With the continuation of pandemic containment and the intensification of religion management, a number of notable changes have taken place in the form and operation of churches in China.
"Group-based, family-based, digitalization" is a brief summary of a recent conversation between house church pastors from different regions about the current situation and the trends of churches in China since the 2020 pandemic. Some of these pastors minister to churches of different sizes, some do the outreach to various groups such as college ministries, and others are engaged in theological education and the promotion of Christian education while ministering.
This trend is not limited to house churches. It is also becoming more prevalent in some Three-Self churches in various locations where regular in-person meetings are not feasible due to the safety measures to prevent COVID-19.
“Group-based” refers to small group gatherings. “Family-based” means that meetings and worship services take place in a believer’s home. “Digitalization” refers to worship, meetings, and training programs held online. Actually, the three changes have begun years ago, but the 2020 pandemic has speeded them up. It can be said that three trends have become more prominent in the Post-COVID-19 Era and the external influences have consolidated them.
On the one hand, the trends refer to being unable to meet in person in sanctuaries. On the other hand, pastoral ministry cannot be omitted. The "group-based, family-based, and digitalization" model has evolved in response to these needs. Here are some manifestations of this trend: large churches are divided into small groups; the demand for teaching and curriculum materials for small groups has greatly increased; the training for group leaders has been enhanced significantly. Meanwhile, switching back to family-based meetings becomes a focus of more churches. More Christian families are attaching importance to family worship. Online meetings, training programs, and courses have increased tens of times more than before the pandemic.
More than ten years ago, house churches moved their meetings from homes to public office buildings. Nowadays, they are switching from large venues to home-based churches, from the pursuit of large venues to decentralization. The fervor for purchasing and building churches and large venues has ceased. Group gatherings are now taking place in individuals’ homes and various meeting places. The venues of the Three-Self church are also temporarily unavailable due to various circumstances.
Because it is not clear how long the current hardship will last, it is unknown how long the trend of the "group-based, family-based, digitalization" model will continue.
It can be expected that this trend in the Three-Self church may be significantly diminished once their church meetings return back to normal. In contrast, house churches have been more convinced of the “early church” model, or the house-based model, since the government policy measures were tightened in 2014. Additionally, they have observed the improvement of the pastoral care associated with small group ministries. Even if in-person meetings resume in the future, house churches may still rely on small groups, families, and online modes, to a much greater degree.
House churches: Emphasizing that the church is "the gathering of two or three people in the name of Jesus"
The inception of the Chinese house church was in the 1950s. The term "house church" does not refer to worship within families and is not translated into "family church." In the context of the past times, people who did not want to join the Three-Self Patriotic Movement could not attend the churches that were officially registered with the Movement. They could only meet in Protestant believers' houses to maintain their Christian faith.
Simply because of this, people often associate the Chinese house church with the scene of gatherings in believers' homes decades ago, especially during the Cultural Revolution. With the opening of the political and social environment as well as the growth of churches, the “New Urban House Church Movement” gradually emerged around 2000. One of its important features was to call on house churches to move from believers’ private homes to public office buildings. Influenced by this trend, many large churches in cities began to raise funds or get bank loans to purchase real estate properties, such as parts of office buildings. This type of “public building model” became the mainstream.
However, following the Zhejiang cross-removal Movement in 2014, China's religion management policies became strict in the management of church affairs, teaching staff, church land, and religious information communication on the internet. One of the big challenges that many house churches faced was the safety issue when churches were operated at a large scale in public spaces. Furthermore, maintaining a public meeting space placed great pressure on the church's finances. In those years, the churches that owned properties in various locations encountered an array of issues, such as difficulties in repaying loans and disputes over venues.
It has been difficult to meet in person since the pandemic began in 2020. A number of house churches have found that the biggest challenge is to make good use of the space regularly even if it is rented. Meanwhile, the economic downturn and the loss of believers brought about by the pandemic have resulted in fewer monetary offerings, an issue that numerous churches and pastors have to deal with.
For various reasons, many house churches have gone semi-underground again, either voluntarily or involuntarily. One of the big changes is that these churches no longer lease office buildings or other noticeable meeting places. Instead, they choose spaces flexible for church meetings, such as small venues and believers’ homes.
As a result, many churches are divided into small units and emphasize small groups. Pastor A, a young pastor born in the 1980s in East China, indicated in March 2021 that the pandemic had little impact on his church. "Because we started small groups since a half year prior to the pandemic," stated him.
"In the beginning, small groups were mainly to prepare for emergencies such as policy tightening. When the pandemic broke out, we transitioned to the format of pastoring in small groups successfully. There has been little impact on the believers, and the ministering to the believers has been advanced," continued Pastor A.
They did not abandon the leased church space all at once. By keeping it, the believers could feel a sense of "home" and belonging because they had been meeting in the church space for years. "Online ministering has been implemented, too. When the pandemic precaution measures are less restricted, a hybrid of online and in-person modes is used. Each small group takes turns to attend the Sunday service in the main hall of the church.”
