“During the past three years of the pandemic, sisters and brothers have been hungering in the heart. Now we have resumed onsite meetings, so we are determined to try our best to feed believers,” said a pastor who just finished one retreat service.
Due to epidemic situations in China, churches had always shifted between "in-person gatherings" and "suspension of onsite and online meetings" in the last three years. At the end of 2022, the COVID-19 prevention and control regulations were gradually loosened, but it caused multitudes of people to become infected rapidly. Concerned about the health and safety of older Christians, many churches had to suspend holding meetings on-site again.
Pandemic situations turned well at the Spring Festival, and many churches around the country gradually resumed their onsite meetings and began to hold retreat activities.
Most churches hold several services on Sunday after the resumption. Usually, the first service is still going on while the attendees of the next service are already waiting in lines outside the church.
However, attendance is only half of what it was before the pandemic. It will gradually improve and recover with the regular resumption of pastoral work and the development of all various church ministries:
“We used to hold retreats for a week so believers increased day by day, but now it could not happen like that.” Speaking of the decline in church attendance, some pastors said it was because believers were accustomed to online worship during the pandemic and were not actively coming back to in-person services. The sense of the sanctity of worship is undermined in online service, so they worried that the church in China would head towards depression and degeneration like current church situations in Europe and America.
But some Christians believed that the past three years were a time to purify their faith. They said that the churches seemed to develop and all ministries were going on before the pandemic, “but the hearts of people are not rooted faithfully." They added, “God used the circumstances to refine our faith and make it purer."
Worries are real, but pastors do not lose hope. Local TSPM holds meetings to plan works for the new year; grassroots churches set up revival retreats; and communication and exchanges between churches are also conducted.
Around the Spring Festival, one grassroots church staff member attended several retreats. Just as one ended here, another started there. During the holiday, believers had more spare time, so churches seized the opportunity to hold retreats. This church worker attended six retreats and served the congregations throughout the lunar month of January.
As February 22, Ash Wednesday arrives, China's churches are expected to celebrate the first Easter after reopening.
- Translated by Kristina Ran
“疫情这三年，弟兄姐妹属灵里太饥渴了。现在恢复聚会了，我们就是要卯足劲喂养信徒，”一位刚结束培灵会讲道侍奉的牧师如此说。
疫情三年，各地教会受疫情影响，不断在“双暂停”和“恢复实地聚会”两个模式切换。去年年底，疫情防控逐步放开。但由于感染人数增长较快，多地教会出于疫情防控需要，也考虑到老年信徒的身体状况，再次宣布暂停实地聚会。
春节前后，随着疫情情况好转，各地教会陆续恢复聚会，举办培灵会。
教堂开堂之后，多是一天开设多场礼拜。第一场还没结束，参加第二场礼拜的信徒已经在外排起了长队。
不过，据多位教牧同工反应，教会的聚会人数只有疫情前的一半。随着教牧工作的恢复以及教会各项事工的开展，人数在逐步恢复。谈到聚会人数减少，一些牧者表示，疫情期间信徒习惯了线上礼拜，现在恢复实地聚会，也不来教堂了。
“以前办一周的培灵会，人数一天比一天多，现在肯定不行了”。习惯线上礼拜之后，礼拜的神圣感降低了，似乎中国的教会也在朝着欧美教会目前的萧条走去。
但也有信徒表示，疫情三年是炼净信仰的时间。疫情前教会好像发展很好，各项事工也在开展，“但是人的心浮着”。“神借着环境要炼净我们的信仰，让信仰变得更纯粹。”
牧者心里虽有担忧，但不失去盼望。各项工作已经安排起来。各地基层三自召开会议，安排新一年的工作。基层教会积极开办培灵会。教会之间的交流学习也重新提上日程。
某基层教会同工年前年后参加的培灵会一场接着一场。这里刚结束，那里又开始。春节前后，信徒闲暇时间较多，教会抓住时机开办培灵会。这位同工整个正月参加了六场培灵会，服侍参加聚会的信徒。
2月22日是圣灰星期三，四旬期马上开始。盼望中国教会在这个四旬期努力默想耶稣十字架的道路，迎接开放后的首个复活节！
年后各地教会陆续恢复聚会，积极举办培灵会
“During the past three years of the pandemic, sisters and brothers have been hungering in the heart. Now we have resumed onsite meetings, so we are determined to try our best to feed believers,” said a pastor who just finished one retreat service.
Due to epidemic situations in China, churches had always shifted between "in-person gatherings" and "suspension of onsite and online meetings" in the last three years. At the end of 2022, the COVID-19 prevention and control regulations were gradually loosened, but it caused multitudes of people to become infected rapidly. Concerned about the health and safety of older Christians, many churches had to suspend holding meetings on-site again.
Pandemic situations turned well at the Spring Festival, and many churches around the country gradually resumed their onsite meetings and began to hold retreat activities.
Most churches hold several services on Sunday after the resumption. Usually, the first service is still going on while the attendees of the next service are already waiting in lines outside the church.
However, attendance is only half of what it was before the pandemic. It will gradually improve and recover with the regular resumption of pastoral work and the development of all various church ministries:
“We used to hold retreats for a week so believers increased day by day, but now it could not happen like that.” Speaking of the decline in church attendance, some pastors said it was because believers were accustomed to online worship during the pandemic and were not actively coming back to in-person services. The sense of the sanctity of worship is undermined in online service, so they worried that the church in China would head towards depression and degeneration like current church situations in Europe and America.
But some Christians believed that the past three years were a time to purify their faith. They said that the churches seemed to develop and all ministries were going on before the pandemic, “but the hearts of people are not rooted faithfully." They added, “God used the circumstances to refine our faith and make it purer."
Worries are real, but pastors do not lose hope. Local TSPM holds meetings to plan works for the new year; grassroots churches set up revival retreats; and communication and exchanges between churches are also conducted.
Around the Spring Festival, one grassroots church staff member attended several retreats. Just as one ended here, another started there. During the holiday, believers had more spare time, so churches seized the opportunity to hold retreats. This church worker attended six retreats and served the congregations throughout the lunar month of January.
As February 22, Ash Wednesday arrives, China's churches are expected to celebrate the first Easter after reopening.
- Translated by Kristina Ran
China Churches Reopen, Hold Retreats After Spring Festival
