I was invited to a retreat held in a rural church in a county-level city in Jilin Province.
After singing in worship, the pastor began to preach a sermon. He reminded the believers that faith should not be just talk; we must take action in real life. Moreover, it is very easy for us believers to worship things other than God, such as grace and physical health, so we must make sure that we worship the one true God. During the sermon, the pastor also explained other common concerns of the believers, such as whether Christians can drink and smoke. All the believers listened attentively during the one-and-a-half-hour sermon and responded with a hearty “Amen” afterwards.
This eight-day retreat began with a training program for pastors, followed by a retreat for lay believers. Pastor Shen from Shenyang delivered all of the sermons in a variety of rural churches. The pastor told us that he had to preach every morning, afternoon, and evening for about a week, giving at least four or even six sermons a day. The theme of this year’s revival conference was “Our Identity in Christ and How to Live It Out,” and Pastor Shen had prepared different sermons for the pastors and lay believers.
Between two sermons, there was a time of praise and worship, and then participants were invited to dance on stage.
After that, there were still believers in the church waiting to be prayed for. I later learned from Pastor Shen that this is the norm for revival conferences in rural churches. In addition to preaching several times during the week, the pastor must pray for the many waiting believers after the sermon.
Pastor Liu, who is in charge of the churches in the county, said there are about 20 churches under their pastorship, each with from a dozen to about 70 members, and revival conferences are held according to each church’s situation. In addition to pastoring the churches, several pastors also work together in other ministries, such as establishing nursing homes and care centers for autistic children.
Pastor Liu also shared some other characteristics of rural churches, such as the fact that during the busy farming season, the number of members attending church would drop sharply because everyone would be working in the fields; in the meantime, some churches would simply stop opening their doors, and the people in charge would not show up. Therefore, in order to pastor the local believers, it is important to take advantage of the slack season to hold revival conferences.
Speaking about pastoring rural churches, the pastor of a county-level CC&TSPM in Heilongjiang Province said that they also attach great importance to pastoring grassroots churches. Young pastors spent much time visiting different meeting points in different villages; while they are officially required to visit each meeting point once every quarter, sometimes some pastors stay in one town for a whole week to visit all 20 meeting points in that town. When the pastors are not visiting, there are volunteers to lead the services.
Moreover, since the conditions in the grassroots churches are grueling, the church is more inclined to send brothers to be pastors of these churches.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
在吉林某县级市，我受邀参加当地一所乡村教会参加培灵会。
赞美结束，牧者开始讲道，他提醒信徒，不能把信仰只是当作标语，而是要落实到实际生活中。信仰要拜对真神，我们很容易拜神之外的，比如恩典、身体健康等这些外面的。同时针对大家关心的基督徒能不能喝酒、抽烟等问题进行分享。一个半小时的讲道中，信徒听得非常认真，大声回应“阿们”。
此次培灵会为期8天，先是同工培训，后是培灵会。会在不同乡镇教会展开，主讲人都是这位从沈阳来的沈牧师。他告诉我们这些天，他每天上午、下午加晚上都在讲道，每天达4-6场。针对同工培训和培灵会，他预备了不同主题的讲道，培灵会的主题是基督徒与基督徒生活。
两场讲道之间也有赞美环节，后面邀请大家上台跳舞。
交流中得知这是农村教会开培灵会的常态，牧者不仅要高频率高强度讲道，讲道结束后还要为很多等候的信徒代祷。
刘牧师是该县教会整体的负责人，他说，这里他们牧养的教会有20个左右，信徒人数从十几到七十不等。培灵会会根据地域情况在不同的教会开展。除了牧养教会，他们几个牧者还联合做了养老院、自闭症儿童关怀中心等事工。
他也谈到了一些乡村教会的特点，比如农忙时节聚会人数会急剧下降。因为大家忙着地里的活，有的教会甚至不开门，负责人也不去的。所以抓住农闲时节，开培灵会就成为当地牧养信徒的重要方式。
谈起牧养乡村教会的经验，黑龙江一家县级两会牧者说他们当地也是重视基层教会的牧养。几位年轻牧师经常到各个乡村聚会点跑，按照要求，他们每个季度要把所有的聚会点都跑一遍。有时牧者会在一个镇上待上一周，把那个镇的20个聚会点都走一遍。牧者不过去的话，每个聚会点一般都有可以带聚会的义工。
同时，正是因为基层教会的条件比较艰苦，所以做基层教会牧养，教会会更偏向派遣弟兄牧者。
一间乡村教会聚会亲历记
I was invited to a retreat held in a rural church in a county-level city in Jilin Province.
After singing in worship, the pastor began to preach a sermon. He reminded the believers that faith should not be just talk; we must take action in real life. Moreover, it is very easy for us believers to worship things other than God, such as grace and physical health, so we must make sure that we worship the one true God. During the sermon, the pastor also explained other common concerns of the believers, such as whether Christians can drink and smoke. All the believers listened attentively during the one-and-a-half-hour sermon and responded with a hearty “Amen” afterwards.
This eight-day retreat began with a training program for pastors, followed by a retreat for lay believers. Pastor Shen from Shenyang delivered all of the sermons in a variety of rural churches. The pastor told us that he had to preach every morning, afternoon, and evening for about a week, giving at least four or even six sermons a day. The theme of this year’s revival conference was “Our Identity in Christ and How to Live It Out,” and Pastor Shen had prepared different sermons for the pastors and lay believers.
Between two sermons, there was a time of praise and worship, and then participants were invited to dance on stage.
After that, there were still believers in the church waiting to be prayed for. I later learned from Pastor Shen that this is the norm for revival conferences in rural churches. In addition to preaching several times during the week, the pastor must pray for the many waiting believers after the sermon.
Pastor Liu, who is in charge of the churches in the county, said there are about 20 churches under their pastorship, each with from a dozen to about 70 members, and revival conferences are held according to each church’s situation. In addition to pastoring the churches, several pastors also work together in other ministries, such as establishing nursing homes and care centers for autistic children.
Pastor Liu also shared some other characteristics of rural churches, such as the fact that during the busy farming season, the number of members attending church would drop sharply because everyone would be working in the fields; in the meantime, some churches would simply stop opening their doors, and the people in charge would not show up. Therefore, in order to pastor the local believers, it is important to take advantage of the slack season to hold revival conferences.
Speaking about pastoring rural churches, the pastor of a county-level CC&TSPM in Heilongjiang Province said that they also attach great importance to pastoring grassroots churches. Young pastors spent much time visiting different meeting points in different villages; while they are officially required to visit each meeting point once every quarter, sometimes some pastors stay in one town for a whole week to visit all 20 meeting points in that town. When the pastors are not visiting, there are volunteers to lead the services.
Moreover, since the conditions in the grassroots churches are grueling, the church is more inclined to send brothers to be pastors of these churches.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
Experiencing Eight-day Retreat in a Rural Church
