The three-year pandemic from 2020 to 2022 was exhausting, but even though the reality seemed helpless and hopeless, God always keeps on helping us and opens up hope in our despair.
Looking back and summarizing the past three years, great and far-reaching changes have taken place in many aspects of churches in China, especially in 2022, many churches in China have shown some new trends. With the great changes in various environments such as COVID-19 restrictions being lifted in 2023, some trends may be affected again. For instance, online gatherings that everyone has become accustomed to may be replaced by in-person gatherings again, but on the whole, many development trends are still worthy of attention.
The following is a list of the top ten new development trends of churches in China, listed by the Christian Times, based on the observation of the past three years, articles, click-hits, keyword search, importance, and other comprehensive factors (the following ranking is based on the content theme, and has nothing to do with the importance):
1. Micro/small churches
2. Small groups plus discipleship
3. Mobile churches (no physical gathering locations)
4. Going online
5. Family altar
6. Reading clubs
7. Psychological counseling
8. Business as mission
9. Communities
10. Health to the mass
1. Micro/small churches
From 2000 to around 2020, many churches especially urban churches in China, under the particular influence of super-large church models led by Euro-America and South Korea, were consciously on the way to building their churches into large churches. Such an idea was rather widespread. However, by 2017, especially during the pandemic in 2020, the reality had made the mode of large-scale churches impossible.
It is an important trend to break things up and re-recognize the value of small churches. In particular, pastors who are concerned about the new trend of global church development learn the value of a micro-church or one-room church model. A pastor shared: “I think the churches in China should support the route of the micro church. I think this is a worthwhile model that the churches in China must value in the future. 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.”
2. Small groups plus discipleship
Since around 2015, “small groups” has become one of the hot keywords in church pastoral care in China. Although there are still differences and debates on whether a cell should remain under a church or transform into a cell church, everyone agreed that pastoral care needs cells, which has almost become one of the consensuses of many churches, especially in urban churches.
Besides cells or small groups, disciple training is another hot keyword and consensus in pastoral care. Although the number of Christians in China has increased greatly in the past decades, not many people have actually become disciples of Jesus Christ. This is one of the profound problems of churches in China that more and more pastors have realized in the past decade. Therefore, through their respective training courses, family/workplace/life courses, etc., many churches hope to turn believers into disciples and become the reserve backbone of the churches in China.
3. Mobile churches (no physical gathering locations)
“Churches without walls” (referring to no physical gathering locations, translator’s note) is a new concept and model that have emerged all over the world in recent years. This trend is intensified after the pandemic in 2020, and the churches in China are no exception. “Family and group tendency will become a development way of the ‘churches without walls’ in the post-pandemic era.” A pastor of a southern church once said this before attending a church service. The exact way used by this church is also a manifestation of the “churches without walls”. In order to adapt to the difficult factors of the current pandemic situation, they changed the original fixed place of worship to a flexible way of renting different places and using mobile temporary locations for gatherings.
In fact, the connotation of “churches without walls” is rich, and it is a new concept that has gradually emerged in Chinese churches in recent twenty years. “Churches without walls” mainly means that the church should break the “high wall” of a building, and the barriers, barriers, and gaps between Christians and non-Christians, sects and sects, church and society, and the world. In this regard, many pastors have put forward their own ideas and opinions, and some have put them into practice, resulting in different churches and ministries based on community service, social care, and missionary churches. Some Chinese pastors believe that “in the last days, the system of the church without walls will replace the traditional in-house worship and become the source of spiritual supply for members”. To establish a church without walls, that is, to set up a micro-church in each family, community, shopping mall, campus, and community, the meeting place is not limited to a fixed place, and the Sunday meeting time can be other date including Sunday, with no more than 100 people each.
4. Going online
Around 2015, a pastor in Hangzhou started to raise believers through QQ, WeChat, and other ways. At that time, he found that many people were skeptical and critical of his practices. Many pastors thought that “the Internet is the devil”, so tried to use it as little as possible.