"Between the founding of the People's Republic of China and the Cultural Revolution, the Christian predecessors had begun to prepare for the future policies. They taught the believers to root God’s Word in their personal life. This is how Christian heritage was able to be preserved even when the believers were not allowed to read the Bible during the Cultural Revolution. Small groups serve the same function and focus more on the lives of believers. Believers build a relationship with God rather than with a church or a pastor. In this way, the believers can stand before God no matter what circumstances they are facing."
Pastor B, a middle-aged pastor in Beijing, has been ministering to emerging churches in the city for many years. He stated that one of the important lessons that the pandemic had taught them was the perception of the church. "Church is not a building where believers meet. According to Jesus, the church is ‘the gathering of two or three people in His name'.”
Pastor C, ministering to a church of migrant workers in a second-tier city in East China, shared a similar view that we have to let go the "temple-centered" doctrine in the post-pandemic era. The "temple-centered" doctrine had caused the church to struggle when the government policies became strict and when the pandemic hit. “The traditional Christian church followed the 'temple-centered' doctrine in its worship service and identity, with the church replacing the temple. Meetings need a physical space, which leads to the church-centered model. In-person meetings are centered around and hosted in a certain building, and the Christian church could be seen in public. The social gathering becomes the main expression of the existence of Christian belief. However, there would be challenges associated with this type of church meetings in a building when physical space is constrained. To the believers accustomed to using the church collectively to define their faith and identity, Christianity could not be manifested in the void. Their faith might be jeopardized. In turn, it will try every means to strive for its manifestation and expansion of the church's physical space. This will inevitably conflict with the secular world. As a matter of fact, many concepts of the traditional church today do not come from Jesus, but from what Jesus opposed. They could be the traditions long abandoned by the Jews. This is one of the main reasons for the difficult situation of the Christian church today."
He called out, "The model initiated by Jesus is the model of the free union of Christians, which is unlimited in number and gender. It could range from two or three people to a dozen. In a more meaningful way, several people learn and grow together, improve themselves, impact their families, and make the world a better place. 'This is my command: Love each other.' (John 15:17) This teaching is not to oppose church gatherings but the temple-centered practice. In such unusual days with space constraints, now is the time for Christians to accept the changes, be molded, and grow. This could be the best way to testify for Christian faith in the present moment.”
Before the pandemic, a number of senior pastors of Chinese churches believed that the most important reason for the growth of house churches in China was to follow the example of the "early church.” Today, church activities move from public spaces such as office buildings to families and small groups. This is the recurrence of the essence of the "early church" from the perspective of the house church pastors.
However, Pastor D, who has been concerned about the theological education of house churches, stated that it was critical for the time being to develop a consensus and a unified foundation of Christian theology among various denominations and churches. Today’s church was forced to go underground again due to the circumstances, and believers met in families and small groups. It was rare to see churches in public. "Under such circumstances, heresies and cults will continue to make waves. When there is time and opportunities, we should hurry to establish a comprehensive theological education system... If our thinking is not on the same page, we will become fragmented and disorganized over time when the church is constantly scattered,” he added.
He was concerned that if a consensus of the sound doctrine was not reached and communicated, "people would develop churches in their own way after churches go underground. When there is a sudden reopening one day, we may see all kinds of heresies. To unite everyone with a sound doctrine is more important than anything else. First of all, we need to hurry to integrate the principles of the Christian faith. Other tasks such as ministering strategies are secondary. Otherwise, it is very likely that the Chinese church will be completely hopeless."
The Three-Self church: Finding that small groups have an impact on ministering to believers
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the large churches associated with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in various locations have been struggling even though they own spaces for church activities. The days when these churches are open are fewer than the days closed due to the COVID-19 protective measures.
A church with more than 1,000 believers in a city in Heilongjiang counted the days when the church was open: In the past 828 days, the church switched back and forth between "double suspension of opening" and "resuming in-person meetings," with only 157 normal opening days.
This is not an isolated case. The Three-Self church has been facing similar situations in at least a dozen provinces. For instance, the churches in provinces such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang resumed church activities in May 2022. According to the precautionary measures of Hangzhou against COVID-19, fifty people can be in a meeting, but the maximum is 300. This indicates that the Chongyi Church, probably the largest mega-church in China, could only hold 300 people when there are normally 5,500 people in one Sunday service. Some other cities are experiencing the same challenge. A church with a congregation of several thousand people may only allow 100 people to meet at a time. Moreover, requirements such as vaccination or PCR within 48 hours are imposed.
Church closures and the lack of in-person meetings have become a challenge to the mega-churches in cities with regard to ministering to their congregations of thousands of people.
Consequently, many Three-Self churches have shown interest in small groups and started to put them into practice a few years ago. Small group meetings in families began to take shape. The church has been divided into groups of about 10 people for small gatherings and ministering. A number of grassroots pastors of the Three-Self churches found that the ministering in small groups was more thorough than the previous format of mass gatherings in a church building. Some brothers have observed several small group meetings held in the family and benefited from their observations. They learned that the scale of such meetings is relatively small, ranging from three to six or seven people. Group members gather at believers’ homes for fellowship. They share their feelings and thoughts about faith as well as their visions for the church. The group cooks together after the fellowship, and the members build closer relationships with each other. The group enjoys itself and has a great time.
