In the past decades, more and more believers used to go to a spacious church building for Sunday services. However, the 2020 pandemic very often interrupted their on-site events. As a result, environmental changes brought a great impact on this practice.
A few days ago, Pastor D in eastern China discussed how he had experienced the hardships and learnings for the past several months. The COVID-19 pandemic made him see how the church needed to transform in the post-pandemic era: shifting from the main Sunday gathering mode to the mode of online, group, and family worship. It was also the change experienced by his church. At the same time, however, he found that the believers showed obvious maladjustment to this change, which gave him a clear insight that the tension between the two needed to be properly faced and guided.
Pastor D said that before the pandemic, believers came to the church lobby for Sunday services, but the pandemic changed the normal way as on-site gatherings were often interrupted. Consequently, online, group, and family worship gradually formed. The background of this change was closely related to the "necessity" brought by the pandemic, so both pastors and believers would have to accept the new gathering mode, but many believers were still only used to Sunday services.
"Many believers still can't accept services without a lobby because, without a gathering place, people would feel that their church has come to an end. This is how I perceive it." Pastor D said, "I have compared and summarized the situation of the church with or without in-person gatherings during this period. I found that although there were no physical gatherings during the pandemic, there were a small group and family gatherings, and online Sunday services, but they were in no way to replace the mode of ‘church gathering’ because many people can't adapt to the change."
He added that as early as a few years ago, his church began to prepare for cell groups, which were a good supplement to Sunday teachings. After all, large gatherings could not, in many aspects, cover individual needs.
"Every careful preparation the pastors of our church made for Sunday sermons took time and energy. However, after each Sunday service, the pastors couldn’t get feedbacks such as how much their members learned from their sermons. Therefore, from 2016, I tried to change the mode - there would be a cell group meeting in the middle of every week. Then the previous sermon would be handed out for discussion so as to help the believers practice the teachings. Because many people can't keep up after listening to it, so it will be better to follow up in the middle of the week from the previous Sunday service."
Pastors were always ready to remind believers at the end of a Sunday service, but when the needed day came, it was found that believers still did not think of it, and their mentality was not ready. It could be said that there were drawbacks.
"Family-style gatherings are far from being as effective as that of church services." Pastor D said: "The tolerance and acceptance of believers are also a problem. After being dispersed into a family group, many believers began to complain and said, 'You don't have a proper service here,' so they went to this or that place to meet."
His church lost nearly two-thirds of its members during the pandemic.
What hurt him most was that many believers had been lost to various heretical cults, such as the Discipship Home, the prosperity gospel, and the Eastern Lightning. Pastor D said that there were no church gatherings, which made believers feel that small group gatherings could not achieve the effect of Sunday services.
"If there is no church gathering here, they will go to other heretics."
"Believers can't accept small group gatherings. According to an analysis I made, I think there are three main reasons." Pastor D said, "First, many believers are migrant workers in cities, and their living conditions are average, so it is not very convenient to get together at homes.
"The second is that the small group leader's qualifications are not up to the requirements. Although it is advocated that every team leader should be a pastor and they also have enthusiasm for caring for people, caring cannot rely solely on enthusiasm because it is a continuous effort and process, which lasts for several years and requires great energy. Team leaders can persist for a year, but it is difficult to keep going. Therefore, the group leader's administrative energy and equipment for truth are not enough, which puts great pressure on themselves. Therefore, there will be great problems in small group ministry."
"The third is the mentality of believers. Believers have become accustomed to church gatherings, and they always feel that there are very few people who have small group gatherings at home. It is not like a proper gathering, and they are more eager and likely to go to the usual gathering places and churches to gather and worship."
He recalled the history and said that in Jewish social cognition, the temple was the worship center. Later, because of the destruction of the country, people were displaced and found themselves far away from the temple; so in order to worship God, the synagogue system came into being. The synagogue system was still a continuation of the temple-centered worship and management mode. The narrow nationalism of Jews was caused by the temple as the center. Jesus claimed to break this temple-centered theory by worshiping in spirit and truth. Nowadays, the traditional Christian church, with its worship mode and group identity, also continued the temple centralism, only replacing the temple with a church.
He appealed, "Back to Jesus' teaching. Jesus did not limit the Christian connection to the church. The way of church gatherings can be in a specific period, and different gatherings and living styles should be adopted. It is time to revise Jesus' teaching."