However, after the pandemic, the difficulty of meeting on the spot directly gave birth to online gatherings. At that time, some believers could receive more than 3 links to online gatherings a day.
After the outbreak, the importance of online herding has been increasingly recognized by pastors and churches, but the tension is still obvious. For example, the debate on whether or not to have Cloud Holy Communion has been going on for more than a year. Although it is true that some three-self churches have publicly practiced Cloud Holy Communion, it is still a very controversial topic whether it is an effective sacrament or not. However, online pastoral care brings great challenges to grasping the church concept from an entity. Some pastors have warned that when the church becomes more and more dispersed in the form of gatherings, the church will also encounter the crisis of dissipation in essence, so it is necessary to update the church concept from the perspective of the community.
5. Family altar
“The faith heritage of the descendants of believer families has become an imminent issue”. “The decline of the Christian family’s faith education has led to the problem of the loss of the second generation of faith”. Therefore, many young and middle-aged pastors realize the importance of restoring the family, and making Christ the head of the family is a tradition to be re-established. Therefore, many churches and Christians around the world have revived the faith tradition of the family churches and let the gospel begin at home.
Some pastors look at the importance of the family altar from the history of Israel. After their homes were destroyed, the people were displaced all over the world for nearly 2,000 years. However, after two thousand years, they have re-established their country, basically speaking the same language. That is because they have a strong family education system and because they preserve their ethnic culture and belief traditions through family churches.
6. Reading clubs
In the past few years, reading clubs have gradually become a new mode supplement of spiritual renewal, faith growth, and education. On the one hand, most traditional churches influenced by fundamentalism and anti-intellectualism have a negative attitude towards reading, and the attitude of “only reading the Bible” is obvious. However, with the growing needs of young believers, especially the young believers’ tendency to talk and think, reading clubs begin to rise in some churches and Christian groups. Besides reading spiritual books, some cultural and general books, readings and discussions are also becoming popular.
A pastor who has been committed to promoting the participation of urban Christian groups in book clubs for the past five years believes that many people can be freed from their confusion through the reading of books. He said, "Books not only express doctrine, but they are also educational, humanistic, spiritual and comprehensive. Reading is a useful supplement for those Christian groups who want more than just the usual church gatherings, which in turn benefits church life. I believe that many churches may be thinking about such a problem. They are realizing gradually that reading promotes the whole and is beneficial to their understanding of an entire belief system. I think this is an additional aid and from the perspective of cultural mission, it is a necessary means. This refers not only to reading, but also to music, culture, and tourism, all of which influence people from the perspective of universal enlightenment.”
Some Christians who love reading believe that Christianity is a religion with holy books, and reading should be a way for believers to participate in and even worship God. “Reading can make a nation, a country, and an individual, so reading can definitely make Christianity, a church and a Christian.”
7. Psychological counseling
A report released by the World Health Organization in March showed that there was an increase of 25 percent in symptoms of depression and anxiety in 2020. Lu Lin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an expert in psychiatry and clinical medicine, said that there was approximately one-third of those who were isolated at home because of the pandemic during the past three years showed different degrees of depression, anxiety, insomnia, or stress reaction. More than ten percent of the group failed to fully recover and the psychological impact will last at least two decades.
Over the past five years, churches in China paid more attention to psychological counseling, and many Christians have also participated in serving the public in the form of psychological counseling institutions.
Although domestic churches are still relatively conservative in psychological counseling, and there are still many controversies about what kind of psychological counseling is biblical, there are pastors and church workers in various places who have begun to make in-depth explorations and attempts in this field and have accumulated some successful cases. Although what the future holds is unknown, it is believed that with God’s healing in the first place and professional counseling from Christian counselors in the second place, Christians have more advantages in the field of mental health.
8. Business as mission
In the past 20 years, the so-called “business as mission” has been developed in the missionary strategy of western churches. In the past five years, especially during the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, more and more pastors in China began to pay attention to the importance of business.