Yet, there are challenges. For example, it is difficult to manage when there are a large number of groups. There were instances where group leaders lured away from the members. Heresies and cults have secretly sent their members to serve as group leaders and poach the members. In view of this, churches are focusing more on the training of group leaders and ministers.
Meanwhile, the Three-Self church faces more restrictions on online ministering. Many local religion management departments have prohibited the Three-Self church from any type of online pastoring. As a result, the church pastors can only share messages via the 60-second voice mails on WeChat to avoid the requirement of sermon submission. With the implementation of the Administrative Measures for Internet Religious Information Services since March 1st, a number of local Three-Self churches have dismissed their WeChat groups to be exempted from the required submission of monetary offerings. The difficulties in online ministering have increased the demand for small groups in the Three-Self church.
Given those external changes, more and more registered churches focus more on the cultivation of core staff and the inner construction of their congregation rather than the previous pursuit of church building scales and the number of members.
Online vs. in-person ministry: Complementing each other but with controversies
Five or six years before the 2020 pandemic, Pastor X of a house church in Hangzhou started to minister to the believers through QQ, WeChat, and other platforms. At that time, many were skeptical and critical of his approach. Many pastors believed that “the internet is evil” and tried to avoid it as much as possible.
After the pandemic outbreak, the challenge of meeting in person has directly caused the online meeting to skyrocket. Some believers received links to more than three online meetings within a day.
It has been more than two years now. The importance of online ministry is becoming more evident to pastors and churches although there are controversies surrounding it. For instance, the debate on whether or not to hold communion virtually has been going on for more than a year. Although some Three-Self churches have held communion virtually, this issue remains controversial and divisive.
The paradigm shift from the church with a physical space to online ministering has been challenging. These challenges are addressed in the preface of the first issue of The Church, 2022. It is a Christian magazine published by pastors with a house church background. “Pastors and believers in some churches are experiencing external persecution. When churches are voluntarily or involuntarily divided into small groups for meetings, church workers are overstretched by running between multiple sites or groups. When the church is defined as 'a called-out assembly (Ekklesia)' but 'dispersed' in form, it is in a crisis of 'dissipating' fundamentally.” Therefore, they hope to explore the concept of the church from the perspective of "community building" and to renew pastors’ perception.
Although there are all kinds of controversies, the consensus of most pastors and churches is that online ministry is important, especially in the current difficult situation. However, in-person meetings are far more essential and irreplaceable. Even if the scale is small, in-person meetings can be very effective.
Increasingly more churches and believers are starting family worship
