Since late January the pandemic has disturbed our quiet life, and in-person church gatherings have been suspended. Church leaders have gradually explored new ways to pastor their congregations. Perhaps many people regard online worship services in a negative way, expecting on-site gathering to be resumed as soon as possible. Indeed, there are disadvantages to online church.
A Beijing pastor shared that the pandemic would be temporary, thus the impact would also be transient. It is difficult to carry out ministries during the COVID-19 crisis, but it is possible to overcome the challenges. His church leads three online meetings a week and publishes hymns written by believers from time to time. Whereas in general the meetings keep going on the same as before, the quality of online meetings is less than of on-site gatherings.
The feedback of most believers was that despite only listening to sermons and reading the Bible online, they felt empty because they are unable to meet pastors and other members in person. “The reality is that a digital church cannot replace the real church,” added the pastor. He suggested that the church focus on primary staff and volunteer group leaders who should read books diligently and have daily devotionals to wait for God’s will.
An elder from Zhejiang said that senior members in rural churches have been marginalized since the church went online. This marginalized group of people fail to understand Mandarin and are not able to use the Internet. They are likely to fall between the cracks as church ministry is carried out online during the pandemic.
As the church closure stops church members from receiving communion, people are prone to form a habit of doing other things at home while listening to sermons. This will have result in decreased attendance. he church should guard against just replacing worship with watching videos.
His advice was that the church should encourage home gatherings to do more than just listen to sermons. Family members could gather around in a house to pray and sing hymns together. If this is not possible, no more than ten friends who live nearby can meet in-person to avoid worshipping alone. If in-person meetings are not allowed, the communion service has to be suspended.
A pastor from Liaoning stated that online services have brought two disadvantages, people cannot gather in-person and heresies have become more prevalent. Since Christians cannot meet together, they lose the unity of worship and fellowship and do not know how to grow spiritually. Besides, the active Korean Shincheonji cult led non-Christians who did not have knowledge of Christianity to attack churches.
To deal with the problem, the pastor’s church established a group whose mission is to publish messages and hold online meetings. At the same time, all the ministries were paused as an opportunity for the church to think over what it should do in the next stage. Each department attended online video meetings to pray for God’s guidance in forming new ministries. When the church resumes gathering, every department will follow the new plan in ministry. As to the cult, the church publicized its wrong teachings and methods of working.
A Yunnan church set up WeChat groups in which pastors lead the congregation in morning prayers through recorded audio sermons and prayer topics. On Sundays, recorded worship videos are sent out to believers. However, pastors can only pray for those who have psychological problems. Another problem is that as the number of intellectuals in the church increases, pastors who do not receive theological education are unable to answer their difficult questions.
Last month a sister in a Kunming church died of sickness. Unable to hold a memorial service, her church encouraged believers to sing hymns to her family by using WeChat. Through the network, they accompanied the sister’s family through the difficult time.
There were many online lectures on Christianity which have broadened the eyes of many believers who then need to have further study. A pastor proposed that the church needed to reconsider what true worship is amid the pandemic.
Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem...The true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” (John 4:21,23)
Similarly, when we are unable to gather on-site, it is better to improve the quality of the meetings than merely complaining. Even though we are at home, God can be anywhere and will take pleasure as we worship in the Spirit and in truth.