Some Chinese pastors concluded: “Business as mission is a sustainable and profitable business action; Set the purpose and influence of bringing people and countries out of heaven; Pay attention to the economic, social, environmental and spiritual effects and realize the overall transformation; Take care of the world's poorest and least-heard people.”
Churches in China have always been deeply influenced by fundamentalism and dualism between holiness and secularism. The concept of “the poorer the more spiritual” is common. There are often many unhealthy or unbalanced understandings about business, management, making money, and giving. More and more pastors are beginning to change their minds, thinking that churches should be financially independent and encouraging Christians to create social values in their respective fields. Some pastors believe that it is necessary to abandon the erroneous logic that poor people think and money corrupts. Instead of being a burden to society, Christians can serve society and become an influential group of people. Of course, they emphasize the importance of teaching the truth, otherwise, the phenomenon of wealth and corruption would indeed occur.
9. Communities
Communities have become a hot keyword and future trend of social development in China. More and more Christians see that the community may be the next trend of our service, so they are trying to make some updates and explorations.
In history, the revival of Christianity in China has everything to do with the movement of the masses. In the 1980s and 1990s, the revival was apparent in rural churches, where the largest crowds were also to be found. Through the process of urbanization after 2000, the crowd began to move to the city, which was accompanied by the emergence and revival of new urban churches.
Today, urbanization has further deepened and strengthened the construction of new communities. The crowds flocking into cities gradually gathered in new "urban villages". Be they large or small, these are now usually called “communities”. With that comes the question that community, as a new way of gathering people, maybe the mission field for our next step of ministry.
10. Health to the mass
During the pandemic, Chinese people’s values have undergone many profound changes. They once again find that the most precious thing for them is their health over things such as materials, money, and status. The opposite is the lack of knowledge and resources in medical treatment and health.
According to the National Health Commission on September 20, at the end of 2021, there were 267 million elderly people aged 60 and above in China, accounting for 18.9% of the total population. The effects of an aging population are increasing.
