Pastor Yun (pseudonym) is the pastor of a church in eastern China. The first time I went to Pastor Yun's church, I noticed that there were many young people, and the church staff were mainly young people.
That night, we attended the prayer meeting. The church staff laid out many mats on the floor of the meeting place, and there were people everywhere. The meeting lasted two and a half hours, from worship and praise to preaching and prayer.
This church has a tradition of more than 40 years, and the pastors and believers who have served and come to the church since its beginning are growing old, but the church never stops renewing itself. It has inherited the traditions that have been held since the beginning of the church: persisting in the pursuit of the Word, thirsting for the Holy Spirit, and focusing on evangelism; at the same time, it emphasizes pastoral care and gives great importance to lay church workers.
1. The pursuit of the Word
Pastor Yun grew up in the area and has gone to church with his mother since he was a child. At that time, several senior pastors in the church believed that it was important to develop young people. Many children who did not go to school were willing to go to church meetings with the pastors, and Pastor Yun was one of them.
About 30 years ago, when Pastor Yun was in his 20s, because the senior pastors emphasized the reading of the Word, several young people, including Pastor Yun, spontaneously started a devotional class. In fact, it was a group where everyone gathered to read the Bible, pray, and worship. Subsequently, the devotional class began to grow and have its own classrooms and Bible teachers; it even began to receive and provide food and lodging for groups of believers who came from other places. From just a few people, the class now has more than a few thousand graduates; many are serving in their own churches, and hundreds of them are serving as either full-time or part-time pastors.
2. Thirst for the Holy Spirit
Pastor Yun emphasizes that it is the Holy Spirit who builds the church and that all they do is pray. Pastor Yun admits that neither he nor any of the other senior pastors of the church are highly educated. Although they have received little informal theological training, they rely on the power of prayer and the love of Christ in their ministry. The church insists on holding morning prayer meetings at five o'clock and at various times throughout the day. In addition, prayer meetings are held on various occasions. In the past, there were all-night prayer meetings, but now it has been changed to half-night prayer meetings.
3. Emphasis on evangelism
Regarding evangelism, Pastor Yun is proud that the church members have done a good job of sharing the gospel. Many parents in the church are committed to raising their children in the Lord. Also, small groups have played an important role. More than 10 years ago, Pastor Yun started the ministry of small groups and delegated the responsibility of pastoral care to the group leaders. In small groups, the group leaders can pay more attention to their members, who can grow in the group, participate in the ministries of the church, and gradually bring their relatives and friends to the church.
In addition, the church where Pastor Yun serves provides quality worship services. The members of the worship band are either professional musicians or have received training. More than 40 church members serve on the adult worship team, with about eight to nine lead singers. Many believers have developed a musical interest through these ministries, which has also strengthened their faith; even the children of these members have joined the youth worship team.
4. Pastoral care-oriented
Pastor Yun also attaches great importance to pastoral care. He places special emphasis on the pastoral care of the frontline workers of the church because he considers his core team to be the pastoral leaders who lead the small groups.
Outside this core team, there are many excellent and competent people, people who are gifted in administration or preaching, and even pastors who have returned from overseas, but in Pastor Yun's eyes, they are not part of his core team. "All the pastors in our core team have a shepherding heart. They are someone who will shepherd the believers, like mothers who care for their children. They have experienced significant challenges in guiding, sharing laughter, shedding tears, and even enduring bloodshed. Anyone who can shepherd in this way can become one of our core members," Pastor Yun said.
Pastor Yun's words brought comfort to the hearts of many weeping shepherds and inspired many young pastoral workers to serve with a shepherd's heart.
The workers who serve in the church are all built up from the small groups of the church. Even the pastors who return from abroad, according to the tradition of the church, must join a small group and humbly accept the shepherding and mentoring of the group leader before they can participate in the ministry of the church under the recommendation of the group leader.
5. Valuing the church's lay workers
Pastor Yun's church uses a sermon-based small group model in which the small groups often play a more active role. Due to the presence of numerous small groups, the ministry requires a substantial amount of manpower, resulting in the transformation of the lives of numerous lay believers. In addition to several full-time staff members, the church has many lay workers. Many group leaders devote almost all of their energy outside of work to shepherding their small groups, and some hold group meetings in their homes or businesses.