- Translated by Karen Luo
当教会牧养事工拥抱互联网+
一场突如其来的疫情，打乱了我们原有的平静生活和计划，几个月过后，社会已进入常态化防疫，但教会还未能恢复聚会，信徒们几个月没领圣餐，牧者们也各显神通、渐渐摸索出了新的牧养方式，有挑战也引发着争论。
可能直到现在为止，不少人还在拒绝、或者以消极的态度看待网络牧养，期盼着早日恢复实地聚会。
确实，网络聚会有很多不便。
北京的一位牧师分享，疫情之下的教会牧养确实存在一定困难，不过还不能上升到挑战的层面，毕竟疫情只是暂时的，给教会带来的影响也是暂时的。
他所带领的教会每周进行三次线上聚会，还不定期推送征集上来的信徒赞美诗歌作品。
总体上看，聚会设置次数和内容与疫情之前相当。
不过，线上聚会的质量比线下差，多数信徒也反馈，仅仅听道和读经，不能去教会、不能见到牧者和弟兄姐妹感觉空落落的。
“这个事实说明，云宗教无法代替现实中的宗教。”
这位牧师建议，教会要抓住主要同工和义工组长，认真读书和灵修，等候神的旨意。
浙江的一位长老告诉笔者，开展网络牧养以来，乡村教会里的长者明显是“弱势群体”，他们听不懂普通话和使用网络，可能会成为疫情期间牧养的“真空”地带。
同时，圣餐无法领取，信徒们边做事情边听道的习惯或可能，会导致教会敬拜的数量下降，要谨防看视频代替敬拜的危机。
对此，他建议，教会可鼓励家庭聚会，除了听道，还要一起祷告和唱诗赞美，若没有条件，可以几个朋友就近组成聚会，不要只是单独灵修，但要在保证健康和正常防疫的情况下，不要超过10人；对于圣餐，实在没有办法，只能暂停。
辽宁的一位牧师说，疫情下的教会牧养，他听到的一般就这两个方面，一个是信徒们不能聚会，不能共同敬拜、团契和相通，见不到弟兄姐妹时，总觉得心里难受，灵命成长也不知道怎么办。
另一方面，新天地异端活跃，社会上不了解异端邪教的人会攻击基督教信仰。
对此，教会建立了联络群，发布各种教会信息，举行线上交通聚会，使原来不掌握微信的信徒进入群里，增加了凝聚力；同时，所有事工暂停，成为了教会调整的好机会，思想下个阶段应该如何做，他组织了各个部门开网络视频会议，让大家祷告并思考上帝对教会的带领，等到恢复聚会，就按照新的事工安排来做。
对于新天地，他们在教会内做好宣传，揭露其邪教本质，引导好信徒，教导他们活出基督徒不一样的生命。
云南一位牧师所在的教会，也是建立了微信群，牧者每天早上带领大家晨祷，通过录音的形式，把分享经文的信息和祷告内容发送到群里。
并且在礼拜天主日崇拜来临之前，提前录好崇拜程序，到时候了发到群里。
当然，他们也会遇到挑战，部分信徒有心理方面的疾病，牧者在安慰他们的时候只能借助祷告，其他的就没有办法了。
另一个是，教会里的知识分子信徒增多，传道人没有充足的神学装备，无法回答他们提出的棘手问题。
通过网络，教会可以开展传福音、教导、牧养、培训等事工，其实，通过互联网来做事情，这在当今早已成为习惯，我们都在使用网络，但想着利用网络来开展福音工作，似乎还有些踌躇。
笔者还发现，一些教会即便做了平台，也只是出于牧养本堂信徒，按照规定做一下更新，并未评估传播的有效性，做的也不甚专业，不知道是因为不够重视还是缺乏人才？
笔者发现，疫情期间，有教会不但开始了网络牧养，有主日崇拜有圣经系列学习，还通过微信群开展读经活动，关怀信徒。
昆明教会的一位姊妹因病去世，教会无法举办追思礼拜，就通过微信群，鼓励弟兄姐妹去安慰去世者的家属，给他们唱赞美诗，陪伴他们度过艰难时光。
还开展网络厨艺比拼大赛，丰富信徒生活。
网络上也出现了基督教相关的网络讲座，虽然信徒们通过一次讲座不能系统性地了解很多知识，但能拓展眼界，便于之后跟进学习。
对于疫情的冲击和影响，有牧者建议，教会要重新去思考何为真正的崇拜？
他认为，崇拜是整个生命的敬拜，也是特殊的主日的聚会，有上帝的工作和人的回应。
真正的敬拜，约翰福音里讲了，耶稣对撒马利亚妇人说：“你们拜父，也不在这山上，也不在耶路撒冷，那真正拜父的，要用心灵和诚实拜他，因为父要这样的人拜他。
“（约翰福音4:23）
所以，当我们不能实地聚会的时候，与其抱怨这样聚会不好，还不如想办法提升聚会质量，即便是在家里敬拜，也带着心灵和诚实，神无处不在，相信他会悦纳和带领我们在特殊时期的献上，不要忘记他与我们在灵里的交流与团契。
如果觉得效果不好，一定要和家人一起礼拜，或者几个朋友一起，这样可以增加仪式感，还可以彼此分享和祷告。
当然，我们也祈祷，教会也早日恢复正常的聚会。
同时，教会会遇到一些挑战，像前面说到的奉献款减少，传统的牧养方式受到挑战，新的方法有很多不习惯等，但无论何时，牧者像着灵魂的爱不能改变，不能带着引导信徒去奉献的心而牧养或发文章，还是要看到信徒真实的需要，以及在特殊处境中他们的难处，做好关怀与辅导。
前几天听说，一些民工信徒在疫情中失业了，教会需要给这部分人真实的关怀；一些家庭因为长时期隔离在家，出现了争吵，教会也需要做好辅导工作。
同时，还要帮助他们建造信仰根基，系统地学习圣经或者讲基本的神学知识，帮助他们很好地分辨和抵挡异端。
此外，一些传道人或小教会因为奉献减少而面临现实压力，信徒们也应当关心教会和牧者的需要。
笔者认为，任何时候，我们都能找到彼此相爱的机会，当我们以神为中心，以宣讲神的道和使人做主的门徒时，并且相信圣徒相通时，我们总能利用现有的机会和途径去传福音、爱灵魂，他们就在我们身边，何必好高骛远呢？
而且，教会在做好基本牧养工作的同时，也是拓展福音事工的好机会，可以掌握网络技术，作为平时牧养的补充，积极拥抱互联网+。
同时，同工们也可以借此装备自己，以便更好地服侍教会。
Since late January the pandemic has disturbed our quiet life, and in-person church gatherings have been suspended. Church leaders have gradually explored new ways to pastor their congregations. Perhaps many people regard online worship services in a negative way, expecting on-site gathering to be resumed as soon as possible. Indeed, there are disadvantages to online church.
A Beijing pastor shared that the pandemic would be temporary, thus the impact would also be transient. It is difficult to carry out ministries during the COVID-19 crisis, but it is possible to overcome the challenges. His church leads three online meetings a week and publishes hymns written by believers from time to time. Whereas in general the meetings keep going on the same as before, the quality of online meetings is less than of on-site gatherings.
The feedback of most believers was that despite only listening to sermons and reading the Bible online, they felt empty because they are unable to meet pastors and other members in person. “The reality is that a digital church cannot replace the real church,” added the pastor. He suggested that the church focus on primary staff and volunteer group leaders who should read books diligently and have daily devotionals to wait for God’s will.