Besides holding small-scale meetings in individuals’ homes, family worship among family members has become another topic of attention and discussion in the difficult situation nowadays.
Some churches have started to encourage their congregations' family worship at home, believing that this is an effective way to improve family harmony and pass on the faith to the next generation.
When the church has to go underground and is rarely seen in public, "the private family space" could become a way for Christians to live out and pass on their faith, a pastor reminded.
- Translated by June I. Chen
伴随着疫情管控的持续、以及宗教管理的加强，中国教会的形态和运作发生了许多显著的变化。
“小组化、家庭化、线上化”，这是最近几个月多位来自不同地区家庭教会的牧者谈到自2020年疫情后至今中国教会现状和趋势时做出的类似的总结。他们有的是在做大小规模不同教会的牧养，有点是在做大学生事工等各类群体的拓展工作，也有的是在牧会的同时从事神学教育、基督教教育的推动。
这一趋势并不仅仅局限在家庭教会领域里发生，在各地一些因疫情管控而很难稳定实地聚会的三自教会里也是愈来愈明显。
这里的小组化指的是小组聚会，家庭化的含义更多值得是在某个信徒的家中会友一同聚会和礼拜的一种方式，而线上化则是在线上敬拜、聚会和培训等。
其实小组聚会、强调家庭、线上聚会在之前就已存在多年，但2020年发生的疫情带来的环境变化促使这三点变得更加重要和关键，可以说，后疫情时代，这三大趋势更加凸显，外界环境的变化强化了这些变化。
这种变化一方面无法大堂实地聚会，一方面又需要加强牧养，因此“小组化、家庭化、线上化”是对此的回应，表现形式包含：大教会分为小组运作、对小组教材与课程的需求大大增加、小组长的培训明显加强；同时愈来愈多教会更强调回归到家庭聚会，同时愈来愈多的基督徒家庭重视家庭礼拜；线上聚会、培训和课程也比疫情前增长数十倍。
只是不同的是，家庭教会更多从十多年前从家庭走向公开的写字楼、从追求场所的大规模转为化整为零，放弃对买堂、建堂和大场所聚会的追求，重新回归到形式各样的场所及小组，尤其是再次把家庭作为聚会的场所；而三自教会的场所只是因为暂时各种环境而无法使用。
目前尚不清楚当下严苛的环境会持续多久，因此也不知道“小组化、家庭化、线上化”这样的趋势变化会持续多久。
可以预计的是，若将来三自教堂聚会恢复稳定，这些趋势在三自教会领域可能会明显减弱；但家庭教会透过自2014年至今环境逐渐收紧的经历和发现教会透过小组带来的牧养提升，反而更加确信初代教会的模式——或者说家教会模式的重要性，即使将来能够恢复实地聚会，但家庭教会对于小组、家庭和线上的程度可能不会减弱，反而会增加。
家庭教会：强调教会的本质是“二三个奉耶稣名之人的聚集
中国家庭教会诞生于1950年代，它英文对应的并非是“family church”，不是特别指家族家人之间做的礼拜，而是“House church”,是因为在当时的时代背景下，有不愿意加入官方三自爱国运动而无法到官方注册的教堂类的宗教活动场所聚会，只能在信徒的家中（house）聚会、仍保持基督信仰的新教团体。
正因为这个背景，提到中国家庭教会，大众常常会想到几十年前尤其是文革时代在信徒家中聚会的情景。2000年左右，伴随着政治和社会环境的开放，以及教会的发展，逐渐出现“城市新兴家庭教会运动”，它们最重要的特点之一是号召家庭教会从信徒家中这个更多有私人意味的空间走向更多代表着公共空间的写字楼。在这样的趋势刺激下，不少城市较大的教会开始了透过筹集奉献、贷款等不同方式买下一部分写字楼等一些固定场所作为教产的例子，并且在牧养上“堂会制”也成为主要的模式。
但在2014年伴随着浙江拆十字架运动后，在教会事务管理、教职人员管理、教堂用地管理、互联网宗教信息发布上，中国的宗教管理政策整体出现收紧的政策。不少家庭教会发现在公共场所做一个大规模的教会非常不安全，这是面临的最大挑战之一。并且，维持一个公开的聚会场所对于教会财政的压力也非常大。也是在那几年，各地不少通过买堂拥有教产的教会也出现比如还贷款难、场所纠纷等各种难题中。
而2020年疫情后，许多家庭教会发现最大的难题是即使租用了教会场所也无法稳定使用，因为很难实地聚会；同时疫情带来的经济下滑、信徒流失等使得不少教会和传道人面临奉献款减少的困境。
种种原因使得不少家庭教会再度主动或被动转入半地下，最大的变化之一就是不再租赁写字楼或其他显眼的聚会场所，而是转为以小场所、信徒家中等各种较为灵活的地方做聚会场所。
随之变化的是，许多教会化整为零，强调小组化牧养。华东一位80后的青年牧者A牧师在2021年3月时说，疫情对他所在的教会影响并不是很大，“因为在疫情开始前的半年时间里，我们就已经开始了小组牧养这样的形式。”
“刚开始小组牧养主要是为了预防政策收紧等突发情况。当疫情爆发，小组牧养的形式就顺利接上，不仅对教会的信徒影响不大，也更加坚固了信徒的牧养。”
他们并没有一下子撤去教会租用的主堂，让信徒仍旧感到有“家”和归属感，因为毕竟之前大堂聚会很多年了，“同时也采用线上牧养的形式。当防疫工作没有那么紧张的时候，会采用线上和线下结合的方式。每个小组会轮流来到教会主堂参加主日礼拜。”
“建国到文革之前的时间，那些基督徒前辈就开始为了以后的政策收紧，因此教导信徒把道扎根在每一个人的生命里面，即便文革中连圣经都不能看的时候，基督徒的火种才得以保留。小组牧养也是，就是为了更加专注于信徒的生命，让信徒不是和教会、和牧者建立关系，而是和神建立关系，这样无论信徒面对的是怎样的环境，都可以站立在神的面前。”
北京一位牧养城市新兴教会多年的中年牧者B牧师他说到，疫情带给他们最大的反思之一是关于教会论。“教会不是说那个聚会的房子是教会，耶稣说’’二三个奉耶稣名之人的聚集’就是教会”。
华东一位在二线城市牧养民工教会的C牧师有类似的看法，他认为后疫情时代的我们要从“圣殿中心”主义中走出来，正是因为“圣殿中心主义”让教会在宗教环境收紧和后疫情时代举步维艰。“基督传统教会，其敬拜模式和群体认同，同样延续了圣殿中心主义，只不过把圣殿替换成了教堂。聚会是需要实体空间，因此教堂为中心的认同模式。实体聚会，是以某一建筑物为中心和载体，意味着基督教会必然以公共的方式来显明与社会。这种以聚集的方式表达基督教存在的主要方式。然而，一旦社会空间被挤压，那么这种以建筑物为中心的聚会，就会遇到挑战。当信徒习惯了用教堂集体来定义自我信仰和身份的时候，社会空间的压缩也就意味着基督教会就无法自我展现，存在空间被挤压了。结果，必然是想尽一切办法争取实体空间的存在和扩张；必然会与现实世俗国度产生冲突。实际上今天传统教会的很多观念，不是来自耶稣，而是来自耶稣所反对的、甚至早已经被犹太人放弃的传统。这是造成今天基督教会困境的一个主要原因之一。”
他呼吁说“耶稣所开创的模式即是基督徒自由结合的模式，这种结合不限人数，不限性别。他可以两三个人，也可以十几个人。这种方式，以一种更加有意义的方式，几人在一起学习成长，改变自己，改变家庭，让世界变的更美好，‘我这样吩咐你们，是要叫你们彼此相爱。(约15:17)’这不是反对教会聚会，而是反对圣殿主义。在这个非常时期，活动空间受限的时期，是基督徒接受应万变的时刻，是基督徒接受塑造成长的时刻，也是基督信仰在当下见证自己的最好方式。”
