In earlier days, due to its profound cultural background, unique geographical position, and unique political status in history, Daming County of Handan City, Hebei Province had been the base of missionaries of various Christian denominations in southern Hebei. Nanjie Church, located in the ancient city of Daming, was one of the churches established by missionaries at that time.
The Nanjie Church was first built in 1927, but the gathering was suspended afterward. The church was requisitioned as a cinema and some of its buildings were rebuilt. After the reform and opening up, the church resumed in 1993. Brother Wang, the head of Daming County Nanjie Church, recalled that there were more than 200 believers at that time, making the whole church at full capacity. In 2019, the church was built again to accommodate more believers. However, it was out of expectation that increasingly fewer believers attended services.
For this reason, during the National Day of 2021, Nanjie Church held a three-day service that closely focused on evangelism. The evening services were accompanied by evangelical sermons, calling on believers to invite relatives and friends to attend. Unfortunately, due to the rain reason, not many people came to the service. Most of the attendees were elderly people and there were almost no young people.
According to Brother Wang, the church was facing serious problems such as the aging of believers, the loss of young believers, and the lack of a full-time pastor to care for believers. He said that there were two main reasons for these problems: one reason was that Daming County had been mainly relying on the agricultural economy till now, and it was difficult to retain local young people for employment. After graduation, many children who left for school in other places chose to live and work in other places, so naturally fewer young people came to church.
The second reason was that there were no committed pastors. In general, different pastors were invited to preach in gatherings such as Sunday services.
“Although there are many churches that do not have full-time pastors, as far as Daming County Nanjie Church is concerned, the disadvantages of not having full-time pastors are becoming increasingly obvious,” he added.
“The service of two or three volunteers alone is far from enough to carry out ministries in Nanjie Church. Take the example of visiting, the most basic ministry, because there is no full-time pastor, no one visits sick and hospitalized believers in time.” Wang said, “In the long run, believers will gradually become indifferent to their faith, which will also lead to the loss of believers.”
Brother Guo is a volunteer at the church. He, the fourth generation Christian in his family, attends the church at a young age. In his view, it was difficult for invited pastors, who gave sermons, to have the energy to really care for the believers, and it was also difficult to increase the membership in a targeted way.
“Because they do not have enough time to understand the believers’ faith and family situation. What’s more, young people’s faith needs to be well established and nurtured. For a long time, without the support of full-time pastors and the service of volunteers, young people’s spiritual life can not be supported, which also leads to the loss of young believers.”
Wang said worriedly, “If this continues, the Nanjie Church in Daming County may become an empty building only in a matter of time.”
Facing this situation, he stated that he hoped to get the help of southern churches, and it was best to have full-time pastors dedicated to the local area to jointly safeguard and use the resources of the church: carry out ministry and missionary work together.
“This will not only solve the pastoral problem in the church, but also carry out various ministries to attract young people to join the church so that young people can find a sense of belonging in the church, and the church will be revived again,” he concluded.
- Translated by Charlie Li
早年，因着深厚的文化底蕴和独特的地理位置及历史上独特政治地位，河北大名县成为基督教各教派宣教士，在冀南一带宣教的驻地所在。位于大名府古城内的南街教堂，就是当时宣教士建立的其中一座。
南街教会最早于1927年建成，后聚会暂停，教堂被征用为电影院，有一些教堂建筑被改建。改革开放后于1993复堂，大名县南街教会负责人王弟兄回忆说，当时前来聚会的信徒有200多人，坐满了整个教堂。2019年，教堂又进行了一次修建，堂内布局加以调整后，可以容纳更多的信徒，却不想堂大了，信徒却变得越来越少了。
为此，2021年国庆期间，南街教会举办了为期三天的培灵会，聚会主题紧扣传福音的主题，晚上搭配有福音布道会，呼吁信徒邀请亲朋好友前来参加。可惜因为下雨，前来参加聚会的人并不多，多数是华发苍鬓的老人，几乎看不到年轻人的身影。
从王弟兄那里得知，目前南街教会面临着信徒老龄化严重、青年信徒流失殆尽、无专职牧师牧养信徒等问题。他说，造成这些问题主要有两个方面：一方面，河北大名县目前主要是以农业经济为主，很难留住当地的年轻人就业。在外地上学的孩子毕业后，有很多也选择留在外地生活工作，所以来教会的年轻人自然也就少了。
另一方面，现在的南街教会没有坐堂牧师，即没有固定的牧养人。一般主日礼拜等聚会活动，都是临时邀请不同的讲道人来讲道。“虽然也有很多教会没有专职牧师，但是就大名县南街教会来说，没有专职牧师的弊端越来越明显”。