An elder from Zhejiang said that senior members in rural churches have been marginalized since the church went online. This marginalized group of people fail to understand Mandarin and are not able to use the Internet. They are likely to fall between the cracks as church ministry is carried out online during the pandemic.
As the church closure stops church members from receiving communion, people are prone to form a habit of doing other things at home while listening to sermons. This will have result in decreased attendance. he church should guard against just replacing worship with watching videos.
His advice was that the church should encourage home gatherings to do more than just listen to sermons. Family members could gather around in a house to pray and sing hymns together. If this is not possible, no more than ten friends who live nearby can meet in-person to avoid worshipping alone. If in-person meetings are not allowed, the communion service has to be suspended.
A pastor from Liaoning stated that online services have brought two disadvantages, people cannot gather in-person and heresies have become more prevalent. Since Christians cannot meet together, they lose the unity of worship and fellowship and do not know how to grow spiritually. Besides, the active Korean Shincheonji cult led non-Christians who did not have knowledge of Christianity to attack churches.
To deal with the problem, the pastor’s church established a group whose mission is to publish messages and hold online meetings. At the same time, all the ministries were paused as an opportunity for the church to think over what it should do in the next stage. Each department attended online video meetings to pray for God’s guidance in forming new ministries. When the church resumes gathering, every department will follow the new plan in ministry. As to the cult, the church publicized its wrong teachings and methods of working.
A Yunnan church set up WeChat groups in which pastors lead the congregation in morning prayers through recorded audio sermons and prayer topics. On Sundays, recorded worship videos are sent out to believers. However, pastors can only pray for those who have psychological problems. Another problem is that as the number of intellectuals in the church increases, pastors who do not receive theological education are unable to answer their difficult questions.
Last month a sister in a Kunming church died of sickness. Unable to hold a memorial service, her church encouraged believers to sing hymns to her family by using WeChat. Through the network, they accompanied the sister’s family through the difficult time.
There were many online lectures on Christianity which have broadened the eyes of many believers who then need to have further study. A pastor proposed that the church needed to reconsider what true worship is amid the pandemic.
Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem...The true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” (John 4:21,23)
Similarly, when we are unable to gather on-site, it is better to improve the quality of the meetings than merely complaining. Even though we are at home, God can be anywhere and will take pleasure as we worship in the Spirit and in truth.
- Translated by Karen Luo
When Church Ministry Embraces Internet Plus