在疫情之前，有不少华人教会的老牧者认为中国的家庭教会之所以发展起最关键的是效法了初代教会“家教会”的例子。而如今从写字楼等开放场所再度回归家庭和小组中聚会，在不少家教的牧者看来这是“家教会”精神的再度回归。
但也有一直关注家庭教会神学教育的D牧师认为，在这个时候，基督教正统神学的共识基础在各宗派和教会中的形成非常关键，因为当下教会迫于环境不得不重新步入地下，以家庭和小组的形式聚会，这就意味着在公开化的环境下很难看到了。“这样的情况下，异端邪教一定会不断地兴风作浪，所以趁着现在还有一些时间和机会，需要抓紧时间建立整全的神学教育体系.....如果思想不能够统一，教会又不断分开的话，时间久了以后大家就会成为一盘散沙。“
他担心若正统的神学基础共识没有传播和建立起来的话，“在打入地下后，再各自为政各自发展自己的教会，哪一天突然重新开放浮出水面后，各种乱七八糟的东西都会冒出来。用正统的教义来把大家统合起来，这个比什么都重要。首先把大的信仰原则赶紧的统合起来。其他的怎么牧养，这些都是次要一些的事情。不然的话，很可能中国教会就彻底没有希望了。”
三自教会：发现小组对于教会信徒的牧养影响不一样
2020疫情发生后，在各地拥有宗教活动场合的三自所属的大教堂的日子也并不好过。蔽日开门的日子，反而是因为疫情和疫情管控关门的时间更长。
位于黑龙江一个城市拥有1000多位信徒的某教会统计了教堂开门的时间：过去的828个日夜里，该教会不断在“双暂停”和“恢复实地聚会”这两个模式切换着，教堂正常开放的日子仅有157天。
这并非只是个个案，至少有十多个省份的三自教会都面临着多多少少类似的情况。2022年5月，江苏、浙江等一些省份的堂会开始复堂，但比如杭州的防疫规定是一般50人可以聚会，最多上限是300人，这就意味着在这个城市被誉为可能是中国最大规模教堂、一堂主日礼拜本来可以容纳5500人的崇一堂近期每次主日礼拜只能有300人实地参加。除此之外，其他一些城市也面临类似的情况，拥有几千会众的一个教堂可能只能允许100人聚会，并且要求疫苗证明或者48小时核酸证明等。
这就意味着，在很难开门、很难实地的情况下如何牧养数千的会众，是许多城市中大教堂面临的共同挑战。
由此，这几年来，不少三自教会开始对小组教会表现出许多的兴趣和实践方式，小组聚会和家庭中的聚会开始逐渐形成，把教会分成10人左右的一组进行小规模的聚会和牧养。而在这个过程中，不少三自的基层牧师发现小组比之前大堂一起的喂养要精细得多。有弟兄观摩了几次在家庭中做的小组聚会，很有收获，发现这样的聚会规模比较小，少的时候三个人，多的六七人，大家聚在信徒家里，交通分享，畅谈信仰、下一步教会工作、以及各种感悟，交流结束后大家还一起做饭，彼此关系进了很多，而且大家在这个过程中都乐乐呵呵。
但其中也产生许多挑战，比如有的教堂因为小组太多，教堂无法很好的管理，最终也有组长带走了组员的也有，也有异端邪教混入到教堂里面成为小组长把信徒骗到异端的也有。鉴于此，不少教堂越来越强调小组长和同工的培训。
而与此同时，三自教堂在在线牧养上面临着更多的限制，不少地方地宗教管理部门直接发文禁止三自教堂做任何线上牧养，导致有的教会同工只能透过在微信群发每一条60秒的语音分享内容，而回避分享讲道的要求。而3.1之后，伴随着《互联网宗教信息服务办法》执行之后，也有一些地方三自教会直接解散了微信群，以规避奉献。这些线上化聚会环境的艰难也导致三自教会目前对于小组聚会的需求也更高。
正由于这些环境变化，所以从教会层面来说，愈来愈多三自教会比起之前强调外面教堂的大小和人数的规模，当下更比较强调的是教会核心同工的培养和信徒的建造。
线上牧养vs实地牧养：彼此帮助又充满张力
在2020疫情之前的五六年，杭州一位家庭教会的X牧师就已经开始透过QQ、微信等各种方式牧养信徒，在当时他发现不少人对于他的做法还持有怀疑和批判的态度，许多牧者认为“互联网是魔鬼”，尽量少碰。
但疫情之后，实地聚会的艰难直接催生了线上聚会热。当时，有信徒可以一天收到超过3场的网络聚会链接。
现在，两年多的时间过去了。线上牧养的重要性愈来愈被牧者和教会感受到，但张力仍然明显。比如到底要不要云圣餐的争论已经持续了1年多，虽然的确有一些三自教堂公开实行了云圣餐，但是到底这是不是有效的圣礼仍旧是个非常具有争议性和分歧性的话题。
而线上牧养带来的从一个实体上把握教会的教会观念遇到了极大的挑战，有家庭教会背景的牧者们主办的基督教杂志《教会》在2022年第一期刊物卷首语中写到：“一些教会的传道人和信徒正在面对着外部逼迫；一些教会或主动或被动地分散聚会时，工人们在多个堂点或小组间疲于奔命；当那定义为‘聚集（Ekklesia）’的教会，在形式上却‘分散’时，就遭遇到在本质上‘消散’的危机。”因此，他们希望从“建立共同体”的角度来探讨教会观，更新牧者的观念。
虽然存在种种张力，但大部分牧者和教会形成的一个共识是：线上牧养很重要，尤其是在当下艰难的环境下，但实地聚会仍旧是更为重要、不可取代的，若能举行实地聚会，即使是小组以及会友之间的小规模团契，也是非常有效的。
愈来愈多的教会和信徒开始做起家庭礼拜
伴随着严苛的环境，除了在家庭中举行小规模的聚会之外，家庭礼拜——家庭成员日常中举行的礼拜，也成为一个再度复兴的话题引起重视与讨论。
已经有教会开始鼓励自己的信徒在家中和家人一起复兴家庭礼拜，认为这个是把让家人关系和睦，以及把信仰传承给下一代很有效的方式。
当教会不得不步入地下的时候，无法在公共空间显出来的时候，“还有家庭的私人空间”可以成为基督徒实践和传承信仰的一种方式，有牧者如此提醒说。
“小组化、家庭化、线上化”——后疫情时代中国教会的变化趋势
With the continuation of pandemic containment and the intensification of religion management, a number of notable changes have taken place in the form and operation of churches in China.
"Group-based, family-based, digitalization" is a brief summary of a recent conversation between house church pastors from different regions about the current situation and the trends of churches in China since the 2020 pandemic. Some of these pastors minister to churches of different sizes, some do the outreach to various groups such as college ministries, and others are engaged in theological education and the promotion of Christian education while ministering.
This trend is not limited to house churches. It is also becoming more prevalent in some Three-Self churches in various locations where regular in-person meetings are not feasible due to the safety measures to prevent COVID-19.
