In the past three years, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on large worship gatherings in the church, pastors have attached importance to small group ministry. Some churches have started small group ministry, while others are eager to try it. Recently, I read several articles in some Christian media on small group ministry, which reflected the biggest difficulty of this ministry is the shortage of small group leaders. In my opinion, churches should start small group ministry first and solve the problems arising in the process rather than wait until there are enough small group leaders.
My church is a rural church in a poverty-stricken area and was started not long ago (with a history of only a dozen of years). Giving priority to this ministry, the pastor of my church has invested heavily in small group ministry and incorporated it into daily work years ago. Our shepherd groups originated from a prayer group in homes of believers, which later expanded to several groups. But we can’t find enough qualified leaders among spiritually immature believers to be group leaders, for our church is located in a poor rural area with a history of only a dozen years.
The following is the way we build small group ministry under the pandemic.
First, there are "shepherd groups" and "care groups".
Shepherding groups refer to the groups that organize a small group meeting every week. As my church has only found a few group leaders who could lead and give care, such groups did not cover all the believers. At present, there are more than 300 believers in the church. With only several group leaders who can take on pastoral care, the church establishes ten shepherd groups each with about ten members, only covering a third of all the believers. They attend a weekday meeting once a week, engaging in singing hymns, studying the Bible, sharing testimonies, and intercessory prayers.
Apart from this, we also conduct care groups each with 10-15 people which cover every church member according to the area where they are located. For each group, the church appoints a team leader who learns about members’ health conditions, family life, whether they have attended Sunday services, as well as gives them the church’s notices.
My church has not lost members in the past three because of the pandemic. When the church is in lockdown, care group leaders are required to contact each member at least once every two weeks via WeChat or phone and visit the elderly and seriously ill members from time to time.
Second, we have two types of group leaders: "organizers" and "shepherds".
In order to solve the shortage problem of pastors in "shepherd groups", the church separated organizers from pastors. Group leaders who are not competent for shepherding are only responsible for contacting and caring for the members, as well as organizing gatherings, while pastoral care is undertaken by the pastoral staff of the church. They only need to attend group gatherings on time, thus saving time and providing convenience for them to concentrate on pastoring the believers. To solve the problem of shortage of shepherds, every staff in the church pastoral team is in charge of shepherding two or three small groups, concentrating on pastoral care instead of doing contacting or organizing work. Meanwhile, they can share the same Bible study material in different groups, saving their time in planning new lessons.
Third, the pastoral workers provide Bible study materials for the group leader who undertakes pastoral ministry.
In order to relieve the ministry pressure on group leaders, church pastors can provide complete Bible study materials or designated teaching materials to some shepherding leaders. Those who receive theological education or have a thorough knowledge of the Bible can select appropriate scriptures or materials according to the needs of the group members.
Fourth, flexible and diversified worship modes are adopted.
The content of the group meeting is mainly based on Bible study, supplemented by prayer, Bible reading, singing, worship, and testimonies. For example, if the pastoral staff cannot attend the group meeting due to other church issues, a group leader incapable of pastoral care can change the gathering content, turning Bible study into a special prayer meeting, worship & praise meeting, testimony sharing, or Bible readings.
In fact, the small group ministry of the church was initiated by several volunteers and believers who held a prayer meeting in a believer's family every Monday night. Later, it developed into several prayer groups, and then the current "shepherd group".
Fifth, we gather in both a fixed meeting place and a temporary one.
The meeting place of a small group that I pastor is fixed in a believer‘s home for a long time. However, when a member of this group is unable to come because of illness, I would take other members to the sick member's home for a temporary meeting, and also visit the sick member and pray for them. After every Spring Festival, we would take turns going to the home of each group member for several weeks of gathering there.
The church cannot wait until there is a pastor (small group pastor) who knows enough about pastoral care before starting group ministry. Instead, we should try every means to facilitate the small group ministry, feel our way forward, and gradually expand the small group ministry of the church!
