"Ridiculous"—this is the harsh evaluation made by Pastor A regarding the chaos caused by the separation of pastoral care and administrative affairs in his church. This disorder ultimately led to Pastor A leaving the church, which he had been devoted to for almost two decades, a few years ago.
Nearly ten years ago, Pastor A's church imitated other churches' experiences and began promoting the reform of its management system. The work of pastors and deacons in the church committee was clearly differentiated according to their respective responsibilities.
"At that time, they suggested that pastors should concentrate on preaching and not deal with the church's miscellaneous affairs. We thought it was a good idea without a second thought," recalled Pastor A.
However, the pastoral staff soon realized that this new separation system had caused an imbalance of power. "After the establishment of the core team of the new church board, there was not a single seminary student or pastor in the team; all were full-time administrative staff," Pastor A said. "Several of the staff members smoked and drank in the church, which was very unpopular."
It turned out that the head of the church board, who had long sought to eliminate dissidents, took advantage of the loophole of "separation of church affairs and administration" and forced all pastoral staff out of the church management.
"For a long time afterward, the pastors in our church did not have any substantial authority. Instead, we took direction from an office director who had just been promoted from a lay believer, and we were even instructed by them on how to shepherd the believers," Pastor A said, his eyes filled with tears.
Because most of these administrative staffers lacked theological knowledge or pastoral experience, they made misguided decisions in their subsequent ministries, which also dealt a severe blow to the church itself.
"The pastorship is a divine appointment from God. Shepherding the flock remains at the core of all church activities. All management techniques should only serve as an aid to pastoring, and it is essential not to put the cart before the horse," stated Pastor A.
Exploration in another church can serve as a valuable reference for identifying talents suitable for church administration while avoiding improper selection of church administrators and power imbalances.
In Pastor X's church, high-quality administrative personnel not only serve as assistants to the pastor, helping with various complex tasks of the church, but also become "leaders" who can train and lead other grassroots church management personnel.
"Presently, the Chinese church is not lacking in pastors but rather faces a significant absence of administrative talent, especially individuals who are spiritually mature and gifted," stated Pastor X, who leads the central church in a prefecture-level city and is the head of the municipal CC&TSPM.
"Currently, there are still some shortcomings in the education system for church administration in domestic theological colleges. Therefore, lay believers with business management experience could become crucial targets for grassroots pastors to discover and train as staff workers."
Upon assuming the position of head of the municipal CC&TSPM, Pastor X embarked on a series of experiments in his church as well as in a few small churches within the vicinity. The main objective was to identify competencies among the laypeople and appoint them as "deputy administrative directors."
"The 'administrative director', on the other hand, must be the respective pastor in charge of each church. However, there should be some degree of delegation of authority," Pastor X explained.
He went on to highlight that while there are similarities between church administration and enterprise management, there are fundamental differences. Whereas enterprise administration is centered around directives, the core of church administration is "the love of Christ". Hence, exemplary church administration should not solely rely on authority but rather be rooted in love and tolerance in resolving all disputes during the administration process."
"I have heard that some urban churches have adopted a system of competitive selection among highly educated lay believers for appointing church administrators in recent years. This, I believe, is also an effective approach," Pastor X concluded.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
“荒诞可笑”——这是参与了教会侍奉多年的A牧师对于自己曾经所在教堂教务行政分离制度所造成乱象所提出的尖锐评价。也正是因此乱象，这位牧师在几年前被迫离开了委身了近二十年的教会。
近十年前，A牧师所在的教堂效仿兄弟教会经验开始推进管理制度改革。按照职分分工，将堂委会里牧者与执事的工作进行了明确区分。
“当时说是让我们传道人专心讲道，不用管教会的闲杂事务。我们觉得这是个好事，没多想就都同意了。”
不出多久，教牧同工们便发现，这全新推行的分离制度开始权力失衡。“新堂委核心班子成立以后，里面没有任何一个我们的神学生或传道人，全都是专职管理行政的事务人员。”A牧师说，“其中有几个人在教堂里都烟酒不离手，很不得大家见证。”
原来这位早有排除异己之心的堂会负责人假借“教务事务分离”的漏洞，将教牧同工全数排挤出了教会管理层。
“之后的很长一段时间，我们教会里的传道人还不如一个刚从平信徒提拔上来的办公室主任说话顶用，甚至我们还得被他们指手画脚地指点应该怎么牧养信徒。”A牧师含着眼泪说。
由于这些事务人员大多没有神学根基，又缺乏牧会经验。教会随后的各项事工昏招频出，朝令夕改，也对教会自身造成了沉重打击。
“牧者是神所赐的职分，牧养羊群是教会的核心，一切管理手段都只是牧养的辅助，不能本末倒置。”A牧师说。
对于如何寻找教会行政管理人才，规避教会行政管理人才拣选失当及权力失衡，另一间教会的探索是很好的参考。
