归结为时代处境对于当下基督教会实践中国化的挑战。这些挑战看起来是特定处境下所发生的，但实际上涉及到的都是教会在中国化过程中的本质问题。
Part 03 对传统神学思想和牧养方式的反思
提起基督，我们总喜欢说基督的三重职分——先知、祭司和君王。需要思考的是，这三重职分是否都概括了基督所有职分的工作？这三重职分是圣经直接告诉我们的，还是后人概括的？吴牧师说，当他查考这方面的内容时，并不认为“先知、祭司和君王”能概括基督的所有职分。
最早提出这个观点的不是圣经也不是使徒，它源自该撒利亚的优西比乌之传统说法，主张基督的工作可以综合三种职分，或三重侍奉（munus triplex Christ）——先知、祭司和君王。宗教改革时期，加尔文强调神在基督里成为中介者，他由此断定，基督的位格与工作之间关系密切。由此引用了尤西比乌的观点，这是教会传统上对基督工作的理解。
在当今教会中，不少信徒对这三重职分理解不当，因此与社会格格不入，教会牧养产生问题。
1、先知抑或朋友？——对教会参与社会生活的反思
我们强调基督是先知，也强调教会的先知性，要做时代的先知，对这种观念偏狭的理解导致一些信徒容易批判而不是致力于改变社会和教会的各种现象。在教导信徒方面，讲台上充满了对信徒的训诫和严厉的斥责。可从福音书可知，耶稣基督不仅是先知和法官，还是我们最知心的朋友，他愿意帮助我们走出软弱和罪恶。
2、君王抑或仆人？——对教会构建治理体系的反思
既然是君王，那要强调统治权。现实中，不少信徒都以一种咄咄逼人、夸胜的方式，想建立上帝的国度。甚至把建立上帝的国度等同于某种政治诉求或在教会中建立起金字塔式的管理体系。结果导致教会在人的眼中变成了一个权力机构或妄图取得权力的机构。可这是耶稣在世上行事为人的方式吗？教会注重权柄和管理没错，可教会的管理不是行政命令或企业利益交换般的管理，而是一种关系和服侍的管理，正如耶稣自己所说：愿意为首的要做众人的仆人。教会在社会中应该以服务的形象出现，在教会中应该建立起彼此服侍的管理体系。
3、祭司抑或医生？——对教会牧养信徒生活的反思
祭司是使人来到上帝面前，是中保的存在。教会作为宣讲真理的地方，能让人认识上帝，但错误的强调中保的职分容易在教会生活中使传递救恩的教会不知不觉变成救恩的垄断者，让信徒觉得不去某个教会就与基督失去了联系。反观今天某些教会，以粗暴的神学观念恐吓信徒，让他们不得不做礼拜。我们当正确思考祭司的职分，我们是否更应该给人帮助、医治和鼓励呢？祭司扮演着医治的角色，当信徒来到神面前的时候，能宣告上帝的赦免，要安慰和医治信徒。而且给他们的家人、世界带来耶稣基督的治愈。
总结一下，当我们说教会履行耶稣的职分时，不仅要要履行基督作为先知，更要明白他是朋友的职分，教会里流传甚广的诗歌《恩友歌》就是体现。这位朋友是先知，可以指出我们的问题，改变我们的罪恶和软弱，也是我们的陪伴者和帮助者。我们说耶稣是君王，也是仆人，教会要“非以役人、乃役于人”，要服务社会。后疫情时期，吴牧师所在的教会，就通过与社区联合开展服务活动、为老人开展智能手机训练和法律知识讲座的方式，以服务的姿态出现在社会中。祭司的身份强调医治的功能，要关怀在心理上和生理上遭遇挑战的人，给他们鼓励和帮助。
Part 04 走出一条新路
通过疫情的反思，可以从三个角度帮助教会成长。
1、建造一个根源于圣经真道，适应时代发展的神学体系。这一切都体现在细节中，比如如何解释苦难、帮助信徒正确面对人生，把上帝的爱传递出去。
2、建造一个与国家、社会发展休戚与共的教会管理体制。今天很多教会的管理没有章法，或者照搬一些宗派的体制，这并不切合教会管理的实际。
3、建造一个关系和谐、服务社会、治愈灵魂的牧养体系，这就是所讲的基督和他的教会履行朋友、仆人和医治者职分的理念。
后疫情时期的教会牧养与关怀
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, domestic churches have gone through various events such as temporary lockdowns, hosting services online and long waits to resume normal gatherings while keeping a constant guard against the virus as a new normal. These are not only changes in how churches gather, but pastors and believers have had different experiences because of the changes caused by the pandemic. In this situation, how can the Chinese Church continue to fulfill its mission and carry out its ministry?
On November 7, Rev. Wu Bin, a senior pastor of a church in Dalian shared how his church care for believers during the pandemic in an online lecture hosted by "Faith and Learning", a Chinese Christian academic journal. Used to teach in the national Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, he then returned to his hometown Dalian where he served in the church as a pastor for 14 years. He is also a nationally recognised pastoral counselor.