Some pastors find that a church needs to see the new trend in the future, that is, to enter the community in a healthy way, and to serve the people in the community with inexpensive medical equipment, healthy food, and products, so that their bodies and minds can well be treated. When the church brings inexpensive healthcare services and healthy ingredients into the community, individual adults can benefit from them then the church will share the good news of Christ with them and their families more effectively. Just like in the Middle East, if you help a family recover through wellness therapy, they might accept what you say.
Churches can focus on community services, like participating in elderly care services and taking care of seniors at home. By introducing advanced medical equipment, they can bring the concept and service of comprehensive health into the community.
- Translated by Charlie Li
2020至2022年的三年疫情，是令人疲惫不堪的。但即使现实看上去是令人无助和绝望的，上帝却总是在无助中不离不弃，在绝望中打开希望。
回顾和总结过去三年，中国教会许多方面发生了巨大和深远的变化，特别是在2022年中国各地不少教会已经呈现出一些新发展新趋势。伴随着2023年疫情防控等各种环境的巨变，可能有些趋势也因此再度受到影响，比如大家已经习惯的线上聚会可能会重新被实地聚会取代，但整体而言，不少发展趋势仍然值得关注。
以下是基督时报根据过去三年的观察，文章、点击率、关键字搜索、重要性等综合因素，列出的当下中国教会呈现出的十大发展新趋势（以下排序根据内容主题，与重要性无关）：
1. 微/小型教会
2. 小组+门训
3. 无墙/流动教会
4. 线上化
5. 家庭祭坛
6. 读书会
7. 心理咨询
8. 营商宣教
9. 社区
10. 大健康
1.微/小型教会
自2000年后至2020年左右，中国许多教会尤其是城市教会尤其是欧美和韩国等超大型教会模式的影响，有意识地把把所服事的教会建造成为大型堂会的想法非常普遍。但至2017年尤其是2020年疫情后，现实导致大型堂会的模式已经举步维艰。
化整为零，重新认识到小教会的宝贵是很重要的一个趋势。尤其是有关注当下全球教会发展新趋势的牧师学习到微型教会或者一间教会模式的宝贵，有牧者表示：“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。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......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。”(本段不需要翻译，因为之前已有翻译，只需把对应的英文粘贴上即可，以下斜体的部分亦是如此。)
2. 小组+门训
自2015年前后，“小组”成为中国教会牧养中的热门关键词之一，虽然是做教会下面的小组，还是转型成为小组教会，仍旧是存在分歧和讨论，但人人都知道牧养需要做小组，几乎已经成为许多教会的共识之一，尤其是在城市教会。
除了小组，门训也是有关牧养中的热门关键词和共识之一。过去数十年虽然中国基督徒人数增长众多，但真正成为耶稣基督门徒的人却不多，这是过去10年愈来愈牧者意识到的中国教会深刻的问题之一。故此，透过各自门训课程、家庭/职场/生活课程等，不少教会希望将信徒转化为门徒，成为中国教会的后备中坚力量。
3. 无墙/流动教会
“无墙教会”是这几年全球兴起的一种新概念、新模式，2020年疫情后加剧了这一趋势，中国教会也不例外。“家庭化、小组化会成为后疫情时代‘无墙教会’的一种发展表现方式。”一位南方教会的牧者在参加某教会的礼拜前曾这样说到，这所教会恰恰使用的方式也是“无墙教会”的一种表现，他们为适应当下疫情实地聚会难因素，将原有的固定场所礼拜形式，改为灵活租用不同的场所使用流动式实地聚会的方式。
事实上，“无墙教会”的内涵十分丰富，它是近二十年在华人教会逐渐兴起的一种新观念，其“无墙”主要是指教会应打破教会的“高墙”，以及基督徒与非基督徒、宗派与宗派、教会与社会和世界之间的壁垒、隔阂与鸿沟。对此，不少牧者提出了自己的想法和观点，有的还付诸于实践，就有了基于社区服务、社会关怀、宣教型教会等不同的教会与事工。有华人教会牧者认为：“在末后的世代，无墙教会的系统将取代传统的会堂崇拜，成为会友得着属灵供应的来源”。要建立无墙教会，即在各个家庭、社区、商场、校园、社群建立微型的教会，聚会地点不限制在固定的地点，主日聚会时间可以不限定在周日，每个聚会点不超过百人。
4. 线上化
大约2015年，杭州一位牧者就已经开始透过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。
疫情发生后，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，有教牧同工已经提醒说，当教会在聚会形式上越来越分散时，那么教会在本质上也会遇到消散的危机，因此从共同体的角度上来更新教会观是很有必要的。
5. 家庭祭坛
“神家后代的延续成为了迫在眉睫的问题”；“基督徒家庭信仰教育的衰败，导致信二代流失问题凸显”.......当下许多教会里面一些不健康的现象的背后都与家庭中的信仰传承有关系。正是因此，不少中青年的牧者意识到，恢复家庭的重要性、让基督成为一家之主是重新要建立起来的传统，因此各地教会和基督徒有不少再度复兴家庭祭坛的信仰传统，让福音从家开始。
有牧者从以色列人的历史去看家庭祭坛的重要性，当以色列人被灭国之后，有将近 2000 年的时间，他们在全世界各地颠沛流离。可是在两千年之后，他们还是可以重新地建立他们的国家，基本还是在说一样的言语。那是因为他们有强大的家庭教育体系，因为他们通过家庭祭坛的方式来保留着自己族群的文化和信仰传统。
6. 读书会
过去几年来，读书会已经逐渐成为一种灵命更新、信仰成长和教育的新的模式补充。一方面，受到基要主义、反智主义传统影响的传统教会大多对于读书抱之以负面的态度，“唯读圣经”的态度比较明显。但伴随着年轻信徒的成长需要，尤其是年轻信徒倾向于对话和思考的氛围，故读书会开始在一些教会和基督徒群体中兴起，除了阅读属灵书籍之外，一些文化、通识类的书籍、阅读和讨论等也受到欢迎。
