Many churches in China are conservative and reserved because of their history, certain traditions, and the way they are set up. In view of this situation, Brother Wang Ning, a pastor in East China, urges that the church in China should abandon one-way thinking. They should adopt a two-way strategy and pay attention to internal ministry and outreach.
Wang Ning says that as far as he is concerned, the mentality of many pastors is still one-way and conservative, and there are some inadequacies in their ideas. Especially in today's environment, it can be said that it is the most important work to do a good job in pastoral ministry, but at the same time, it is inadequate to just do well in ministry.
Wang believes that every church should face the problems of internal ministry and outreach at the same time. Due to the way things are now, many churches' internal pastoral care has changed from being centralized to being done in small groups, or "cells." Although such a transformation may not always be positive, in any case, pastoral care is at least doable and can be done behind closed doors.
Therefore, the real difficulty often lies in outreach. Many churches face significant challenges during outreach: how to participate in the cultural mission and social care, how to be salt in society, how to influence neighbors and communities, and how to allow more people to see the good testimony of Christians and then accept the gospel. Historically speaking, many churches have many shortcomings in outreach.
It is necessary to attend to both the internal ministry of the church as well as its outreach activities. One of these is the passive strategy of pastoring people together within the church. However, each church is a part of the universal church and carries the weight of the important mission of evangelism, which must come from the church. Therefore, outreach is a strategy that requires both activity and aggression.
He explains, "What is the active strategy of a church? Especially in the time after the pandemic, the church is affected by many things inside and outside of it. What should the church do at this time? Do you just close the door and hide? Hiding in the group, hiding in the family, hiding in many places, and disappearing in society and community. If this is the case for a long time, then the influence and great mission of the church will gradually decline.”
Brother Wang himself has been involved in church ministry for many years. At the beginning of the ministry, the church was relatively small, and there were not so many things to do. However, with the development of the church and the expansion of his own vision, he found that he had more and more things to do and gradually began to be very busy. Although there was also the help of other colleagues, Wang himself was still in a busy state of "high load" for a long time. Because he was in a busy state for a long time, there was almost no time to rest, which made him very tired. Therefore, he looked forward to having colleagues help him so that he could concentrate on one thing instead of doing everything.
Wang said, "It would be great if a church could be led by two pastors." One pastor is in charge of the internal ministry, doing systematic internalization and in-depth herding, while the other pastor is in charge of outreach, doing a good job of expanding the mission of the kingdom of God. The two pastors usually work with each other and then coordinate with each other when needed. "This kind of division of labor and partnership is really beautiful.”
(The names of the characters in the text are all pseudonyms.)
-Translated by Charlie Li
由于很多历史因素的影响或者也可以说是某种传统，再加上现实环境的原因，中国很多教会都是比较保守封闭。针对这样的状况，华东某地一牧者王宁弟兄认为，中国教会应当摒弃单向化思维，两条腿走路，同时注重教会的内牧和外展。
王宁弟兄说，据他所了解和看到的，现在很多教会牧者的思维依然是非常单向化的，比较保守主义，想法有一些不太全备的地方。尤其是在现今这样的大环境下面，做好教会内牧更可以说是重中之重，但是同时，却不能仅仅只是做好内牧。
王宁弟兄认为每一个教会都要同时面对内牧和外展的问题。在当下的环境下面，很多教会的内牧从以前传统的堂会式集中牧养转型成为现在的小组的形态来做。虽然这样的转型未必都是积极主动的，但是，不论如何内牧至少都还是能够做的，因为内牧不需要跟外面接触，关起门来自己做就是了。
因此，真正的难点常常在于外展。在外展的时候，很多教会遇到了极大的困境——怎么参与到文化使命、社会关怀当中，怎么在社会当中作盐作光，影响邻舍，影响社区，让更多的人看到基督徒的好见证进而接受福音。实事求是的说，很多教会在外展这个方面是有很多欠缺。
教会的内牧和外展这两方面都需要做而且必须要做。其中，教会内部的小组化牧养这个是一种防御性的策略，但是同时，个体教会还是大公教会的一份子，负有福音的大使命，这个使命需要从教会当中走出来。因此，外展这个是一种主动进攻式的策略。
