In the past few decades, one of the biggest management dilemmas faced by many grassroots churches in China has been how to get out of the patriarchal system, especially in the process of a church growing to a larger church and fewer ministries to more. So how to innovate in the management system and how to apply it to the very specific localized practice according to biblical teachings is also a question that many teachers, pastors, and the clergy have been troubled with in the past decades or so.
At present, one of the most realistic tensions is how to maintain the spiritual leadership of pastoral leaders and jump out of the custom of parental autocracy.
A few days ago, Pastor D, the head of a grass-roots church in East China, shared the experience of trying to localize biblical principles: the grape trellis system.
This is a set of feasible pastoral administrative management systems that they gradually formed in their ministries of over ten years. Pastor D said that he had experienced different types and stages of management systems in family churches in the past, such as paternalism and presbytery, but found many contradictions and conflicts. After studying, he formed some thoughts on the healthy development of the church in the future and applied them to practice. “Our present system is not the traditional patriarchal system or the reformed system. I personally designed the grape trellis administration system used by our church according to its actual environment,” he said.
Pastor D explained what the “grape trellis system” is.
First, Jesus Christ is the vine, and we are branches - the relationship on the vine means that everyone is equal. We have rejected the pyramid system, dictatorship system, oligarchy system, paternalism system, and parliamentary system. When every gathering place develops enough to become self-reliant, it becomes an independent church and is managed independently.
Second, regardless of seniority, whether you have served for two years or 50 years, these two people are also in the same responsible position.
Thirdly, the branches on the grape shelf are connected to the trunk, and the four principles of unity are emphasized: unity of truth, unity of relationship, unity of feelings, and unity of administration.
Pastor D said that the pastors and clergymen of his church had discussed the goals and plans for ten years, and no one could change them without authorization. And anyone who makes mistakes in three aspects, namely, moral issues, greed for money, and heresy, can be expelled. Without these three problems, the person in charge of the gathering place can handle them by themselves, and other brotherly churches don’t need to intervene or comment on these things.
He focused on unity. First of all, the unity of truth, and especially the teachers and pastors, need to have common discussions and basic consensus in theology so as to promote the development of the church.
“After building the unity of truth, emotion, and theology, you will find that the development of the church is not tiring because there is no need for the person in charge to unify the whole country. They are separate management models and are connected together just like a grape trellis,” he added.
- Translated by Charlie Li
过去几十年来，中国不少基层教会在管理上遇到的最大的一个困境是如何从家长制中走出来，特别是当教会从小到大，事工从少到多的过程中。如何在管理体制上创新，并且根据圣经对此的教导应用到各地教会非常具体的本土化实践中？这也是近十多年来，不少教牧同工所苦恼的问题。
当前，其中一个很现实的张力就是如何既维护教牧领袖的属灵领导力，又跳出家长专制的惯性。
日前，华东一位基层教会的负责人D牧师分享了他们把圣经原则进行本土化尝试的经验：葡萄架体系。
这是他们在十多年的牧会过程中逐渐形成的一套可行的牧会行政管理体系。D牧师说，他经历过以往家庭教会的不同类型和阶段管理体制，比如家长制、比如长老团等，但都发现有很多矛盾和冲突。在经历了许多探索之后，他有了对未来教会健康发展的一些思考并应用于实践：“我们现在的体制不是传统的家长制，也不是改革宗体制，我根据实际情况亲自设计了我们教会使用的葡萄架行政管理体制。”
那什么是“葡萄架体系”呢？D牧师对此进行了解释。
第一，耶稣基督是葡萄树，我们是枝子——葡萄架上的关系意味着大家都是平等的；我们否定了金字塔体制、独裁制、寡头制、家长制和议会制的结构，每一个聚会点发展到可以自立的时候，就是一个独立的教会，独立管理。
第二，不排资论辈，你服事了2年也好，你服事了50年也罢，这两个人也是同一个治理的职位；
第三，葡萄架上的枝子又连于树干，我们强调四个合一的连接原则：真理的合一、关系的合一、感情的合一、行政的合一。
D牧师说，教会的牧者同工们一起商议了10年目标和计划，谁都不能擅自更改；并且任何人在关于治理原则的道德问题、贪财问题、异端问题这三个方面犯了错，都可以开除他。如果没有这三个问题，该聚会点的负责人都可以自行处理，其他兄弟教会都不需要插手或者评论这些事情。
他非常强调合一。首先是在真理上的合一，并且尤其是教牧同工需要在神学上有共通的探讨和基本的共识，这样才能带动起来随后的教会的发展。“在真理、感情、神学的合一构建好之后，你会发现教会发展再大都不累，因为不需要负责人一统天下，都是分开的管理的模式，又是连于一体的，就如同葡萄架一样。”
专访｜一基层教会管理体制的创新经验：葡萄架体系
In the past few decades, one of the biggest management dilemmas faced by many grassroots churches in China has been how to get out of the patriarchal system, especially in the process of a church growing to a larger church and fewer ministries to more. So how to innovate in the management system and how to apply it to the very specific localized practice according to biblical teachings is also a question that many teachers, pastors, and the clergy have been troubled with in the past decades or so.
At present, one of the most realistic tensions is how to maintain the spiritual leadership of pastoral leaders and jump out of the custom of parental autocracy.
A few days ago, Pastor D, the head of a grass-roots church in East China, shared the experience of trying to localize biblical principles: the grape trellis system.
This is a set of feasible pastoral administrative management systems that they gradually formed in their ministries of over ten years. Pastor D said that he had experienced different types and stages of management systems in family churches in the past, such as paternalism and presbytery, but found many contradictions and conflicts. After studying, he formed some thoughts on the healthy development of the church in the future and applied them to practice. “Our present system is not the traditional patriarchal system or the reformed system. I personally designed the grape trellis administration system used by our church according to its actual environment,” he said.
Pastor D explained what the “grape trellis system” is.
First, Jesus Christ is the vine, and we are branches - the relationship on the vine means that everyone is equal. We have rejected the pyramid system, dictatorship system, oligarchy system, paternalism system, and parliamentary system. When every gathering place develops enough to become self-reliant, it becomes an independent church and is managed independently.
Second, regardless of seniority, whether you have served for two years or 50 years, these two people are also in the same responsible position.
Thirdly, the branches on the grape shelf are connected to the trunk, and the four principles of unity are emphasized: unity of truth, unity of relationship, unity of feelings, and unity of administration.
Pastor D said that the pastors and clergymen of his church had discussed the goals and plans for ten years, and no one could change them without authorization. And anyone who makes mistakes in three aspects, namely, moral issues, greed for money, and heresy, can be expelled. Without these three problems, the person in charge of the gathering place can handle them by themselves, and other brotherly churches don’t need to intervene or comment on these things.
He focused on unity. First of all, the unity of truth, and especially the teachers and pastors, need to have common discussions and basic consensus in theology so as to promote the development of the church.
“After building the unity of truth, emotion, and theology, you will find that the development of the church is not tiring because there is no need for the person in charge to unify the whole country. They are separate management models and are connected together just like a grape trellis,” he added.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Interview: Innovation of Grassroots Church Management System - 'The Grape Trellis System'