The pastor stressed that this was not against church gatherings, but against Temple centralism. "The model initiated by Jesus was the model of a free union of Christians, which was unlimited in number and gender. It could be two or three people or more than a dozen people. In this way, in a more meaningful way, several people learned to grow together, changed themselves, changed their families, and made the world a better place. 'This is my command: Love each other.' (John 15:17)"
- Translated by Charlie Li
过去十多年来，愈来愈多的信众习惯主日礼拜去一个宽敞的主堂聚会，但2020年疫情，使得实地聚会常常断断续续，环境的变迁从而给这个习惯带来了非常大的冲击。
日前，华东一位D牧师谈到，疫情后至今经历的数个月的艰难和探索，让他看到后疫情时代的教会面临着一个转型的需要：从聚焦大堂、主堂的主日聚会方式到更注重网上、小组和家庭敬拜的模式，这也是他所牧养的教会所经历的改变。但与此同时，他发现，信众对这一变化却表现出明显的不适应，这也导致他清晰感受到这两者之间的张力亟需面对和引导。
D牧师说，疫情前信徒都是主日的时候来到主堂一起进行聚会，但疫情改变了这种聚会方式，因为实地聚会常常时断时续，所以逐渐形成了网上、小组和家庭敬拜的模式。这种变化的时代大背景与疫情带来的“不得不”紧密相关，所以不管是牧者还是信徒，都不得不接受新的聚会模式，但很多信徒还深受以前主日大堂聚会聚会的影响。
“很多信徒还摆脱不了聚会的堂，因为没有聚会的堂，没有实体聚会，给人感觉就像教会散了一样。这是我的感受。”D牧师说：“我从这段时间教会有和没有实体聚会的情况进行了对比和总结。发现疫情期间虽然我们没有实体聚会，但是有小组聚会，家庭聚会，也会做线上的主日礼拜，但是都没办法取代‘堂会聚会’这种模式。因为很多人不适应。”
D牧师介绍说，早在几年前，他所在的教会就已经开始筹备小组聚会，作为主日大堂聚会的很好的补充，毕竟大堂牧养很多方面是很难到位的，“我们教会的牧师每预备一篇主日讲道，都是精心花时间、花精力去准备的。但主日信息讲完后，牧师没有问过信徒这篇道听完能有多少进到心里，所以2016年开始我想尝尝换一下模式——每周中间会进行小组聚会，再把这篇道拿出来讨论，这样就能具体的帮助信徒行道、落地。因为很多人听一遍跟不上，所以主日聚会讲完后中间再跟进，效果会好一些。”
牧者心理上也在时时准备着，主日聚会常会提醒信徒：“今天的小组聚会是一种很好的预备。”但真当需要的这一天来到时，发现信徒们还是没有想到，心态上还是没有准备好，可以说还是存在着弊端。
“家庭式的小组聚会远远达不到在主堂聚会带来的效果。”D牧师表示：“信徒的承受力和接受力也是个问题。分散成为家庭小组聚会后，很多信徒开始有怨言，说‘你这里没有聚会’，于是就跑到这个地方去聚会，或是去到那个地方聚会。”因此D牧师的教会在疫情期间，流失了近三分之二的信徒。
最让他心痛的是，不少信徒流失到门训家园、恩典福音和东方闪电的各种异端邪教里面。D牧师介绍说，没有主堂聚会让信徒因为不适应，觉得小组聚会达不到主日聚会的效果，“这里没有主堂聚会了就跑去其他异端了。“
“信徒不能接受小组聚会，我分析了下，觉得主要原因有三个。”D牧师说，“第一，是不少信徒是在城市里面的打工人员，居住条件一般，所以在家里聚会并不是很方便。”
“第二是小组长资历的问题。虽然提倡每一个组长都是牧者，他们牧养的热情也有，但牧养不能光靠热情，因为这是一个持续的时间和过程，持续几年下来，牧养所需要的精力很大。组长们可以坚持一年，一直持续下去却很难。所以小组长的牧养精力、对真理上的装备都不够，这对他们自己的压力也很大。因此在小组牧养上就会产生很大的问题。”
“第三是信徒的心态问题。信徒已经习惯了教会聚会，总感觉在家里进行小组聚会人很少，不像是正经的聚会，更加渴望和喜欢去到聚会点、堂点进行聚会敬拜。”
D牧师回顾历史说，在犹太人的社会认知里，是以圣殿为敬拜中心，后来由于国破家亡，人们流离失所，远离圣殿，因此为了向神敬拜，才有了会堂制。会堂制依然是圣殿为中心敬拜，管理模式的延续。圣殿为中心造成了犹太人狭隘的民族主义。耶稣宣称用心灵和诚实敬拜，来打破这种圣殿中心论。而今基督传统教会，其敬拜模式和群体认同，同样延续了圣殿中心主义，只不过把圣殿替换成了教堂。
他呼吁说：“回到耶稣的教导，耶稣并没有限定基督徒的连接方式必须是教堂。教会聚会的方式，可以在特定时期，应该采取不同聚会和生存方式，历史时空转换，是该思考耶稣教导的时候了。”
D牧师强调说，这不是反对教会聚会，而是反对圣殿主义。“耶稣所开创的模式即是基督徒自由结合的模式，这种结合不限人数，不限性别。他可以两三个人，也可以十几个人。这种方式，以一种更加有意义的方式，几人在一起学习成长，改变自己，改变家庭，让世界变的更美好，“我这样吩咐你们，是要叫你们彼此相爱。(约15:17)”
华东一牧师谈：后疫情时代教会转型 需信众更新“主日礼拜必须大堂聚会”的观念
In the past decades, more and more believers used to go to a spacious church building for Sunday services. However, the 2020 pandemic very often interrupted their on-site events. As a result, environmental changes brought a great impact on this practice.