Below are the main points of the lecture:
How does his church care for believers during the pandemic?
Located in Dalian, Wu's church started its ministry in 2006. The construction of a new church building was completed in 2017 and opened in 2018 with a total area of more than 4,500 square meters, accommodating more than 1,000 people. In the past two years, the church has made administrative changes but encountered the pandemic after finalizing its budget plans and schedules for 2020. From January to July 2020, his church had to stop all gatherings and ministries, and their original plan could not be realized. Just as gatherings were resumed in July, another pandemic broke out in Dalian. The church closed down again until early September 2020. In less than two months after resuming, the number of worshipers in the church rose to the level before the pandemic. Despite strict requirements on pandemic prevention, the church made flexible adjustments by adding one more gathering and restoring the original Bible study and prayer meeting. The number of believers and the amount of donations have slightly increased. Up to now, except for Holy Communion, all other ministries of the church have basically been restored or are being restored.
Pastor Wu shared their experience in response to the pandemic and caring for its congregation. Since January when the news about the outbreak was reported on media, the church prayed for the situation at its prayer meetings every Saturday. When the first case was discovered in Dalian, they became nervous, and the local authorities and the municipal Christian counsel immediately told them to stop gathering for worship. At that time, some believers didn't quite understand it. Their reason was that the Bible says "never stop gathering". However, the authorities’ command was urgent. So the order was conveyed to believers through church committees and co-workers to persuade believers to leave the church on Sundays. As soon as the pandemic broke out, they realized the importance of wearing masks. 1,000 masks were bought for the service attendants. When the church suspended services, it donated the relevant materials to hundreds of passers-by with love.
As soon as the church stopped gathering, the co-workers began to plan their online ministry. After comparing the methods of live broadcast, Tencent conference, WeChat official account, and WeChat group considering the sacredness of worship, the capacity of people, and the sense of presence, they finally decided to set up three WeChat groups. These were able to cover all the believers of the church. During the lockdown period, the believers fellowshipped in groups and all the pastoral staff participated in the service to make things as normal as possible. Prayers and announcements are also issued at ordinary times. This is the first time that the church established a contact group for fellowship on the Internet. Because many churches had stopped gathering for a long time, believers were not dedicated to attending church, and some couldn’t even receive their wages as normal.
Pastor Wu's church didn't have this concern and collected donations from WeChat like normal. The QR scan code for donation was released in the group. As a result, the income of the church did not drop significantly during the whole pandemic period. In addition, colleagues regularly held meetings of the pastoral staff, church committees, and departments through Tencent meetings and WeChat groups. Pastor Wu said that these practices have strengthened the commitment and cohesion of believers to the church.
During the pandemic period, the church also paid attention to delivering messages. Each day they provided written study guides for the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. They also shared prayers and spiritual disciplines so believers could have ‘spiritual food’ every day. The pandemic brought many inconveniences, but Pastor Wu found that this way of ministering helped overcome the hindrances. However, after the outbreak was nearly at an end, the church immediately stopped the WeChat group worship and encouraged believers to attend on-site gatherings.
There were not many people in the first services and Pastor Wu was slightly lost, but he was moved by a scene at the entrance of the church. A sister was registering her personal information, and another sister was standing one meter away. Suddenly, they recognized each other and embraced with joy. Meanwhile, Pastor Wu said that their church's online ministry was also relationship-oriented, increasing mutual communication.
In addition to praying for the pandemic situation, they also contributed more than 30,000 yuan to the medical staff at the invitation of the Amity Foundation. During the special period, some believers died in the church, so they could not hold memorial services. Several pastors personally went to comfort their families and prayed for them. After gatherings resumed, the church service increased from two to three times a day and the group activities began. Last week, the group leader who was to lead the fellowship training, hoped to continue to unite brothers and sisters in the group and that believers would continue to connect with each other in love.
"COVID-19" brought challenges to theology and ministry.
The pandemic has had a severe impact on the church, posing a series of challenges in theology, ministry, and church affairs, all which deserve our attention.
First of all, we are concerned about the challenge of the outbreak to traditional theological understanding. Undoubtedly, in the hearts of the majority of believers in China's grass-roots churches, the understanding of disaster and problems often stays in the simple concept of "man sins, God punishes, and the devil manipulates". That is to say, the outbreak comes down to the fact that people committed sins and crimes and were beaten and punished by God, or the devil is the cause. This often leads to the inability to look at disasters in a correct and rational manner.
For instance, just after the facts of the pneumonia pandemic were exposed in Wuhan, some people trumpeted that it was because of local people's sins and idolatry that they were infected with the plague. This kind of understanding is one-sided and narrow, which is a simple and rough theological explanation - not even theological. The theological thought of Chinese churches has developed for more than 20 years, and there should be some mature theological thinking to encourage and support believers to make realistic, correct, and reasonable explanations to realistic problems.
Secondly, it challenges the traditional way of pastoral care. There is no doubt that in today's Chinese churches, gathering and worshiping are the most important way of providing pastoral care, and becomes the only way of pastoral care and religious expression in many churches.