有一位过去五年致力于推动城市基督徒群体参与读书会的牧者认为“读书的时候，很多人通过书籍的表述帮助他们从困惑中被带出来。因为书籍的表达不只是一个教义，还有教育性的、人文类、灵修类和综合类。这些书籍的表述更有个体性的感受，给每个人更多的启发。读书是这些基督徒群体觉得有必要在聚会和生活之外的有益补充，这种补充反过来也使他们的教会生活受益。我相信很多教会可能也在思考这样的问题，逐渐意识到这是一个关于他们整体的提升，也有益于他们对整个信仰体系的理解。我觉得这是辅助性的，从文化使命角度来讲，是一个必要的手段。这不单指读书，还包括：音乐、文化、旅游等，这都是在通过普遍启示的角度去影响人。”
7. 心理咨询
2022年3月份，世卫组织发布的一份报告显示，2020年，全球焦虑和抑郁的发病率大幅度增加了25％。陆林院士表示，新冠三年期间，因疫情隔离在家的人士，有接近1/3的人，出现不同程度的抑郁、焦虑、失眠及急性应激反应；有超过10％的人，在疫情发生之后都未能完全恢复正常。而这种心理层面的影响将持续至少20年。
过去五年多里面，中国教会对于心理咨询和辅导的重视度明显提升，不少基督徒也以心理咨询机构的方式参与到对社会人群的服事之中。
尽管国内教会在心理咨询方面还是相对保守，并且怎样的心理咨询属于圣经性的仍旧存在很多争议，但是在各地陆续看到有牧者和教会同工开始在这个领域进行深入探索和尝试，也积累了一些成功案例。虽然不知道未来如何，但是相信有上帝的医治在前，基督徒心理咨询师的专业辅导在后，基督徒在心理健康这个领域更有优势。
8. 营商宣教
过去20年来，西方教会宣教策略中发展出所谓“营商宣教”(business as mission),过去五年来尤其是疫情带来的经济危机中，愈来愈多的中国教会牧者同工开始关注到营商的重要性。
有华人教会牧者总结说：“营商宣教是可持续和有盈利的商业行动；定意对人和国家带出天国目的和影响；注重经济、社会、环境和灵性的果效并实现整体转化；关照世界最贫困和最少听闻福音的人群。”
中国教会一直以来受基要主义、圣俗二元主义的影响颇深，“越穷越属灵”的观念比较流行，对于商业、经营、赚钱、奉献等常常有许多不健康或者失衡的认识。越来越多的牧者开始转换想法，认为教会要有经济自立思维，也鼓励基督徒要在各自的领域创造社会价值。有牧者认为要弃绝穷人思维、有钱就腐败的错误逻辑，基督徒不能成为社会的负担，而是能够服务社会、成为有影响力的一群人。当然他同时强调教导真理的重要性，否则的确会出现有钱腐败的现象。
9. 社区
社区，已经成为当下中国社会发展的一个热门关键词和未来趋势。愈来愈多的教会人士和基督徒看到：社区或许是我们下一步服事的趋势所在，因此也开始尝试做出一些更新和探索。
历史上，中国基督教的复兴和人群的走向息息相关。曾经，1980-90年代是农村教会的复兴，因为当时最多的人群在乡村；2000年后随着城市化的进程，人群开始从农村移动到城市，随之伴有的是城市新兴教会的出现和复兴。
而如今，伴随着城市化进程的进一步深化，加强社区建设是如今已经开始的新趋势。涌入到城市中的人群逐渐散落居住在如同新的“城中村”一样的地方——社区。而伴随着的一个问题就是：社区，作为当下这个时代人群聚集的新方式，可能是下一步服事的禾场所在。教会要进入社区的原因之一，是因为社区是人口最多、民众需求最大的地方，也是见证信仰的最好地方。
10. 大健康
一场疫情下来，让国人的价值观有很多深刻变化，人们再度发现比如物质、金钱、地位，对于普通人来说最宝贵的是健康。而与之相对的是医疗与健康方面的知识和资源的匮乏。
加上老龄化等各种现实问题（据全国老龄办发布数据显示，截至2021年底，我国60岁及以上老年人口有2.41亿人，占总人口17.3％），大健康的问题更为凸显。
有牧者同工发现，教会未来需要看到的一种新趋势即使以大健康的方式走进社区，用物美价廉的医疗设备和健康的食品、生活产品切实地服事到社区百姓，让他们的身体和心灵都得到医治。比如当教会用物美价廉的大健康服务和健康食材走进社区时，社区百姓见到疗效后，教会再去给叔叔阿姨和他们的家人分享基督的好消息就会容易许多。就像在中东地区，通过康养疗法帮助一个家庭调理好身体，那么一个家族都会接纳你所说的话。教会可以把社区服务作为重点领域。教会可以参与养老服务，照顾居家的老人；可以引进先进的医疗设备，把大健康的理念和服务带入到社区中，在人群中发光发热。
年终盘点: 2020-2022年期间 中国教会呈现的十大发展新趋势
The three-year pandemic from 2020 to 2022 was exhausting, but even though the reality seemed helpless and hopeless, God always keeps on helping us and opens up hope in our despair.
Looking back and summarizing the past three years, great and far-reaching changes have taken place in many aspects of churches in China, especially in 2022, many churches in China have shown some new trends. With the great changes in various environments such as COVID-19 restrictions being lifted in 2023, some trends may be affected again. For instance, online gatherings that everyone has become accustomed to may be replaced by in-person gatherings again, but on the whole, many development trends are still worthy of attention.
The following is a list of the top ten new development trends of churches in China, listed by the Christian Times, based on the observation of the past three years, articles, click-hits, keyword search, importance, and other comprehensive factors (the following ranking is based on the content theme, and has nothing to do with the importance):
1. Micro/small churches