“Group-based” refers to small group gatherings. “Family-based” means that meetings and worship services take place in a believer’s home. “Digitalization” refers to worship, meetings, and training programs held online. Actually, the three changes have begun years ago, but the 2020 pandemic has speeded them up. It can be said that three trends have become more prominent in the Post-COVID-19 Era and the external influences have consolidated them.
On the one hand, the trends refer to being unable to meet in person in sanctuaries. On the other hand, pastoral ministry cannot be omitted. The "group-based, family-based, and digitalization" model has evolved in response to these needs. Here are some manifestations of this trend: large churches are divided into small groups; the demand for teaching and curriculum materials for small groups has greatly increased; the training for group leaders has been enhanced significantly. Meanwhile, switching back to family-based meetings becomes a focus of more churches. More Christian families are attaching importance to family worship. Online meetings, training programs, and courses have increased tens of times more than before the pandemic.
More than ten years ago, house churches moved their meetings from homes to public office buildings. Nowadays, they are switching from large venues to home-based churches, from the pursuit of large venues to decentralization. The fervor for purchasing and building churches and large venues has ceased. Group gatherings are now taking place in individuals’ homes and various meeting places. The venues of the Three-Self church are also temporarily unavailable due to various circumstances.
Because it is not clear how long the current hardship will last, it is unknown how long the trend of the "group-based, family-based, digitalization" model will continue.
It can be expected that this trend in the Three-Self church may be significantly diminished once their church meetings return back to normal. In contrast, house churches have been more convinced of the “early church” model, or the house-based model, since the government policy measures were tightened in 2014. Additionally, they have observed the improvement of the pastoral care associated with small group ministries. Even if in-person meetings resume in the future, house churches may still rely on small groups, families, and online modes, to a much greater degree.
House churches: Emphasizing that the church is "the gathering of two or three people in the name of Jesus"
The inception of the Chinese house church was in the 1950s. The term "house church" does not refer to worship within families and is not translated into "family church." In the context of the past times, people who did not want to join the Three-Self Patriotic Movement could not attend the churches that were officially registered with the Movement. They could only meet in Protestant believers' houses to maintain their Christian faith.
Simply because of this, people often associate the Chinese house church with the scene of gatherings in believers' homes decades ago, especially during the Cultural Revolution. With the opening of the political and social environment as well as the growth of churches, the “New Urban House Church Movement” gradually emerged around 2000. One of its important features was to call on house churches to move from believers’ private homes to public office buildings. Influenced by this trend, many large churches in cities began to raise funds or get bank loans to purchase real estate properties, such as parts of office buildings. This type of “public building model” became the mainstream.
