Is a big or small church better? It has always been a hot debate.
Now, in the post-pandemic era, Pastor W intends to transform and abandon the argument between big churches and small churches, while focusing on the micro church. He also mentions that the one-room church model, which is currently emerging in Europe, America, and other parts of the world, is a manifestation of the global micro church movement.
Pastor W says that over the past 20 years, he and many pastors have been influenced by the super-large church model prevalent in Europe, America, and South Korea. There is the belief that the church one serves should be a part of the largest church in Asia and even the world. Many pastors of churches in China have supported this myth and have been influenced by super-large churches abroad. They have been determined to make the church bigger and stronger, regarding a super-large or mega-church as the ideal.
However, after so many years of service, Pastor W’s ideas have changed significantly and he notes that global churches are increasingly acknowledging the value of micro churches as a church model. He says: “I think the church in China should support the route of the micro church. I think this is a worthwhile model that the church in China must value in the future.”
He explains that many super-large churches abroad have adopted the large-church model and many churches in China have adopted that system to manage and develop during the past decade or so. However, in more recent years, due to factors such as the pandemic, it has become difficult for the church to sustain its normal operation. “We must seriously consider our actual situation, which is completely different from those of megachurches.” Therefore “the pastors of Chinese churches must seriously consider their own situation and make careful choices. They cannot completely copy the practices of super-large churches.”
At present, Pastor X adopts the “dual-track system”, walking on both legs at the same time. On the one hand, he maintains the previous concept of large pastoral areas and church gatherings. But at the same time, he expands the concept of micro-pastoral areas, that is, micro churches.
In his view, micro churches can avoid many of the problems of large churches, such as high cost and inflexibility. Moreover, the micro church is not strictly a concept of small churches. In fact, it emphasizes network expansion beyond decentralization. Instead of trapping the church in a big venue or a small place, it re-conceives the church as a loose network. It can involve only a few believers in a house, a small group, or a small fellowship, and its place can be where you live and work. In fact, the place is not the most important because the indicators for the healthy growth of churches have changed. Not the size of the scale and the number of people, not the number of Sunday worship participants, but connectivity and participation rate are what matters most now. The micro church model is very effective for the promotion of both of these last factors.
Pastor X says that although micro churches are not as complicated as the system of large churches, there must be strategies for building up micro churches. It is not enough to simply adopt the once-familiar system of the large church, nor to simply place a dozen people in a given place. One must instead set up a support and management team to manage micro churches.
He stresses that so-called decentralization allows more believers to participate in the service, rather than letting a few full-time persons retain all the church power. This is actually a return to the early church model of the Apostolic period – allowing everyone to be disciples and to participate in the service.
In the micro church, because of the size of the church, as the saying goes: “A small boat makes a good turn” (a Chinese idiom meaning how convenient things can be if they are smaller in scale or bureaucracy). There are many things that can be done flexibly. “But not everything is like this. There are some things that must be coordinated, such as personnel or financial management. These things can not be delegated to micro churches. To let them take charge of everything will only bring problems and corruption,” Pastor X finally stresses.
- Translated by Charlie Li
大教会好？还是小教会好？这一直是一个难解的问题。
而如今在后疫情时代，一位后疫情实地尝试重新转型的牧者W牧师抛弃了大教会（big）和小教会（small）的争论，而是要微（micro）。
他还特别提到当前在欧美等世界各地兴起的或者一室教会（one room church）模式，就是全球微型教会模式的一种体现。
W牧师提到，过去20多年，他和不少牧师同样收到尤其是欧美和韩国等超大型教会模式的影响，有种意识就是认为把所服事的教会建造成为全亚洲乃至全世界最大的教会。很多中国教会的牧者也都曾经有过这样的迷思，会受到那些国外的超大型教会的影响，立志把教会做大做强，最好做成超大型教会。
但是这么多年的服事下来，W牧师的想法产生了很多改变，并且他也看到当下全球教会也愈来愈看到微型教会或者一间教会模式的宝贵。他说：”我认为未来中国教会也应当更多需要走微型教会的路线，我认为这是中国教会未来一定要看到的一种宝贵的模式。“
他谈到，国外不少超大型教会采用的都是堂会制，过去的十多年来很多中国教会也开始采用堂会制的方式来管理和发展。但是最近几年来，因着疫情等许多因素的影响，堂会很难继续正常运作了。“我们必须认真考虑我们的现实处境，我们的处境跟那些超大型教会可以说完全不一样。”因此，“中国教会的牧者们一定要认真考虑我们自身的处境，慎重的选择，不能够完全照抄照搬那些超大型教会的做法。”
X牧师目前采用的方式是“双轨制”，两条腿同时走路，一方面仍旧延续之前大牧区和堂会的理念，但同时延展了微牧区的概念，就是微型教会。