Pastor Yun believed that these lay workers tend to be more influential in the community and are very important in the work of evangelism.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
云牧师（化名）是华东一间教会的牧者。第一次去云牧师的教堂，发现年轻人好多，服事的同工们也是年轻人为主。
当天晚上我们一起参加了祷告会，教会同工在会场铺上了很多垫子，会场几乎坐满了人。聚会从敬拜赞美、到讲道、祷告结束一共持续了两个半小时。
这是一间有着四十多年传统的教会，早期的牧者和信徒也都上了年纪。但是教会却一直不断地更新，他们不仅传承了教会建立之初就持守的传统。既追求圣书，又渴慕圣灵，还注重传福音；与此同时又强调牧养为导向，注重职场使徒。
一、追求圣书
云牧师是在当地长大的孩子，从小就跟着母亲去教会，当时教会里有几位长辈牧者非常重视培养年轻人。很多不上学的孩子也都愿意跟着长辈们到处聚会，云牧师就是其中的一位。
大概三十年前，云牧师20多岁，因为长辈们很注重读圣书，他们几个年轻人就自发组成了灵修班，其实就是大家常常聚在一起读经，祷告，唱诗歌。后来灵修班开始有了规模，有了教室，也有了圣书教师。甚至开始一批一批地接待外地来的信徒，给他们提供食宿。灵修班从最开始的几个人，到如今历届的毕业生统计已超过几千人。很多人都在各自的教会服事，其中担任牧者和传道人的就有上百位（有全职，有带职）。
二、渴慕圣灵
云牧师表示教会发展到现在都是圣灵的工作，他们只是祷告。云牧师坦白自己和上一代牧者，学历都不高。虽然受过一些非正规的神学教育，但是大家都是靠着祷告，带着基督的爱来服事。教会坚持五点钟晨祷，还有各个时段的祷告。此外还常常安排各种祷告会，以前有通宵祷告，现在改为半宵祷告会。
三、注重传福音
关于如何传福音，云牧师感到自豪的是信徒首先在福音的传承上做得很好。在教会里，很多父母都把孩子带到主的面前。此外教会的小组也发挥了重要的作用。10多年前，云牧师就开始主张小组，并且把牧养的责任分配给小组长。小组能够切实关注到自己的组员，他们在小组里成长，参与事奉，慢慢就把身边的亲戚朋友带过来。
此外，云牧师所在的教会是敬拜很强的教会，乐队的成员都是专业的，或者受过训练的。成人敬拜团的事奉人员有40多位，光主唱就有8、9位。他们也培养很多对音乐感兴趣的信徒，并借此坚固了他们的信仰，甚至很多基督徒的孩子（二代、三代基督徒）也加入了青少年敬拜团。
四、牧养为导向
此外，云牧师特别强调牧养。云牧师格外看重牧养一线的同工，他认为自己的核心团队是带领各个小组的牧区长们。
在这个核心团队之外，其实有很多优秀的、有能力的、有管理才能的、有讲道恩赐的人，甚至有一些是从外地回到当地的牧师。但在云牧师看来，这些都不是他们的核心同工。云牧师说，“我们的核心同工是那些牧区长们，他们是有牧者心肠的人，是像妈妈带孩子一样牧养信徒的人，是在牧养中经历过流泪和欢笑，甚至流血的人。什么时候你这样去牧养了，你就是我们的核心同工。”
云牧师的话安慰了那些流泪牧养的牧区长，也激励了很多年轻的同工更加想要带着牧者的心肠去服事。
他们教会的同工都是从小组里被牧养出来的。即便有时会有外地回到老家这里的牧者，也要按教会的传统，先选择一个小组，在小组里谦卑接受小组长的牧养和治理之后才能在组长的推荐下参与教会服事
五、注重职场使徒
云牧师的教会是小组和大堂结合，更多时候是小组在发挥作用。小组很多，所以需要很多同工一同参与，这也让很多平信徒的生命得到了造就。除了一部分全职同工之外，教会还有很多带职同工。很多小组长几乎把工作之外的精力全部都投入到牧养中，有些人把小组聚会放在自己的家中或者放在自己的店里。
云牧师表示这些职场同工在社会上往往更有影响力，对于传福音的工作也有其特别的意义。
五点经验 | 华东一间充满活力的教会：如何坚持原有传统并与时俱进？
Pastor Yun (pseudonym) is the pastor of a church in eastern China. The first time I went to Pastor Yun's church, I noticed that there were many young people, and the church staff were mainly young people.