在X牧师的教会里，高素质的行政管理同工不仅成为了牧者的好帮手，协助将教会打理各项繁杂事务之余，还成为了能够带领栽培更多基层教会管理同工的“领军人”。
“现如今中国教会实际不缺传道人，反而最缺的是行政管理方面的人才，尤其是灵命与才干兼备的管理人才。” 地级市中心堂的负责牧者，同时也是地市两会负责同工的X牧师说。
“目前国内神学院校在教会行政管理教育上还是存在一些短板，所以如果教会里有企业事业管理经验的平信徒，那应该是基层牧者发掘并向同工方向栽培使用的重点对象。”
自担任了当地两会负责牧者之后，X牧师开始以所在教堂和城区几个小教堂作为试点，在平信徒中寻找相应的人才，并在教会堂委会中设立行政专岗，聘请其担任“行政副主管”职位。
“至于‘行政主管’，那肯定还得是各堂会的负责牧者担任，放权要有度。”X牧者接着说
“不过需要注意，教会的行政管理和企业的管理还是有一定的区别的。”他表示，企业行政管理的内核是命令式，而教会行政管理的内核则是“基督的爱”。“所以，做好教会里的行政管理工作不能只靠权柄，更要以爱与包容为基础去化解管理过程中所面临的一切争端。”
“听说近些年有些城市教会一直在高学历平信徒群体里通过竞争上岗的制度挑选教会行政管理的人才，我觉得这也不失为一个好办法。”X牧者最后说到。
如何让教务行政分离制度成为教会发展助力？
"Ridiculous"—this is the harsh evaluation made by Pastor A regarding the chaos caused by the separation of pastoral care and administrative affairs in his church. This disorder ultimately led to Pastor A leaving the church, which he had been devoted to for almost two decades, a few years ago.
Nearly ten years ago, Pastor A's church imitated other churches' experiences and began promoting the reform of its management system. The work of pastors and deacons in the church committee was clearly differentiated according to their respective responsibilities.
"At that time, they suggested that pastors should concentrate on preaching and not deal with the church's miscellaneous affairs. We thought it was a good idea without a second thought," recalled Pastor A.
However, the pastoral staff soon realized that this new separation system had caused an imbalance of power. "After the establishment of the core team of the new church board, there was not a single seminary student or pastor in the team; all were full-time administrative staff," Pastor A said. "Several of the staff members smoked and drank in the church, which was very unpopular."
It turned out that the head of the church board, who had long sought to eliminate dissidents, took advantage of the loophole of "separation of church affairs and administration" and forced all pastoral staff out of the church management.
"For a long time afterward, the pastors in our church did not have any substantial authority. Instead, we took direction from an office director who had just been promoted from a lay believer, and we were even instructed by them on how to shepherd the believers," Pastor A said, his eyes filled with tears.
Because most of these administrative staffers lacked theological knowledge or pastoral experience, they made misguided decisions in their subsequent ministries, which also dealt a severe blow to the church itself.
"The pastorship is a divine appointment from God. Shepherding the flock remains at the core of all church activities. All management techniques should only serve as an aid to pastoring, and it is essential not to put the cart before the horse," stated Pastor A.
Exploration in another church can serve as a valuable reference for identifying talents suitable for church administration while avoiding improper selection of church administrators and power imbalances.
In Pastor X's church, high-quality administrative personnel not only serve as assistants to the pastor, helping with various complex tasks of the church, but also become "leaders" who can train and lead other grassroots church management personnel.
"Presently, the Chinese church is not lacking in pastors but rather faces a significant absence of administrative talent, especially individuals who are spiritually mature and gifted," stated Pastor X, who leads the central church in a prefecture-level city and is the head of the municipal CC&TSPM.
"Currently, there are still some shortcomings in the education system for church administration in domestic theological colleges. Therefore, lay believers with business management experience could become crucial targets for grassroots pastors to discover and train as staff workers."
Upon assuming the position of head of the municipal CC&TSPM, Pastor X embarked on a series of experiments in his church as well as in a few small churches within the vicinity. The main objective was to identify competencies among the laypeople and appoint them as "deputy administrative directors."
"The 'administrative director', on the other hand, must be the respective pastor in charge of each church. However, there should be some degree of delegation of authority," Pastor X explained.
He went on to highlight that while there are similarities between church administration and enterprise management, there are fundamental differences. Whereas enterprise administration is centered around directives, the core of church administration is "the love of Christ". Hence, exemplary church administration should not solely rely on authority but rather be rooted in love and tolerance in resolving all disputes during the administration process."
"I have heard that some urban churches have adopted a system of competitive selection among highly educated lay believers for appointing church administrators in recent years. This, I believe, is also an effective approach," Pastor X concluded.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Pastors: Should Church Administration Be Separated from Pastoral Ministry?
