A few days ago, Pastor H from Central China shared his thoughts, feelings, and practices on the pastoral mode in recent years, especially during the pandemic period. He admitted that the pandemic "brought some challenges in serving" during the lockdown, and that changes needed to be made in the pastoral mode and thinking, as well as the pastoral habits and programs, as "demanded by the reality".
He introduced the different ways of pastoring that he saw and practiced, saying that the times make it necessary and urgent to conduct diversified and refined ministry.
Group ministry is a way to carry out refined pastoring.
Pastor H believes that the church should now carry out refined pastoring. "You can't just preach, as just preaching on Sunday does not work anymore." He said, "Because this accounts for merely 20%-30% of the overall information the believers receive. Some churches even give up Sunday preaching, with the pastors mainly responsible to train group leaders, who would be in charge of pastoral ministry on Sunday service. And the pastors would conduct tours of inspection among all groups."
"In this way, all the group leaders would get the training in three to five years, while keeping their pastoral care for believers, as pastors tour in different groups. The pastors would be working hard, but refined pastoring can well cope with future shocks and threats. In particular, if the church with more than 100 members did not train the group leaders and the main staff workers, the church would collapse during the pandemic. While the churches with trained group leaders or staff members would not collapse and may grow faster when there are external pressures. Getting together in different groups, they would definitely grow up as long as the gathering does not stop ."
Therefore, the church should be prepared. H reminded, "The church should train group leaders and co-workers so that they can master basic pastoral knowledge and system and copy it down. Just like the original church, the church was stable without many pastors. This is because the elders or mature believers took on the responsibility of pastoring. Our work should focus on the training of group leaders and staff workers so that they can have independent space and the ability to establish the church independently."
Refined pastoring also needs to focus on diversified pastoring.
In addition, refined pastoring is not just about grouping, but also requires diversified shepherding, which means that the church groups can be of various types, such as the elderly group and the youth group by age, or the praise & worship group and the kitchen service group by the type of service. The forms of gatherings can also be of various types, such as worship & praise gathering, prayer gathering, meeting, dinner parties, outings, etc.
"The groups could take various forms, instead of being fixed," Pastor H said. "In different situations, some groups could be mixed with the elderly people and the young, while others could be dedicated for a single age group."
"Some small churches discuss in groups immediately after the Sunday gathering. This could bring immediate feedback on the Sunday information. In this way, the pastors on the spot can train the group leaders and guide them on how to pastor. The pastors can provide some questions for everyone to discuss, which will provide immediate feedback. Some believers cannot participate in groups (activities) due to work, they will be grouped on Sunday to promote communication."
Pastor H suggested that "those who can participate in in-person groups can be grouped, while those who cannot join an online group". Since some believers cannot participate in the face-to-face group, they can listen in. "If they cannot attend Sunday services, they could participate in weekly groups, either online or in-person". In a word, we would like to make sure that believers participate in the gathering so that they can get pastored in all directions.
Pastor H also pointed out that there were many online groups during the pandemic, but online groups should also have the opportunity to meet in person, like once a month. "It's difficult to meet during the pandemic, then you can have a phone call. Some churches with better financial conditions can go for a farm stay when the pandemic is less serious."
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
日前，一位华中的H牧师分享了自己在最近几年特别是疫情之后这段期间对牧养方式的思考、感受与实践，他坦言由于疫情的关系“服事上有些挑战”，以前的牧养方式和思维都需要有调整，自己所熟悉的牧养习惯和方案也需要做出诸多的改变，因为“现实情况不允许你不做出调整”。(==此句 当summary）
他介绍了自己看到和自己在实践的不同的牧养方式，说到，当下的时代需要我们更多看到多元化、精细化牧养的必要性和迫切性。
小组牧养是实现精细化牧养的一种途径
H牧师认为面对当下的情况，教会应该要做好精细化牧养。“不能只是垂直性讲道，礼拜天主日讲道的方式不再行得通了。”他说：“因为垂直讲道、单一宣讲的方式让信徒接受的信息不到整体信息的20%-30%。有的教会已经不再有主日垂直性讲道（主日宣讲），牧师主要职责是负责训练所有的小组长，而主日礼拜则有小组长负责牧养，牧师会在所有的小组里面巡回。”
“这样做的好处是，三五年下来把所有的小组长都训练出来了；而同时又没有丢掉对信徒的牧养，因为牧师巡回在不同小组里面。这样做牧师会辛苦一点，但是精细化牧养可以很好地应对以后的冲击和威胁。尤其是超过100人的教会如果没有把小组长和主要同工训练起来，一旦遇到疫情冲击，一段时间以后就垮掉了。而有了训练好的小组长或同工的教会（面对这种情况）则不会垮，外面压力越大可能成长地越快。因为在不同小组里面聚会，只要聚会不停止，人就会成长起来。”
因此，教会要做好预备。H牧师提醒道：“教会要把小组长和同工训练起来，他们能掌握到基础的牧养知识和体系，可以把教会的牧养体系等复制下去。就像初代教会一样，它没有那么多牧师，但是教会很稳定。因为教会的长辈们或者成熟的信徒担起了牧养的责任。我们的工作重心要放在小组长的训练上以及教会同工的训练上，让他们有独立的操作空间，可以有独立建立教会的能力。”