Once again, it is a challenge from heretical cults. What deserves attention in this pandemic is the rampant activities of the heretical cult "Shinchonji" and its negative impact. In fact, the influence and destruction of the "Shinchonji" heresy on Chinese churches has a long history, but this pandemic has brought it into public view. The trouble is that all parties in society don't have a deep understanding of the heresy, and even some media reports irresponsibly confuse it with orthodox Christianity. It has left a negative influence on Christianity in the public mind. In addition, some foreign churches insist on gathering and this can cause a cluster infection, so this challenge is not limited to the intrusion of heretical cults into orthodox churches, but because of the rampant heretical cults, the public has negative and contradictory feelings towards the Christian faith.
Finally, it is a challenge for the church to get along with society. Is it appropriate for Christians to stand aside and warn the world with curses and accusations when all of society is united in the fight against the pandemic?
In fact, all of the above can be attributed to the challenge of the times and the sinicization of Christian church practice. These challenges seem to have occurred in a specific situation, but in fact they are all related to the essence of the Church in the process of sinicization.
Reflection on traditional theological thought and pastoral way
When we talk about Christ, we always like to talk about His triple positions - prophet, priest, and king. What needs to be considered is whether these three terms summarize the work of all the duties of Christ? Are these triple duties directly taught by the Bible or summarized by later generations? Pastor Wu said that when he looked into this aspect, he did not think that "prophet, priest and king" could sum up all the duties of Christ.
It was not the Bible or the apostle who first put forward this view. It originated from the traditional saying of Eusebius of Caesarea, who claimed that Christ's work could be integrated into three functions - prophet, priest, and king. During the Reformation, Calvin emphasized that God was an intermediary in Christ. He concluded that there was a close relationship between Christ's status and work. Therefore, the viewpoint of Eusebius is the church's traditional understanding of Christ's work.
In today's church, many believers don't understand these three duties properly, so they are out of step with society, and there are problems in the pastoral care that the church gives.
1. Prophet or friend? - reflection on the church's participation in social life
We emphasize that Christ is a prophet and we also emphasize the prophetic nature of the church so that we should be a prophet of the times. The narrow understanding of this concept leads some believers to criticize rather than devote themselves to working for change in society and the church. From the pulpit pastors give a lot of admonition and can severely reprimand believers. As can be seen from the gospel, Jesus Christ is not only a prophet and judge but also our closest friend, and he is willing to help us get rid of weakness and sin.
2. King or servant? - reflection on the church's construction of governance system
Since you are a king, you should emphasize sovereignty. In reality, many believers want to establish the kingdom of God in an aggressive and triumphant way. They may even equate the establishment of God's kingdom with some kind of political appeal or establish a pyramid management system in the church. As a result, the Church has become a powerful institution or an institution trying to gain power in people's eyes. But is this the way Jesus behaves in the world? It is true that the Church pays attention to authority and management, but the management of the Church is not management like that of a corporation, but management is there to build relationships and encourage service. As Jesus himself said, those who are willing to lead should be servants of all. The Church should be seen as providing social services in society, and the church’s management should encourage a system of serving each other.
3. Priests or doctors? - reflection on the life of a church where pastors and believers care for each other
Priests bring people to God and are mediators. As a place to preach the truth, the church can provide a way for people to know God, but the wrong emphasis on the role of a mediator can lead to the church monopolizing salvation. This can make believers feel that they have lost contact with Christ unless they go to a certain church. On the other hand, some churches threaten their believers with rude theological concepts so that they have to go to church. We should think about priesthood correctly. Should we give people help, healing, and encouragement? Priests play a healing role. When believers come to God, they can declare God's forgiveness and comfort and heal believers, but also bring the healing of Jesus Christ to their families and the world.
To sum up, when we say that the Church fulfills the will of Jesus, we should not only fulfill the duties of Christ as a prophet but also understand that he is a friend, which is reflected in the widely spread hymn "Song of Grace and Friends" in the church. This friend is a prophet who can point out our problems, change our sins and weaknesses, and is also our companion and helper. We say that Jesus is a king and a servant, and the church should "serve people instead of servants" and serve the society. In the post-pandemic period, Pastor Wu's church appeared in society as a service through joint service activities with the community, smartphone training, and lectures on legal knowledge for the elderly. As a priest, it emphasizes the function of healing, caring for people who encounter psychological and physical challenges, and giving them encouragement and help.
Walk a new road.
Through reflection on the pandemic situation, we can help the Church grow in three ways.
1. Build a theological system rooted in the true doctrine of the Bible and adapt to the development of the times. All this is reflected in details, such as how to explain suffering, help believers face life correctly, and pass on God's love.
2. Build a church management system that shares the good and the bad with the development of the country and society. Today, many churches have no rules in management or copy some secular systems, which is not in line with the reality of church management.
3. Build a pastoral system with harmonious relations as serving the society and healing the soul are the ideas that Christ and his church fulfill their duties as friends, servants, and healers.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Pastor Wu Bin Shares Pastoral Ministry in Post-pandemic Era