However, following the Zhejiang cross-removal Movement in 2014, China's religion management policies became strict in the management of church affairs, teaching staff, church land, and religious information communication on the internet. One of the big challenges that many house churches faced was the safety issue when churches were operated at a large scale in public spaces. Furthermore, maintaining a public meeting space placed great pressure on the church's finances. In those years, the churches that owned properties in various locations encountered an array of issues, such as difficulties in repaying loans and disputes over venues.
It has been difficult to meet in person since the pandemic began in 2020. A number of house churches have found that the biggest challenge is to make good use of the space regularly even if it is rented. Meanwhile, the economic downturn and the loss of believers brought about by the pandemic have resulted in fewer monetary offerings, an issue that numerous churches and pastors have to deal with.
For various reasons, many house churches have gone semi-underground again, either voluntarily or involuntarily. One of the big changes is that these churches no longer lease office buildings or other noticeable meeting places. Instead, they choose spaces flexible for church meetings, such as small venues and believers’ homes.
As a result, many churches are divided into small units and emphasize small groups. Pastor A, a young pastor born in the 1980s in East China, indicated in March 2021 that the pandemic had little impact on his church. "Because we started small groups since a half year prior to the pandemic," stated him.
"In the beginning, small groups were mainly to prepare for emergencies such as policy tightening. When the pandemic broke out, we transitioned to the format of pastoring in small groups successfully. There has been little impact on the believers, and the ministering to the believers has been advanced," continued Pastor A.
They did not abandon the leased church space all at once. By keeping it, the believers could feel a sense of "home" and belonging because they had been meeting in the church space for years. "Online ministering has been implemented, too. When the pandemic precaution measures are less restricted, a hybrid of online and in-person modes is used. Each small group takes turns to attend the Sunday service in the main hall of the church.”
"Between the founding of the People's Republic of China and the Cultural Revolution, the Christian predecessors had begun to prepare for the future policies. They taught the believers to root God’s Word in their personal life. This is how Christian heritage was able to be preserved even when the believers were not allowed to read the Bible during the Cultural Revolution. Small groups serve the same function and focus more on the lives of believers. Believers build a relationship with God rather than with a church or a pastor. In this way, the believers can stand before God no matter what circumstances they are facing."
Pastor B, a middle-aged pastor in Beijing, has been ministering to emerging churches in the city for many years. He stated that one of the important lessons that the pandemic had taught them was the perception of the church. "Church is not a building where believers meet. According to Jesus, the church is ‘the gathering of two or three people in His name'.”
Pastor C, ministering to a church of migrant workers in a second-tier city in East China, shared a similar view that we have to let go the "temple-centered" doctrine in the post-pandemic era. The "temple-centered" doctrine had caused the church to struggle when the government policies became strict and when the pandemic hit. “The traditional Christian church followed the 'temple-centered' doctrine in its worship service and identity, with the church replacing the temple. Meetings need a physical space, which leads to the church-centered model. In-person meetings are centered around and hosted in a certain building, and the Christian church could be seen in public. The social gathering becomes the main expression of the existence of Christian belief. However, there would be challenges associated with this type of church meetings in a building when physical space is constrained. To the believers accustomed to using the church collectively to define their faith and identity, Christianity could not be manifested in the void. Their faith might be jeopardized. In turn, it will try every means to strive for its manifestation and expansion of the church's physical space. This will inevitably conflict with the secular world. As a matter of fact, many concepts of the traditional church today do not come from Jesus, but from what Jesus opposed. They could be the traditions long abandoned by the Jews. This is one of the main reasons for the difficult situation of the Christian church today."
He called out, "The model initiated by Jesus is the model of the free union of Christians, which is unlimited in number and gender. It could range from two or three people to a dozen. In a more meaningful way, several people learn and grow together, improve themselves, impact their families, and make the world a better place. 'This is my command: Love each other.' (John 15:17) This teaching is not to oppose church gatherings but the temple-centered practice. In such unusual days with space constraints, now is the time for Christians to accept the changes, be molded, and grow. This could be the best way to testify for Christian faith in the present moment.”
Before the pandemic, a number of senior pastors of Chinese churches believed that the most important reason for the growth of house churches in China was to follow the example of the "early church.” Today, church activities move from public spaces such as office buildings to families and small groups. This is the recurrence of the essence of the "early church" from the perspective of the house church pastors.
However, Pastor D, who has been concerned about the theological education of house churches, stated that it was critical for the time being to develop a consensus and a unified foundation of Christian theology among various denominations and churches. Today’s church was forced to go underground again due to the circumstances, and believers met in families and small groups. It was rare to see churches in public. "Under such circumstances, heresies and cults will continue to make waves. When there is time and opportunities, we should hurry to establish a comprehensive theological education system... If our thinking is not on the same page, we will become fragmented and disorganized over time when the church is constantly scattered,” he added.