- Translated by Oliver Zuo, Abigail Wu
近三年来，因疫情对教会大型崇拜聚会的冲击，引起了教会众牧者对小组事工的重视。从而，某些堂会已经开启了小组事工，也有某些堂会在小组事工上跃跃欲试。近期，我在某些基督教媒体上，读到多位牧者探讨教会小组事工的文章。这些文章反映，当前，国内教会在小组事工方面的最大拦阻就是小组长(或称“小牧者”)难求。（==此句当summary）
我所在堂会属于贫困地区农村教会，且起步较晚（只有十几年的历史），大多数信徒的灵命还很不成熟，实在是难以找到合格的小组长。然而，本堂会牧长十分重视小组事工，多年前，已将小组事工纳入本堂的日常事工。本堂小组事工的具体做法是——
一是将小组分为“牧养小组”和“关顾小组”两类。
牧养小组：指周间组织一次组员聚会的小组。由于本堂只找到几位能够承担小组牧养的小组长，故此，这类小组未覆盖本堂会的全体信徒。本堂当前有三百余名信徒，只建立了十个“牧养小组”，每组组员十人左右。从而，当前“牧养小组”只覆盖本堂三分之一的信徒。各小组每周有一次周间聚会。聚会期间，有唱诗、查经、见证分享和代祷等活动.
关顾小组：这类小组不组织聚会。按信徒所在区域划分小组，覆盖了该堂会的每位信徒；十人左右一组（不超过十五人）；教会任命一名小组长（称为“关顾小组长”）。其职责是：一方面，为组员守望。平时，留意观察和了解掌握组员出席主日礼拜、身体健康、家庭和日常生活等情况。教会平时也发动这类小组长对组员进行全面的例行探访；且特别要求关顾小组长与年长和在病痛中的组员保持密切的联系，常作探访。另一方面，上传下达教会相关事项和联络组员。
在疫情“双暂停”期间，该堂会要求小组长每两周至少要通过微信或电话与其每位组员联系一次，并不定期探访其高龄和重病中的组员。这几年的疫情，并没有造成本堂会信徒的流失。
二是小组带领者分“组织者”和“牧养者”两类。
本堂为了解决“牧养小组”牧者不足的问题，将部分“牧养小组”的组织者和牧养者分开。即，不能胜任小组牧养的小组长不承担小组牧养，只负责联络和关顾本小组组员，以及组织组员聚会。其小组的牧养则由堂会的教牧同工承担。由于，教牧同工不用联络组员和组织聚会，只需按时出席小组聚会，从而节省了时间，为其专心牧养提供了便利；而且，同一份查经资料可以在不同的小组分别分享，也节省了备课时间。故此，本堂安排每名教牧同工负责两或三个小组的牧养。
三是教牧同工为承担牧养事工的小组长提供查经资料。
为了缓解承担牧养事工之小组长的服侍压力，教会牧者也会为某些小组长提供较完整的查经资料或指定教材。当然，有较强的神学装备和较深圣经基础的小组长，则由其按照组员的需要，自选合宜的经文或资料，带领小组查经。
四是采取灵活多种的敬拜模式。
小组聚会的内容，以查经为主，以祷告、读经、唱诗赞美和见证为辅。比如，若牧养某小组的教牧同工，因教会其它事工不能出席某次小组聚会，就交给该小组的小组长带领；并将查经聚会改为专题的祷告会或唱诗赞美会，或见证会，或读经会。
其实，本堂的小组事工，最初是由几位义工和信徒，每周一晚在某些信徒的家庭里，举行祷告会发起的。后来，发展到几个祷告小组，然后，才有了当前的“牧养小组”。
五是固定的小组聚会场所与临时变动聚会场所相结合。
笔者所牧养的某小组之聚会场所，长期固定在某位信徒的家里。然而，当该组某位组员因生病，导致其行走不便，而无法来到固定的聚会场所参加聚会时，本人会带着其他组员临时去到生病组员的家里聚会；顺便探望该生病组员和为其代祷。每年春节之后的前多个礼拜，轮流去各组员的家中开展小组聚会。
以上是笔者所在堂会小组事工的具体开展情况。堂会不可等到有了足够懂得牧养的小组长（小牧者）后，才开展小组事工；而应当创造条件，开展小组事工，并摸索前行，逐步巩固和做大本堂会的小组事工！
如何缓解小组事工中小牧者紧缺的困难？
In the past three years, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on large worship gatherings in the church, pastors have attached importance to small group ministry. Some churches have started small group ministry, while others are eager to try it. Recently, I read several articles in some Christian media on small group ministry, which reflected the biggest difficulty of this ministry is the shortage of small group leaders. In my opinion, churches should start small group ministry first and solve the problems arising in the process rather than wait until there are enough small group leaders.