2. Small groups plus discipleship
3. Mobile churches (no physical gathering locations)
4. Going online
5. Family altar
6. Reading clubs
7. Psychological counseling
8. Business as mission
9. Communities
10. Health to the mass
1. Micro/small churches
From 2000 to around 2020, many churches especially urban churches in China, under the particular influence of super-large church models led by Euro-America and South Korea, were consciously on the way to building their churches into large churches. Such an idea was rather widespread. However, by 2017, especially during the pandemic in 2020, the reality had made the mode of large-scale churches impossible.
It is an important trend to break things up and re-recognize the value of small churches. In particular, pastors who are concerned about the new trend of global church development learn the value of a micro-church or one-room church model. A pastor shared: “I think the churches in China should support the route of the micro church. I think this is a worthwhile model that the churches in China must value in the future. 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.”
2. Small groups plus discipleship
Since around 2015, “small groups” has become one of the hot keywords in church pastoral care in China. Although there are still differences and debates on whether a cell should remain under a church or transform into a cell church, everyone agreed that pastoral care needs cells, which has almost become one of the consensuses of many churches, especially in urban churches.
Besides cells or small groups, disciple training is another hot keyword and consensus in pastoral care. Although the number of Christians in China has increased greatly in the past decades, not many people have actually become disciples of Jesus Christ. This is one of the profound problems of churches in China that more and more pastors have realized in the past decade. Therefore, through their respective training courses, family/workplace/life courses, etc., many churches hope to turn believers into disciples and become the reserve backbone of the churches in China.
3. Mobile churches (no physical gathering locations)
“Churches without walls” (referring to no physical gathering locations, translator’s note) is a new concept and model that have emerged all over the world in recent years. This trend is intensified after the pandemic in 2020, and the churches in China are no exception. “Family and group tendency will become a development way of the ‘churches without walls’ in the post-pandemic era.” A pastor of a southern church once said this before attending a church service. The exact way used by this church is also a manifestation of the “churches without walls”. In order to adapt to the difficult factors of the current pandemic situation, they changed the original fixed place of worship to a flexible way of renting different places and using mobile temporary locations for gatherings.