That night, we attended the prayer meeting. The church staff laid out many mats on the floor of the meeting place, and there were people everywhere. The meeting lasted two and a half hours, from worship and praise to preaching and prayer.
This church has a tradition of more than 40 years, and the pastors and believers who have served and come to the church since its beginning are growing old, but the church never stops renewing itself. It has inherited the traditions that have been held since the beginning of the church: persisting in the pursuit of the Word, thirsting for the Holy Spirit, and focusing on evangelism; at the same time, it emphasizes pastoral care and gives great importance to lay church workers.
1. The pursuit of the Word
Pastor Yun grew up in the area and has gone to church with his mother since he was a child. At that time, several senior pastors in the church believed that it was important to develop young people. Many children who did not go to school were willing to go to church meetings with the pastors, and Pastor Yun was one of them.
About 30 years ago, when Pastor Yun was in his 20s, because the senior pastors emphasized the reading of the Word, several young people, including Pastor Yun, spontaneously started a devotional class. In fact, it was a group where everyone gathered to read the Bible, pray, and worship. Subsequently, the devotional class began to grow and have its own classrooms and Bible teachers; it even began to receive and provide food and lodging for groups of believers who came from other places. From just a few people, the class now has more than a few thousand graduates; many are serving in their own churches, and hundreds of them are serving as either full-time or part-time pastors.
2. Thirst for the Holy Spirit
Pastor Yun emphasizes that it is the Holy Spirit who builds the church and that all they do is pray. Pastor Yun admits that neither he nor any of the other senior pastors of the church are highly educated. Although they have received little informal theological training, they rely on the power of prayer and the love of Christ in their ministry. The church insists on holding morning prayer meetings at five o'clock and at various times throughout the day. In addition, prayer meetings are held on various occasions. In the past, there were all-night prayer meetings, but now it has been changed to half-night prayer meetings.
3. Emphasis on evangelism
Regarding evangelism, Pastor Yun is proud that the church members have done a good job of sharing the gospel. Many parents in the church are committed to raising their children in the Lord. Also, small groups have played an important role. More than 10 years ago, Pastor Yun started the ministry of small groups and delegated the responsibility of pastoral care to the group leaders. In small groups, the group leaders can pay more attention to their members, who can grow in the group, participate in the ministries of the church, and gradually bring their relatives and friends to the church.
In addition, the church where Pastor Yun serves provides quality worship services. The members of the worship band are either professional musicians or have received training. More than 40 church members serve on the adult worship team, with about eight to nine lead singers. Many believers have developed a musical interest through these ministries, which has also strengthened their faith; even the children of these members have joined the youth worship team.
4. Pastoral care-oriented
Pastor Yun also attaches great importance to pastoral care. He places special emphasis on the pastoral care of the frontline workers of the church because he considers his core team to be the pastoral leaders who lead the small groups.
Outside this core team, there are many excellent and competent people, people who are gifted in administration or preaching, and even pastors who have returned from overseas, but in Pastor Yun's eyes, they are not part of his core team. "All the pastors in our core team have a shepherding heart. They are someone who will shepherd the believers, like mothers who care for their children. They have experienced significant challenges in guiding, sharing laughter, shedding tears, and even enduring bloodshed. Anyone who can shepherd in this way can become one of our core members," Pastor Yun said.
Pastor Yun's words brought comfort to the hearts of many weeping shepherds and inspired many young pastoral workers to serve with a shepherd's heart.
The workers who serve in the church are all built up from the small groups of the church. Even the pastors who return from abroad, according to the tradition of the church, must join a small group and humbly accept the shepherding and mentoring of the group leader before they can participate in the ministry of the church under the recommendation of the group leader.
5. Valuing the church's lay workers
Pastor Yun's church uses a sermon-based small group model in which the small groups often play a more active role. Due to the presence of numerous small groups, the ministry requires a substantial amount of manpower, resulting in the transformation of the lives of numerous lay believers. In addition to several full-time staff members, the church has many lay workers. Many group leaders devote almost all of their energy outside of work to shepherding their small groups, and some hold group meetings in their homes or businesses.
Pastor Yun believed that these lay workers tend to be more influential in the community and are very important in the work of evangelism.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
Interview: How Vibrant Church in Eastern China Maintains Tradition and Changes with the Times