他解释道：“教会的主动策略是什么？尤其是现在在后疫情时代的大背景下，同时教会又面对很多的内外部环境的影响，这样的时候教会应当做些什么？是不是就直接关门躲起来了？躲到小组里面去了，躲到家庭里面去了，躲到很多地方去了，唯独在社会和社区中消失了。如果长期都是这样的话，那么教会的影响力以及大使命等都会逐渐下降。”
王弟兄自己参与教会服事多年的时间。在刚开始参与服事的时候，教会规模比较小，要做的事情也不是那么的多。但是随着教会的发展和他自身视野的拓展，他发现自己要做的事情越来越多，渐渐地开始忙活不过来了。虽然也有其他同工的帮助，但是王弟兄自己依然长期处于“高负载”的忙碌状态。由于长期处在忙碌的状态下，几乎没有休息的时间，让他感到非常疲惫。因此，他很盼望能够有同工成长起来帮助自己，让自己能够专心与一个方面的事情，而不是什么事情都要做。
王弟兄认为，“如果一所教会能够有两名牧者来带领的话，那是再好不过的了。一名牧者负责内牧，做好系统化的内化深入牧养，另外一名牧者负责外展，做好神国度的使命拓展。两名牧者平时彼此分工，然后需要的时候又互相配合，这样的分工、搭档着实是非常美的。”
（文中人物姓名均为化名）
访谈|华东一牧者：教会和牧者当摒弃单向化思维 同时注重教会的内牧和外展-基督时报-基督教资讯平台 (christiantimes.cn)
访谈|华东一牧者：教会和牧者当摒弃单向化思维 同时注重教会的内牧和外展
Many churches in China are conservative and reserved because of their history, certain traditions, and the way they are set up. In view of this situation, Brother Wang Ning, a pastor in East China, urges that the church in China should abandon one-way thinking. They should adopt a two-way strategy and pay attention to internal ministry and outreach.
Wang Ning says that as far as he is concerned, the mentality of many pastors is still one-way and conservative, and there are some inadequacies in their ideas. Especially in today's environment, it can be said that it is the most important work to do a good job in pastoral ministry, but at the same time, it is inadequate to just do well in ministry.
Wang believes that every church should face the problems of internal ministry and outreach at the same time. Due to the way things are now, many churches' internal pastoral care has changed from being centralized to being done in small groups, or "cells." Although such a transformation may not always be positive, in any case, pastoral care is at least doable and can be done behind closed doors.
Therefore, the real difficulty often lies in outreach. Many churches face significant challenges during outreach: how to participate in the cultural mission and social care, how to be salt in society, how to influence neighbors and communities, and how to allow more people to see the good testimony of Christians and then accept the gospel. Historically speaking, many churches have many shortcomings in outreach.
It is necessary to attend to both the internal ministry of the church as well as its outreach activities. One of these is the passive strategy of pastoring people together within the church. However, each church is a part of the universal church and carries the weight of the important mission of evangelism, which must come from the church. Therefore, outreach is a strategy that requires both activity and aggression.
He explains, "What is the active strategy of a church? Especially in the time after the pandemic, the church is affected by many things inside and outside of it. What should the church do at this time? Do you just close the door and hide? Hiding in the group, hiding in the family, hiding in many places, and disappearing in society and community. If this is the case for a long time, then the influence and great mission of the church will gradually decline.”
Brother Wang himself has been involved in church ministry for many years. At the beginning of the ministry, the church was relatively small, and there were not so many things to do. However, with the development of the church and the expansion of his own vision, he found that he had more and more things to do and gradually began to be very busy. Although there was also the help of other colleagues, Wang himself was still in a busy state of "high load" for a long time. Because he was in a busy state for a long time, there was almost no time to rest, which made him very tired. Therefore, he looked forward to having colleagues help him so that he could concentrate on one thing instead of doing everything.
Wang said, "It would be great if a church could be led by two pastors." One pastor is in charge of the internal ministry, doing systematic internalization and in-depth herding, while the other pastor is in charge of outreach, doing a good job of expanding the mission of the kingdom of God. The two pastors usually work with each other and then coordinate with each other when needed. "This kind of division of labor and partnership is really beautiful.”
(The names of the characters in the text are all pseudonyms.)
-Translated by Charlie Li
Chinese Churches Should Focus on Ministry, Outreach Now, Says Pastor