In fact, the connotation of “churches without walls” is rich, and it is a new concept that has gradually emerged in Chinese churches in recent twenty years. “Churches without walls” mainly means that the church should break the “high wall” of a building, and the barriers, barriers, and gaps between Christians and non-Christians, sects and sects, church and society, and the world. In this regard, many pastors have put forward their own ideas and opinions, and some have put them into practice, resulting in different churches and ministries based on community service, social care, and missionary churches. Some Chinese pastors believe that “in the last days, the system of the church without walls will replace the traditional in-house worship and become the source of spiritual supply for members”. To establish a church without walls, that is, to set up a micro-church in each family, community, shopping mall, campus, and community, the meeting place is not limited to a fixed place, and the Sunday meeting time can be other date including Sunday, with no more than 100 people each.
4. Going online
Around 2015, a pastor in Hangzhou started to raise believers through QQ, WeChat, and other ways. At that time, he found that many people were skeptical and critical of his practices. Many pastors thought that “the Internet is the devil”, so tried to use it as little as possible.
However, after the pandemic, the difficulty of meeting on the spot directly gave birth to online gatherings. At that time, some believers could receive more than 3 links to online gatherings a day.
After the outbreak, the importance of online herding has been increasingly recognized by pastors and churches, but the tension is still obvious. For example, the debate on whether or not to have Cloud Holy Communion has been going on for more than a year. Although it is true that some three-self churches have publicly practiced Cloud Holy Communion, it is still a very controversial topic whether it is an effective sacrament or not. However, online pastoral care brings great challenges to grasping the church concept from an entity. Some pastors have warned that when the church becomes more and more dispersed in the form of gatherings, the church will also encounter the crisis of dissipation in essence, so it is necessary to update the church concept from the perspective of the community.
5. Family altar
“The faith heritage of the descendants of believer families has become an imminent issue”. “The decline of the Christian family’s faith education has led to the problem of the loss of the second generation of faith”. Therefore, many young and middle-aged pastors realize the importance of restoring the family, and making Christ the head of the family is a tradition to be re-established. Therefore, many churches and Christians around the world have revived the faith tradition of the family churches and let the gospel begin at home.
Some pastors look at the importance of the family altar from the history of Israel. After their homes were destroyed, the people were displaced all over the world for nearly 2,000 years. However, after two thousand years, they have re-established their country, basically speaking the same language. That is because they have a strong family education system and because they preserve their ethnic culture and belief traditions through family churches.
6. Reading clubs
In the past few years, reading clubs have gradually become a new mode supplement of spiritual renewal, faith growth, and education. On the one hand, most traditional churches influenced by fundamentalism and anti-intellectualism have a negative attitude towards reading, and the attitude of “only reading the Bible” is obvious. However, with the growing needs of young believers, especially the young believers’ tendency to talk and think, reading clubs begin to rise in some churches and Christian groups. Besides reading spiritual books, some cultural and general books, readings and discussions are also becoming popular.
A pastor who has been committed to promoting the participation of urban Christian groups in book clubs for the past five years believes that many people can be freed from their confusion through the reading of books. He said, "Books not only express doctrine, but they are also educational, humanistic, spiritual and comprehensive. Reading is a useful supplement for those Christian groups who want more than just the usual church gatherings, which in turn benefits church life. I believe that many churches may be thinking about such a problem. They are realizing gradually that reading promotes the whole and is beneficial to their understanding of an entire belief system. I think this is an additional aid and from the perspective of cultural mission, it is a necessary means. This refers not only to reading, but also to music, culture, and tourism, all of which influence people from the perspective of universal enlightenment.”
