In recent years, many churches have adopted the “Happiness Group” method to promote church growth.
The Christian Times, a Chinese online Christian newspaper, interviewed several pastors in different places to learn about implementing the "Happiness Group" (called Group for short) in their churches.
With the effects of the Group in churches of various other places, pastors have different views on the outreach ministry.
Originating from Kaohsiung Blessed & Blessing Church, the Group is an evangelism method led by two or more church staff, including icebreaker games, worship and praise, testimony sharing, sermons, communication, and interaction. Compared with traditional evangelistic meetings, the Group has some advantages, such as systematic gospel resources and continuous biblical training.
Rev. Tang Ming serves in a church that has carried out the Group for several years. "We are now vigorously promoting the project, benefiting from which many people are baptized every year." Tang believes that the measure is appropriate to the actual situation of his church.
A male believer named Zhao Chaowen took a negative attitude towards the Group, as it failed to achieve the desired effect.
"A big problem of the Group is that the turnover rate of believers is very high. People come to study the Bible in the Group, but many leave after being baptized, which is one of the flaws of it as far as I can see."
Zhao said that in each round of Group in his church, eight study sessions were given once a week for two months. The problem was that some people's lives had not changed, especially for some bad living habits, but the group leader mobilized them to be baptized. After the baptism, some stopped going to church, while some misbehaved, still smoking as before.
After discovering such problems, some churches continue to train them for two months before the baptism, which significantly reduces the attrition rate of believers, as they help them strengthen their faith rather than urge them to be a believer at once. Therefore, Zhao said there would be a big problem if the church were eager for quick success.
Another male Christian, Sun Qiang's church, also conducts the Group. Sun said that in the Group, it was easier for people to understand the gospel through some indirect approaches. Sun stated that when people were well received and respected, the atmosphere was easily set off, and they could integrate into the team through ice-breaking games and other links. Sun believed it was not easy to evangelize so that the church could save people in this fashion. "It may not be the best way, but it is suitable for today's church," Sun added.
According to another male church member, Mu Chao, it took up to five years for a person to become a member of a small group and then become a group leader to serve. The Group has several stages, with these eight courses as the first stage for seekers. Therefore, after these courses, he thought it was unsuitable for catechumens to be baptized immediately, as they needed to grow spiritually through accompaniment and guidance. And it was unrealistic for a person to establish faith and grow up to commit to the church through these eight courses. Mu concluded, "You can’t nurture a seeker in a pragmatic or utilitarian way."
(At the request of the interviewees, the names of the characters in the article are all pseudonyms.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
最近几年来，很多教会开始使用“幸福小组”的模式来推动教会的发展。
一中国网络基督教报纸基督时报采访了不同地方的几名牧者，了解幸福小组在他们教会推进的情况。
幸福小组在不同地方的教会的应用效果大不相同，也导致不同牧者对幸福小组产生了不同的观点。（==当summary）
幸福小组是由台湾的“高雄-福气教会”所发展出来的一种布道传福音策略。是由两个或者两个以上的同工组成，以传福音为目的导向的聚会活动。主要构成环节有破冰游戏、敬拜赞美、见证分享、主题信息、交流互动等。相对于教会传统的传福音聚会，幸福小组有福音信息系统性、慕道培育持续性等特点。
唐明牧师所服事的教会推动幸福小组已经有好几年的时间。“我们现在正在大力推进幸福小组这个项目，每年很多人受洗成为基督徒都跟这项工作的推进有关。”唐明牧师认为幸福小组适合他们教会的实际状况。
赵朝文弟兄则对幸福小组持偏负面的态度，因为结果并没有达到预期的效果。
“幸福小组一个很大的问题是信徒的流失率非常高。人过来经过小组学习，最后受洗了，但是受洗以后往往很容易就流失掉了。留不住人，在我看来，这是幸福小组的一个缺陷。”
赵说，在他们教会每一轮幸福小组是用两个月左右的时间，总共8次学习，平均一周一次。问题在于，一些人的生活并没有很多的改变，尤其是一些错误的生活习惯都还没有改变，小组长就动员他们受洗。然后受洗以后有的人表现很不好，也不去教会了，以前抽烟的现在照样抽……