在他看来，微型教会可以回避很多大型教会的问题，比如成本大、不灵活等。并且，微型教会并非是小教会的概念，其实它更多强调的是去中心化后的一种网络延展，不是将教会困在一个大会堂或者小场所，而是将教会重新想象成一个松散的网络，它可以是几个信徒，也可以是在信徒家中，也可以是在某个一间房子里，也可以是一个小组，或者一个小小的团契等等，而它的场所可以位于你生活的地方、工作的地方，玩耍的地方，地方其实已经不是最重要的了，因为21世纪教会健康成长的指标已经改变，不是规模的大小、人数的多少，而是从主日崇拜参加人数转变为连接度和参与率，而微型教会的模式对于这两者的提升是非常有效的。
X牧师说，微型教会虽然没有大型教会的体系那么复杂，但是建造微型教会也必须要有相应的策略。这不是把曾经所熟悉大型教会的体系简单的搬过来，也不是简单的把十几号人放进去就可以了，而是需要设立一个支持和管理团队来管理所有的微型教会。
他强调说，所谓的去中心化是让更多的信徒有权力参与到服事当中，而不是让寥寥几个全职服事的人拥有所有的教会权力，这其实是使徒时期初代教会模式的一种回归，即让人人做门徒，人人参与到服事之中。
在微型教会里面，因为教会的规模很小，就像俗话说的“船小好调头”，有很多的事情确实可以非常灵活机动的来做。“但是并不是所有事情都是这样，有一些事情必须是要统筹进行的，比如说人事的管理、财务的管理等等，这些事情不能下放到各个微型教会让他们自行负责，这样只会带来问题和腐败。”X牧师最后强调说。
观点|大教会or小教会？一牧者呼吁要更多看到微型教会模式的宝贵
Is a big or small church better? It has always been a hot debate.
Now, in the post-pandemic era, Pastor W intends to transform and abandon the argument between big churches and small churches, while focusing on the micro church. He also mentions that the one-room church model, which is currently emerging in Europe, America, and other parts of the world, is a manifestation of the global micro church movement.
Pastor W says that over the past 20 years, he and many pastors have been influenced by the super-large church model prevalent in Europe, America, and South Korea. There is the belief that the church one serves should be a part of the largest church in Asia and even the world. Many pastors of churches in China have supported this myth and have been influenced by super-large churches abroad. They have been determined to make the church bigger and stronger, regarding a super-large or mega-church as the ideal.
However, after so many years of service, Pastor W’s ideas have changed significantly and he notes that global churches are increasingly acknowledging the value of micro churches as a church model. He says: “I think the church in China should support the route of the micro church. I think this is a worthwhile model that the church in China must value in the future.”
He explains that many super-large churches abroad have adopted the large-church model and many churches in China have adopted that system to manage and develop during the past decade or so. However, in more recent years, due to factors such as the pandemic, it has become difficult for the church to sustain its normal operation. “We must seriously consider our actual situation, which is completely different from those of megachurches.” Therefore “the pastors of Chinese churches must seriously consider their own situation and make careful choices. They cannot completely copy the practices of super-large churches.”
At present, Pastor X adopts the “dual-track system”, walking on both legs at the same time. On the one hand, he maintains the previous concept of large pastoral areas and church gatherings. But at the same time, he expands the concept of micro-pastoral areas, that is, micro churches.
In his view, micro churches can avoid many of the problems of large churches, such as high cost and inflexibility. Moreover, the micro church is not strictly a concept of small churches. In fact, it emphasizes network expansion beyond decentralization. Instead of trapping the church in a big venue or a small place, it re-conceives the church as a loose network. It can involve only a few believers in a house, a small group, or a small fellowship, and its place can be where you live and work. In fact, the place is not the most important because the indicators for the healthy growth of churches have changed. Not the size of the scale and the number of people, not the number of Sunday worship participants, but connectivity and participation rate are what matters most now. The micro church model is very effective for the promotion of both of these last factors.
Pastor X says that although micro churches are not as complicated as the system of large churches, there must be strategies for building up micro churches. It is not enough to simply adopt the once-familiar system of the large church, nor to simply place a dozen people in a given place. One must instead set up a support and management team to manage micro churches.
He stresses that so-called decentralization allows more believers to participate in the service, rather than letting a few full-time persons retain all the church power. This is actually a return to the early church model of the Apostolic period – allowing everyone to be disciples and to participate in the service.
In the micro church, because of the size of the church, as the saying goes: “A small boat makes a good turn” (a Chinese idiom meaning how convenient things can be if they are smaller in scale or bureaucracy). There are many things that can be done flexibly. “But not everything is like this. There are some things that must be coordinated, such as personnel or financial management. These things can not be delegated to micro churches. To let them take charge of everything will only bring problems and corruption,” Pastor X finally stresses.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Big Church or Small Church? Pastor Calls for Better Appreciation of Micro Church