He was concerned that if a consensus of the sound doctrine was not reached and communicated, "people would develop churches in their own way after churches go underground. When there is a sudden reopening one day, we may see all kinds of heresies. To unite everyone with a sound doctrine is more important than anything else. First of all, we need to hurry to integrate the principles of the Christian faith. Other tasks such as ministering strategies are secondary. Otherwise, it is very likely that the Chinese church will be completely hopeless."
The Three-Self church: Finding that small groups have an impact on ministering to believers
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the large churches associated with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in various locations have been struggling even though they own spaces for church activities. The days when these churches are open are fewer than the days closed due to the COVID-19 protective measures.
A church with more than 1,000 believers in a city in Heilongjiang counted the days when the church was open: In the past 828 days, the church switched back and forth between "double suspension of opening" and "resuming in-person meetings," with only 157 normal opening days.
This is not an isolated case. The Three-Self church has been facing similar situations in at least a dozen provinces. For instance, the churches in provinces such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang resumed church activities in May 2022. According to the precautionary measures of Hangzhou against COVID-19, fifty people can be in a meeting, but the maximum is 300. This indicates that the Chongyi Church, probably the largest mega-church in China, could only hold 300 people when there are normally 5,500 people in one Sunday service. Some other cities are experiencing the same challenge. A church with a congregation of several thousand people may only allow 100 people to meet at a time. Moreover, requirements such as vaccination or PCR within 48 hours are imposed.
Church closures and the lack of in-person meetings have become a challenge to the mega-churches in cities with regard to ministering to their congregations of thousands of people.
Consequently, many Three-Self churches have shown interest in small groups and started to put them into practice a few years ago. Small group meetings in families began to take shape. The church has been divided into groups of about 10 people for small gatherings and ministering. A number of grassroots pastors of the Three-Self churches found that the ministering in small groups was more thorough than the previous format of mass gatherings in a church building. Some brothers have observed several small group meetings held in the family and benefited from their observations. They learned that the scale of such meetings is relatively small, ranging from three to six or seven people. Group members gather at believers’ homes for fellowship. They share their feelings and thoughts about faith as well as their visions for the church. The group cooks together after the fellowship, and the members build closer relationships with each other. The group enjoys itself and has a great time.
Yet, there are challenges. For example, it is difficult to manage when there are a large number of groups. There were instances where group leaders lured away from the members. Heresies and cults have secretly sent their members to serve as group leaders and poach the members. In view of this, churches are focusing more on the training of group leaders and ministers.
Meanwhile, the Three-Self church faces more restrictions on online ministering. Many local religion management departments have prohibited the Three-Self church from any type of online pastoring. As a result, the church pastors can only share messages via the 60-second voice mails on WeChat to avoid the requirement of sermon submission. With the implementation of the Administrative Measures for Internet Religious Information Services since March 1st, a number of local Three-Self churches have dismissed their WeChat groups to be exempted from the required submission of monetary offerings. The difficulties in online ministering have increased the demand for small groups in the Three-Self church.
Given those external changes, more and more registered churches focus more on the cultivation of core staff and the inner construction of their congregation rather than the previous pursuit of church building scales and the number of members.
Online vs. in-person ministry: Complementing each other but with controversies
Five or six years before the 2020 pandemic, Pastor X of a house church in Hangzhou started to minister to the believers through QQ, WeChat, and other platforms. At that time, many were skeptical and critical of his approach. Many pastors believed that “the internet is evil” and tried to avoid it as much as possible.
After the pandemic outbreak, the challenge of meeting in person has directly caused the online meeting to skyrocket. Some believers received links to more than three online meetings within a day.
It has been more than two years now. The importance of online ministry is becoming more evident to pastors and churches although there are controversies surrounding it. For instance, the debate on whether or not to hold communion virtually has been going on for more than a year. Although some Three-Self churches have held communion virtually, this issue remains controversial and divisive.
The paradigm shift from the church with a physical space to online ministering has been challenging. These challenges are addressed in the preface of the first issue of The Church, 2022. It is a Christian magazine published by pastors with a house church background. “Pastors and believers in some churches are experiencing external persecution. When churches are voluntarily or involuntarily divided into small groups for meetings, church workers are overstretched by running between multiple sites or groups. When the church is defined as 'a called-out assembly (Ekklesia)' but 'dispersed' in form, it is in a crisis of 'dissipating' fundamentally.” Therefore, they hope to explore the concept of the church from the perspective of "community building" and to renew pastors’ perception.
Although there are all kinds of controversies, the consensus of most pastors and churches is that online ministry is important, especially in the current difficult situation. However, in-person meetings are far more essential and irreplaceable. Even if the scale is small, in-person meetings can be very effective.
Increasingly more churches and believers are starting family worship
Besides holding small-scale meetings in individuals’ homes, family worship among family members has become another topic of attention and discussion in the difficult situation nowadays.
Some churches have started to encourage their congregations' family worship at home, believing that this is an effective way to improve family harmony and pass on the faith to the next generation.
When the church has to go underground and is rarely seen in public, "the private family space" could become a way for Christians to live out and pass on their faith, a pastor reminded.
- Translated by June I. Chen
'Group-Based, Family-Based, Digitalization': Three Trends of Chinese Churches Intensified in Post-COVID-19 Era