精细化牧养还需要注重多元化牧养
另外，需要注意的的是其实精细化牧养并不仅仅只是分小组就可以了，它还有一种要求是需要多元化牧养。运用起来，就是教会的小组可以是多种多样、百花齐放，比如按年龄分的老年小组、青年小组等，按服事类型分赞美敬拜小组、厨房事奉小组等。聚会的形式也可以是多种类型的，比如敬拜赞美会、祷告会、见面会、聚餐、郊游等。
“小组的形式和形态是多元的，不是固定的，”H牧师表示：“根据不同的人、不同的情况。有的小组就是混合型的，中老年、青年都有；有的是把不同的年龄层放在一起，有的是单一年龄层的放在一起。”
“有的小教会是在主日聚会结束后，马上分组讨论的。这也是可以的，因为对主日的信息马上会有回馈。这样当场牧师就可以训练组长们，指导他们怎么带领。牧师可以提供一些问题，供大家一起讨论，这对信息马上有回馈。因为有些上班的信徒不能参与小组（活动），主日马上小组化促进交流。”
H牧师建议可以“把能够参与线下小组的召聚在一起，不能参与线下小组的参加一个线上小组” 。既然有信徒无法参加线下小组，可以让他旁听。“如果主日礼拜无法参加，就让信徒参加周间的小组，可以是线上的，也可以是线下的” 。总之，保证信徒参与聚会，这样可以全方位的牧养。
H牧师也提出疫情期间特别多起来的是线上的小组，但是线上的小组也要有线下见面的机会，可以一个月聚一次。“疫情期间见面比较难，可以打电话沟通一下。”各种方案都可以尝试。“有的教会经济条件好一点，在疫情没有那么严重的时候，也可以去农家乐，一起聚一聚。”
经验 |华中一牧师分享： 时代变迁呼唤越来越多元化、精细化的牧养方式
A few days ago, Pastor H from Central China shared his thoughts, feelings, and practices on the pastoral mode in recent years, especially during the pandemic period. He admitted that the pandemic "brought some challenges in serving" during the lockdown, and that changes needed to be made in the pastoral mode and thinking, as well as the pastoral habits and programs, as "demanded by the reality".
He introduced the different ways of pastoring that he saw and practiced, saying that the times make it necessary and urgent to conduct diversified and refined ministry.
Group ministry is a way to carry out refined pastoring.
Pastor H believes that the church should now carry out refined pastoring. "You can't just preach, as just preaching on Sunday does not work anymore." He said, "Because this accounts for merely 20%-30% of the overall information the believers receive. Some churches even give up Sunday preaching, with the pastors mainly responsible to train group leaders, who would be in charge of pastoral ministry on Sunday service. And the pastors would conduct tours of inspection among all groups."
"In this way, all the group leaders would get the training in three to five years, while keeping their pastoral care for believers, as pastors tour in different groups. The pastors would be working hard, but refined pastoring can well cope with future shocks and threats. In particular, if the church with more than 100 members did not train the group leaders and the main staff workers, the church would collapse during the pandemic. While the churches with trained group leaders or staff members would not collapse and may grow faster when there are external pressures. Getting together in different groups, they would definitely grow up as long as the gathering does not stop ."
Therefore, the church should be prepared. H reminded, "The church should train group leaders and co-workers so that they can master basic pastoral knowledge and system and copy it down. Just like the original church, the church was stable without many pastors. This is because the elders or mature believers took on the responsibility of pastoring. Our work should focus on the training of group leaders and staff workers so that they can have independent space and the ability to establish the church independently."
Refined pastoring also needs to focus on diversified pastoring.
In addition, refined pastoring is not just about grouping, but also requires diversified shepherding, which means that the church groups can be of various types, such as the elderly group and the youth group by age, or the praise & worship group and the kitchen service group by the type of service. The forms of gatherings can also be of various types, such as worship & praise gathering, prayer gathering, meeting, dinner parties, outings, etc.
"The groups could take various forms, instead of being fixed," Pastor H said. "In different situations, some groups could be mixed with the elderly people and the young, while others could be dedicated for a single age group."
"Some small churches discuss in groups immediately after the Sunday gathering. This could bring immediate feedback on the Sunday information. In this way, the pastors on the spot can train the group leaders and guide them on how to pastor. The pastors can provide some questions for everyone to discuss, which will provide immediate feedback. Some believers cannot participate in groups (activities) due to work, they will be grouped on Sunday to promote communication."
Pastor H suggested that "those who can participate in in-person groups can be grouped, while those who cannot join an online group". Since some believers cannot participate in the face-to-face group, they can listen in. "If they cannot attend Sunday services, they could participate in weekly groups, either online or in-person". In a word, we would like to make sure that believers participate in the gathering so that they can get pastored in all directions.
Pastor H also pointed out that there were many online groups during the pandemic, but online groups should also have the opportunity to meet in person, like once a month. "It's difficult to meet during the pandemic, then you can have a phone call. Some churches with better financial conditions can go for a farm stay when the pandemic is less serious."
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
Pastor from Central China Says The Change of the Times Calls for More Diversified, Refined Ministry