一些教会发现这样的问题以后，采取的方法在两个月的小组学习以后继续对他们培训两个月的时间，即进行受洗培训。这样信徒的流失率明显降低。并不急于让参加人员马上受洗，而是让他们建立稳固的信仰。 因此，赵认为，如果带着急切的功利性来做幸福小组的话，就会出现很大的问题。
孙强弟兄所在的教会也在做幸福小组。他说在幸福小组里面，牧者同工们把福音的信息经过一系列的包装，让人们比较容易接受。孙认为，因为得到热情的接待和尊重，人们进来以后，氛围往往很快的就能打破。加上经过破冰游戏等环节，大家能够很好地融入进去。孙认为当今的教会普遍缺少传福音的能力，所以只能退而求其次，使用比如幸福小组这样的方法来传福音。 “它本身可能并不是最好的，但是却非常适合今天的时代。”孙补充道
据沐超弟兄介绍，从一个人初信开始到成为小组组员再到最后成为组长并参与服事，需要长达5年的时间。幸福小组有好几个阶段，分为第一期、第二期、第三期等等，8次课程只是针对慕道友的第一期课程。因此，这8节课程完成以后，他个人认为并不适合就让慕道友马上受洗，还需要对他们的跟进，陪伴和引导，这样才能够让他们成长。而如果仅仅想要通过这8次课程就把一个人的信仰建立起来并且让他委身教会，这是很难做到的。”沐说，” 牧养不能太实用主义或者说功利主义。“
（应受访人要求，文中所出现人物姓名均为化名）
圆桌间|四位牧师浅谈： “幸福小组”在不同地方不同教会的应用效果大不相同
In recent years, many churches have adopted the “Happiness Group” method to promote church growth.
The Christian Times, a Chinese online Christian newspaper, interviewed several pastors in different places to learn about implementing the "Happiness Group" (called Group for short) in their churches.
With the effects of the Group in churches of various other places, pastors have different views on the outreach ministry.
Originating from Kaohsiung Blessed & Blessing Church, the Group is an evangelism method led by two or more church staff, including icebreaker games, worship and praise, testimony sharing, sermons, communication, and interaction. Compared with traditional evangelistic meetings, the Group has some advantages, such as systematic gospel resources and continuous biblical training.
Rev. Tang Ming serves in a church that has carried out the Group for several years. "We are now vigorously promoting the project, benefiting from which many people are baptized every year." Tang believes that the measure is appropriate to the actual situation of his church.
A male believer named Zhao Chaowen took a negative attitude towards the Group, as it failed to achieve the desired effect.
"A big problem of the Group is that the turnover rate of believers is very high. People come to study the Bible in the Group, but many leave after being baptized, which is one of the flaws of it as far as I can see."
Zhao said that in each round of Group in his church, eight study sessions were given once a week for two months. The problem was that some people's lives had not changed, especially for some bad living habits, but the group leader mobilized them to be baptized. After the baptism, some stopped going to church, while some misbehaved, still smoking as before.
After discovering such problems, some churches continue to train them for two months before the baptism, which significantly reduces the attrition rate of believers, as they help them strengthen their faith rather than urge them to be a believer at once. Therefore, Zhao said there would be a big problem if the church were eager for quick success.
Another male Christian, Sun Qiang's church, also conducts the Group. Sun said that in the Group, it was easier for people to understand the gospel through some indirect approaches. Sun stated that when people were well received and respected, the atmosphere was easily set off, and they could integrate into the team through ice-breaking games and other links. Sun believed it was not easy to evangelize so that the church could save people in this fashion. "It may not be the best way, but it is suitable for today's church," Sun added.
According to another male church member, Mu Chao, it took up to five years for a person to become a member of a small group and then become a group leader to serve. The Group has several stages, with these eight courses as the first stage for seekers. Therefore, after these courses, he thought it was unsuitable for catechumens to be baptized immediately, as they needed to grow spiritually through accompaniment and guidance. And it was unrealistic for a person to establish faith and grow up to commit to the church through these eight courses. Mu concluded, "You can’t nurture a seeker in a pragmatic or utilitarian way."
(At the request of the interviewees, the names of the characters in the article are all pseudonyms.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
The Effectiveness of 'Happiness Group' Varies in 4 Places