My church is a rural church in a poverty-stricken area and was started not long ago (with a history of only a dozen of years). Giving priority to this ministry, the pastor of my church has invested heavily in small group ministry and incorporated it into daily work years ago. Our shepherd groups originated from a prayer group in homes of believers, which later expanded to several groups. But we can’t find enough qualified leaders among spiritually immature believers to be group leaders, for our church is located in a poor rural area with a history of only a dozen years.
The following is the way we build small group ministry under the pandemic.
First, there are "shepherd groups" and "care groups".
Shepherding groups refer to the groups that organize a small group meeting every week. As my church has only found a few group leaders who could lead and give care, such groups did not cover all the believers. At present, there are more than 300 believers in the church. With only several group leaders who can take on pastoral care, the church establishes ten shepherd groups each with about ten members, only covering a third of all the believers. They attend a weekday meeting once a week, engaging in singing hymns, studying the Bible, sharing testimonies, and intercessory prayers.
Apart from this, we also conduct care groups each with 10-15 people which cover every church member according to the area where they are located. For each group, the church appoints a team leader who learns about members’ health conditions, family life, whether they have attended Sunday services, as well as gives them the church’s notices.
My church has not lost members in the past three because of the pandemic. When the church is in lockdown, care group leaders are required to contact each member at least once every two weeks via WeChat or phone and visit the elderly and seriously ill members from time to time.
Second, we have two types of group leaders: "organizers" and "shepherds".
In order to solve the shortage problem of pastors in "shepherd groups", the church separated organizers from pastors. Group leaders who are not competent for shepherding are only responsible for contacting and caring for the members, as well as organizing gatherings, while pastoral care is undertaken by the pastoral staff of the church. They only need to attend group gatherings on time, thus saving time and providing convenience for them to concentrate on pastoring the believers. To solve the problem of shortage of shepherds, every staff in the church pastoral team is in charge of shepherding two or three small groups, concentrating on pastoral care instead of doing contacting or organizing work. Meanwhile, they can share the same Bible study material in different groups, saving their time in planning new lessons.
Third, the pastoral workers provide Bible study materials for the group leader who undertakes pastoral ministry.
In order to relieve the ministry pressure on group leaders, church pastors can provide complete Bible study materials or designated teaching materials to some shepherding leaders. Those who receive theological education or have a thorough knowledge of the Bible can select appropriate scriptures or materials according to the needs of the group members.
Fourth, flexible and diversified worship modes are adopted.
The content of the group meeting is mainly based on Bible study, supplemented by prayer, Bible reading, singing, worship, and testimonies. For example, if the pastoral staff cannot attend the group meeting due to other church issues, a group leader incapable of pastoral care can change the gathering content, turning Bible study into a special prayer meeting, worship & praise meeting, testimony sharing, or Bible readings.
In fact, the small group ministry of the church was initiated by several volunteers and believers who held a prayer meeting in a believer's family every Monday night. Later, it developed into several prayer groups, and then the current "shepherd group".
Fifth, we gather in both a fixed meeting place and a temporary one.
The meeting place of a small group that I pastor is fixed in a believer‘s home for a long time. However, when a member of this group is unable to come because of illness, I would take other members to the sick member's home for a temporary meeting, and also visit the sick member and pray for them. After every Spring Festival, we would take turns going to the home of each group member for several weeks of gathering there.
The church cannot wait until there is a pastor (small group pastor) who knows enough about pastoral care before starting group ministry. Instead, we should try every means to facilitate the small group ministry, feel our way forward, and gradually expand the small group ministry of the church!
- Translated by Oliver Zuo, Abigail Wu
How Do We Solve the Lack of Small Group Leaders?