Some Christians who love reading believe that Christianity is a religion with holy books, and reading should be a way for believers to participate in and even worship God. “Reading can make a nation, a country, and an individual, so reading can definitely make Christianity, a church and a Christian.”
7. Psychological counseling
A report released by the World Health Organization in March showed that there was an increase of 25 percent in symptoms of depression and anxiety in 2020. Lu Lin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an expert in psychiatry and clinical medicine, said that there was approximately one-third of those who were isolated at home because of the pandemic during the past three years showed different degrees of depression, anxiety, insomnia, or stress reaction. More than ten percent of the group failed to fully recover and the psychological impact will last at least two decades.
Over the past five years, churches in China paid more attention to psychological counseling, and many Christians have also participated in serving the public in the form of psychological counseling institutions.
Although domestic churches are still relatively conservative in psychological counseling, and there are still many controversies about what kind of psychological counseling is biblical, there are pastors and church workers in various places who have begun to make in-depth explorations and attempts in this field and have accumulated some successful cases. Although what the future holds is unknown, it is believed that with God’s healing in the first place and professional counseling from Christian counselors in the second place, Christians have more advantages in the field of mental health.
8. Business as mission
In the past 20 years, the so-called “business as mission” has been developed in the missionary strategy of western churches. In the past five years, especially during the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, more and more pastors in China began to pay attention to the importance of business.
Some Chinese pastors concluded: “Business as mission is a sustainable and profitable business action; Set the purpose and influence of bringing people and countries out of heaven; Pay attention to the economic, social, environmental and spiritual effects and realize the overall transformation; Take care of the world's poorest and least-heard people.”
Churches in China have always been deeply influenced by fundamentalism and dualism between holiness and secularism. The concept of “the poorer the more spiritual” is common. There are often many unhealthy or unbalanced understandings about business, management, making money, and giving. More and more pastors are beginning to change their minds, thinking that churches should be financially independent and encouraging Christians to create social values in their respective fields. Some pastors believe that it is necessary to abandon the erroneous logic that poor people think and money corrupts. Instead of being a burden to society, Christians can serve society and become an influential group of people. Of course, they emphasize the importance of teaching the truth, otherwise, the phenomenon of wealth and corruption would indeed occur.
9. Communities
Communities have become a hot keyword and future trend of social development in China. More and more Christians see that the community may be the next trend of our service, so they are trying to make some updates and explorations.
In history, the revival of Christianity in China has everything to do with the movement of the masses. In the 1980s and 1990s, the revival was apparent in rural churches, where the largest crowds were also to be found. Through the process of urbanization after 2000, the crowd began to move to the city, which was accompanied by the emergence and revival of new urban churches.
Today, urbanization has further deepened and strengthened the construction of new communities. The crowds flocking into cities gradually gathered in new "urban villages". Be they large or small, these are now usually called “communities”. With that comes the question that community, as a new way of gathering people, maybe the mission field for our next step of ministry.
10. Health to the mass
During the pandemic, Chinese people’s values have undergone many profound changes. They once again find that the most precious thing for them is their health over things such as materials, money, and status. The opposite is the lack of knowledge and resources in medical treatment and health.
According to the National Health Commission on September 20, at the end of 2021, there were 267 million elderly people aged 60 and above in China, accounting for 18.9% of the total population. The effects of an aging population are increasing.
Some pastors find that a church needs to see the new trend in the future, that is, to enter the community in a healthy way, and to serve the people in the community with inexpensive medical equipment, healthy food, and products, so that their bodies and minds can well be treated. When the church brings inexpensive healthcare services and healthy ingredients into the community, individual adults can benefit from them then the church will share the good news of Christ with them and their families more effectively. Just like in the Middle East, if you help a family recover through wellness therapy, they might accept what you say.
Churches can focus on community services, like participating in elderly care services and taking care of seniors at home. By introducing advanced medical equipment, they can bring the concept and service of comprehensive health into the community.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Ten New Development Trends of Churches in China During 2020-2022