A few days ago, Pastor D in eastern China discussed how he had experienced the hardships and learnings for the past several months. The COVID-19 pandemic made him see how the church needed to transform in the post-pandemic era: shifting from the main Sunday gathering mode to the mode of online, group, and family worship. It was also the change experienced by his church. At the same time, however, he found that the believers showed obvious maladjustment to this change, which gave him a clear insight that the tension between the two needed to be properly faced and guided.
Pastor D said that before the pandemic, believers came to the church lobby for Sunday services, but the pandemic changed the normal way as on-site gatherings were often interrupted. Consequently, online, group, and family worship gradually formed. The background of this change was closely related to the "necessity" brought by the pandemic, so both pastors and believers would have to accept the new gathering mode, but many believers were still only used to Sunday services.
"Many believers still can't accept services without a lobby because, without a gathering place, people would feel that their church has come to an end. This is how I perceive it." Pastor D said, "I have compared and summarized the situation of the church with or without in-person gatherings during this period. I found that although there were no physical gatherings during the pandemic, there were a small group and family gatherings, and online Sunday services, but they were in no way to replace the mode of ‘church gathering’ because many people can't adapt to the change."
He added that as early as a few years ago, his church began to prepare for cell groups, which were a good supplement to Sunday teachings. After all, large gatherings could not, in many aspects, cover individual needs.
"Every careful preparation the pastors of our church made for Sunday sermons took time and energy. However, after each Sunday service, the pastors couldn’t get feedbacks such as how much their members learned from their sermons. Therefore, from 2016, I tried to change the mode - there would be a cell group meeting in the middle of every week. Then the previous sermon would be handed out for discussion so as to help the believers practice the teachings. Because many people can't keep up after listening to it, so it will be better to follow up in the middle of the week from the previous Sunday service."
Pastors were always ready to remind believers at the end of a Sunday service, but when the needed day came, it was found that believers still did not think of it, and their mentality was not ready. It could be said that there were drawbacks.
"Family-style gatherings are far from being as effective as that of church services." Pastor D said: "The tolerance and acceptance of believers are also a problem. After being dispersed into a family group, many believers began to complain and said, 'You don't have a proper service here,' so they went to this or that place to meet."
His church lost nearly two-thirds of its members during the pandemic.
What hurt him most was that many believers had been lost to various heretical cults, such as the Discipship Home, the prosperity gospel, and the Eastern Lightning. Pastor D said that there were no church gatherings, which made believers feel that small group gatherings could not achieve the effect of Sunday services.
"If there is no church gathering here, they will go to other heretics."
"Believers can't accept small group gatherings. According to an analysis I made, I think there are three main reasons." Pastor D said, "First, many believers are migrant workers in cities, and their living conditions are average, so it is not very convenient to get together at homes.
"The second is that the small group leader's qualifications are not up to the requirements. Although it is advocated that every team leader should be a pastor and they also have enthusiasm for caring for people, caring cannot rely solely on enthusiasm because it is a continuous effort and process, which lasts for several years and requires great energy. Team leaders can persist for a year, but it is difficult to keep going. Therefore, the group leader's administrative energy and equipment for truth are not enough, which puts great pressure on themselves. Therefore, there will be great problems in small group ministry."
"The third is the mentality of believers. Believers have become accustomed to church gatherings, and they always feel that there are very few people who have small group gatherings at home. It is not like a proper gathering, and they are more eager and likely to go to the usual gathering places and churches to gather and worship."
He recalled the history and said that in Jewish social cognition, the temple was the worship center. Later, because of the destruction of the country, people were displaced and found themselves far away from the temple; so in order to worship God, the synagogue system came into being. The synagogue system was still a continuation of the temple-centered worship and management mode. The narrow nationalism of Jews was caused by the temple as the center. Jesus claimed to break this temple-centered theory by worshiping in spirit and truth. Nowadays, the traditional Christian church, with its worship mode and group identity, also continued the temple centralism, only replacing the temple with a church.
He appealed, "Back to Jesus' teaching. Jesus did not limit the Christian connection to the church. The way of church gatherings can be in a specific period, and different gatherings and living styles should be adopted. It is time to revise Jesus' teaching."
The pastor stressed that this was not against church gatherings, but against Temple centralism. "The model initiated by Jesus was the model of a free union of Christians, which was unlimited in number and gender. It could be two or three people or more than a dozen people. In this way, in a more meaningful way, several people learned to grow together, changed themselves, changed their families, and made the world a better place. 'This is my command: Love each other.' (John 15:17)"
- Translated by Charlie Li
Pastor: Believers Need to Update Concepts of 'Sunday Services in Buildings' to Push Church Transformation in Post-Pandemic Era
