Paying attention only to the tree itself is not sufficient when cultivating a healthy tree. One must also give equal attention to the ecological environment in which it grows, such as the soil, climate, hydrology, and surroundings.
Recently, the Christian Times interviewed Brother Wang Zhong, who has served in an urban church in East China for many years. He suggests that churches should shift from the traditional local mentality to a holistic environmental perception.
By chance, Brother Wang came across the book Let the Church be the Church: An Ecclesiology by Pastor Lin Hong Hsin, which had a significant influence on him.
Brother Wang believes that many pastors only focus on a small area around their churches and do not consider the concept of "church ecology" at all. In reality, as long as the relevant ecosystem is established, a tree or a church will grow naturally.
Wang thinks that many in the church community still care about “grass and trees” but have limited knowledge about the ecological environment surrounding them.
“We should put a significant amount of effort into constructing a healthy church ecosystem. When such a system is well-established, many churches will naturally revive.”
He further explained, “In the past, many things were done in a mixed fashion, and there was not much division of labor and order. As long as something was thought to be good, valuable, and meaningful, everyone would do it. This was also the case in the church, for example, caring for the elderly or counseling marital affairs and family. Because everyone recognized the importance of something, they could easily imitate others, and everyone would follow the trend.”
“But now everyone has gradually found their own characteristics. It turns out that each of us may be more suitable for a certain ministry. Just like this, everyone gradually finds their own position that is more suitable to them. They then serve together according to their positions, thus slowly forming a good ecological circle,” he added.
“We have come up with a general framework and conceived an ecological circle within the Christian community. People of different ages, believers or unbelievers, are all our serving targets. We would serve them well. We now take the destitute elderly and broken families as our serving targets, which are part of the charity. Next, we would have the following projects: businesses, pastoral care, and music worship. They are newly developed projects. We want to build a large ecosystem of pastoral care that can radiate into different fields,” he said.
- Translated by Charlie Li
一棵树想要成长的话，只是关注这棵树本身这是不够的。更加要关注的是承载这棵树背后的生态环境，包括土壤、气候、水文、环境等等。
近日，在华东一所城市教会服事多年的王忠弟兄与中国一网络基督教媒体基督时报说道：需要从传统式的地域化思考转变为整体式的环境化思考。
一个偶然的机会，王忠弟兄看到了林鸿信老师的《教会生态学》，它给王忠弟兄带来了极大的影响。
王忠弟兄认为，现在很多牧者在服事当中，牧者只需要关注自己教会周边一小片范围就可以了。根本就没有任何的“教会生态”这个概念。 其实只要把相关的生态系统建立起来的话，那么无论是一棵树，还是一所教会，都会很自然的就会成长。
王弟兄认为，在教会界很多人关心的其实依然是“草和树”，而对草和树背后的生态环境并不认识。
“要把很多的力量用于健康的教会生态系统的建造。当我们把这样的生态系统建造好以后，很多的教会自然而然就会复兴起来。”
王忠弟兄说：“以前的时候，很多的事情大家都是混在一起干，没有太多的分工和秩序可言。只要觉得某个事情很好、很有价值和意义，大家就都去做。教会里面其实也差不多，比如爱老、婚姻辅导、家庭辅导等，大家都认识到了这项工作的重要性，所以很容易有样学样，大家一窝蜂的都去做。”
他继续说：“但是现在慢慢的大家都找到了自己的特点——原来我们的特点更加适合做这个领域的服事，而他更加适合做那个领域的服事。就像这样，大家都逐渐的找到了自己更加适合的位置，然后各按各职一起服事，这样慢慢的就形成了一个很好的、良性的生态圈。”
“我们做了一个大体的框架，构思了一个主内的生态圈。不同年龄层次的人，从老到小，从信徒到世界上的未信人群，我们都想要覆盖到，努力的服务他们。以特困老人以及婚姻关系破裂的家庭等等作为我们的服务对象，这些是公益慈善的部分。然后接下来我们也要做爱心商家、爱牧、爱乐等等方面的项目，这些是属于新开发的项目。我们是想要打造一个很大的教牧的生态圈，能够辐射到不同的领域，” 他补充道。
专访|教会需要从传统式的地域化思考转变为环境化思考
Paying attention only to the tree itself is not sufficient when cultivating a healthy tree. One must also give equal attention to the ecological environment in which it grows, such as the soil, climate, hydrology, and surroundings.
Recently, the Christian Times interviewed Brother Wang Zhong, who has served in an urban church in East China for many years. He suggests that churches should shift from the traditional local mentality to a holistic environmental perception.
By chance, Brother Wang came across the book Let the Church be the Church: An Ecclesiology by Pastor Lin Hong Hsin, which had a significant influence on him.
Brother Wang believes that many pastors only focus on a small area around their churches and do not consider the concept of "church ecology" at all. In reality, as long as the relevant ecosystem is established, a tree or a church will grow naturally.
Wang thinks that many in the church community still care about “grass and trees” but have limited knowledge about the ecological environment surrounding them.
“We should put a significant amount of effort into constructing a healthy church ecosystem. When such a system is well-established, many churches will naturally revive.”
He further explained, “In the past, many things were done in a mixed fashion, and there was not much division of labor and order. As long as something was thought to be good, valuable, and meaningful, everyone would do it. This was also the case in the church, for example, caring for the elderly or counseling marital affairs and family. Because everyone recognized the importance of something, they could easily imitate others, and everyone would follow the trend.”
“But now everyone has gradually found their own characteristics. It turns out that each of us may be more suitable for a certain ministry. Just like this, everyone gradually finds their own position that is more suitable to them. They then serve together according to their positions, thus slowly forming a good ecological circle,” he added.
“We have come up with a general framework and conceived an ecological circle within the Christian community. People of different ages, believers or unbelievers, are all our serving targets. We would serve them well. We now take the destitute elderly and broken families as our serving targets, which are part of the charity. Next, we would have the following projects: businesses, pastoral care, and music worship. They are newly developed projects. We want to build a large ecosystem of pastoral care that can radiate into different fields,” he said.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Interview: Churches to Shift from Local Mentality to Ecological Perception