“单单靠两三个义工的服侍，是远远不足开展南街教会中的事工的。比如最基本的探访事工，因为没有专职牧师与同工，导致不能及时探访生病住院的信徒。”王弟兄苦恼道，“长此以往，信徒逐渐对信仰冷淡，也会导致信徒流失。”
郭弟兄是基督教南街教会义工，从小在大名县基督教会长大，是家里第四代基督徒，在他看来，被邀请来证道分享的讲道人，很难有精力做到真正的关心信徒，也很难去针对性地牧养南街教会的信徒，“因为他们没有足够的时间去了解信徒的信仰情况与家庭情况。何况青年人的信仰需要好好的去建立和牧养，长期没有专职牧师的牧养与同工的侍奉，青年人属灵生命就得不到供养，这也导致青年信徒流失殆尽。”
王弟兄不无担忧地说：“再这样下去，大名县南街教会假以时日，可能就会变成有名无实的空壳子。”
面对这种情况，教会该何去何从呢？作为教会负责人，针对教会的现状，王弟兄说，他希望能够得到南方教会的帮助，最好能够有专职传道人委身当地，共同维护和使用教会资源，一齐开展事工、传道等工作。
“这样不仅解决教会中的牧养问题，同时开展各样事工，吸引年轻人加入教会，让年轻人在教会中找到归属感，让主的教会再次复兴起来。”
河北省邯郸市大名县基督教南街教会该何去何从？
In earlier days, due to its profound cultural background, unique geographical position, and unique political status in history, Daming County of Handan City, Hebei Province had been the base of missionaries of various Christian denominations in southern Hebei. Nanjie Church, located in the ancient city of Daming, was one of the churches established by missionaries at that time.
The Nanjie Church was first built in 1927, but the gathering was suspended afterward. The church was requisitioned as a cinema and some of its buildings were rebuilt. After the reform and opening up, the church resumed in 1993. Brother Wang, the head of Daming County Nanjie Church, recalled that there were more than 200 believers at that time, making the whole church at full capacity. In 2019, the church was built again to accommodate more believers. However, it was out of expectation that increasingly fewer believers attended services.
For this reason, during the National Day of 2021, Nanjie Church held a three-day service that closely focused on evangelism. The evening services were accompanied by evangelical sermons, calling on believers to invite relatives and friends to attend. Unfortunately, due to the rain reason, not many people came to the service. Most of the attendees were elderly people and there were almost no young people.
According to Brother Wang, the church was facing serious problems such as the aging of believers, the loss of young believers, and the lack of a full-time pastor to care for believers. He said that there were two main reasons for these problems: one reason was that Daming County had been mainly relying on the agricultural economy till now, and it was difficult to retain local young people for employment. After graduation, many children who left for school in other places chose to live and work in other places, so naturally fewer young people came to church.
The second reason was that there were no committed pastors. In general, different pastors were invited to preach in gatherings such as Sunday services.
“Although there are many churches that do not have full-time pastors, as far as Daming County Nanjie Church is concerned, the disadvantages of not having full-time pastors are becoming increasingly obvious,” he added.
“The service of two or three volunteers alone is far from enough to carry out ministries in Nanjie Church. Take the example of visiting, the most basic ministry, because there is no full-time pastor, no one visits sick and hospitalized believers in time.” Wang said, “In the long run, believers will gradually become indifferent to their faith, which will also lead to the loss of believers.”
Brother Guo is a volunteer at the church. He, the fourth generation Christian in his family, attends the church at a young age. In his view, it was difficult for invited pastors, who gave sermons, to have the energy to really care for the believers, and it was also difficult to increase the membership in a targeted way.
“Because they do not have enough time to understand the believers’ faith and family situation. What’s more, young people’s faith needs to be well established and nurtured. For a long time, without the support of full-time pastors and the service of volunteers, young people’s spiritual life can not be supported, which also leads to the loss of young believers.”
Wang said worriedly, “If this continues, the Nanjie Church in Daming County may become an empty building only in a matter of time.”
Facing this situation, he stated that he hoped to get the help of southern churches, and it was best to have full-time pastors dedicated to the local area to jointly safeguard and use the resources of the church: carry out ministry and missionary work together.
“This will not only solve the pastoral problem in the church, but also carry out various ministries to attract young people to join the church so that young people can find a sense of belonging in the church, and the church will be revived again,” he concluded.
- Translated by Charlie Li
What Is the Future of Nanjie Church in Hebei Province?
