As most Chinese churches haven't had a long history, the once simplistic and crude governance and pastoral methods are no longer viable today.
Recently, Pastor Wang Zhenhai (pseudonym) of a church in North China shared with the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, his exploration and practice in governance and pastoral methods. He stated that churches should standardize management, refine pastoral care, emphasize systematic learning, and professionalize ministries.
After many years of exploration, his church has established that the church leadership must be elected. A person can serve for a maximum of two terms—one term in three years. However, once they reach the age of 55, they must step down from the position of church leader but can continue to serve as staff workers, subject to the direction of the church leader. So far, they have been practicing church elections for twelve years.
They now adopt a refined pastoral care model as opposed to the pastoral care model that the majority of churches used in the past, which centralized pastoral care in the sanctuary. They categorize pastors, church workers, and believers into groups and tailor pastoral care plans based upon their particular situation. According to their needs rather than dividing them equally by the number of people. This is the essence of refined pastoral care.
Just like students in school, they need to be divided into classes. They learn different content according to their levels, gradually progressing. Each person is equipped based on their unique circumstances. It's not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Wang mentioned that many churches, especially rural ones, had a common flaw: they put believers in the “same class”. Regardless of their individual situations, every Christian learned the same things. This was why someone had believed in the Lord for many years but still didn't understand the truth or their faith. The important reason was that the church had not provided believers with the opportunity for systematic learning and equipping, he added.
"Our church aims to provide believers with systematic and professional learning and training. After gaining skills, they can provide professional service," Wang said. "Today's era is very different from the past. In the past, you could get by with casual learning in many cases. But now many things require professionalism, such as pre-marital counseling and post-marriage counseling, and in recent years, there has been an increase in depression, homosexuality, and mental illnesses. People without systematic professional learning cannot help them."
Non-professionals can carry out some of the traditional tasks of the church, such as management, logistics, and church hosting. However, without professionalism, it is challenging to do these tasks well. Wang said that some of his previous ministries were not done well due to a lack of professionalism, and they ended.
Therefore, the church where Wang serves is determined to continue deepening their efforts in these four areas.
As for the future, Wang remained positive and optimistic. "In recent years, due to factors such as the pandemic, some churches have faced a decline, and even some have closed their doors. I believe that any church now needs to implement standardized management and pastoral care through classification and grouping. If we continue with the old approach of one-size-fits-all, a hodgepodge of activities, and loose management, Christianity will become a ritualistic religion and lose its meaning. The challenges the church faces today are not a bad thing in themselves, as they are pushing the church to break down into smaller groups and provide refined pastoral care to believers. However, some churches have not yet seen this situation, nor have they recognized the spiritual needs of believers. They only see surface problems. God will tear down bad things and then rebuild what is good."
- Translated by Abigail Wu
大部分中国教会真正发展的时间并不长，曾经简单粗暴的治理模式、牧养方式在今天已然不再可行。
近日，北方某地一所教会的牧者王振海（化名）和一网络中国基督教报纸基督时报分享了他所在教会在治理模式、牧养模式等方面的探索和实践。可以用四个词来概括：正规化管理、精细化牧养、系统性学习、专业化服事。
通过很多年的探索，他们教会规定教会管理层必须通过选举才能够产生。三年一届，一个人累计最多可以担任两届。但只要到了55岁就必须从教会领袖的位置上退下来，可以继续做同工，但是要服从教会领袖的指挥。目前为止，他们实行教会选举已经十二年的时间了。
不同于以往绝大多数教会采用的大堂制牧养模式，他们现在采用精细化牧养模式。他们把牧者、同工、信徒分类分组，根据人们的具体情况量身定做牧养方案。不是根据人数多少，平均划分到每个小组里面。不是“教会给人什么，而是人们需要什么，”这是精细化牧养的精髓所在。
就像学校里面学生上课一样，需要分班级。按级别学习不同内容，然后一级级的往上走。每一个人基于自身的不同情况得到学习和装备。不是所有人都在一个锅里吃饭，而变得都一样。
王说，很多教会尤其是农村教会有一个缺点，就是所有人都是一个班级。不管各自是什么情况，所有人所有人学习的东西都一样。正因为如此，才会常常出现一个人虽然信主信了很多年，但是不明白真理，不明白信仰。之所以出现这样的情况，很重要的一个原因就是教会没有给信徒提供系统性的学习和装备的机会。
“我们教会是让每一个人得到系统性、专业性的学习和培训。这样大家得到能力后，进行专业化的服事。”王说，“今天这个时代和以前非常不一样，以前的时候大家随便学习一点很多时候就够用了。但是现在很多事情必须要专业化，比如做婚前辅导的、做婚后辅导的。还有这几年来来，抑郁症、同性恋、心理疾病变得越来越多，不经过系统性、专业化的学习和培训的人是是不能解决他们的问题的。”
教会传统的一些工作很多人不专业也可以做，比如教会主持、后勤、管理等等。但是不专业的话就很难真正做好。王说他以前的一些事工因为不专业，做得不好，而结束了。
因此，王服事的教会决心在这四个领域当中不断深耕。
对于未来，王弟兄还是比较积极、乐观的。“这几年来因为疫情等因素部分教会陷入衰退，甚至有教会倒闭、关门。我认为任何一所教会现在都需要分类分组精细化牧养和治理，如果再像以前一样吃大锅饭、搞大杂烩、粗放管理的话，基督教信仰真的就完全宗教化了，就没有什么意义了。现在教会遇到很多困难，这个本身并不是坏事，但是正好逼着教会化整为零。把教会变成很多个小组，然后通过小组对信徒进行精细化牧养。只是现在还是有少数的一些教会没有看透这样的形势，也没有看到信徒属灵的需要，只是看到了表面的困难。上帝会拆毁很多不好的东西，然后把好的重新建立起来。”
经验|北方一教会牧者：教会应当正规化管理、精细化牧养、系统性学习、专业化服事
As most Chinese churches haven't had a long history, the once simplistic and crude governance and pastoral methods are no longer viable today.
Recently, Pastor Wang Zhenhai (pseudonym) of a church in North China shared with the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, his exploration and practice in governance and pastoral methods. He stated that churches should standardize management, refine pastoral care, emphasize systematic learning, and professionalize ministries.
After many years of exploration, his church has established that the church leadership must be elected. A person can serve for a maximum of two terms—one term in three years. However, once they reach the age of 55, they must step down from the position of church leader but can continue to serve as staff workers, subject to the direction of the church leader. So far, they have been practicing church elections for twelve years.
They now adopt a refined pastoral care model as opposed to the pastoral care model that the majority of churches used in the past, which centralized pastoral care in the sanctuary. They categorize pastors, church workers, and believers into groups and tailor pastoral care plans based upon their particular situation. According to their needs rather than dividing them equally by the number of people. This is the essence of refined pastoral care.
Just like students in school, they need to be divided into classes. They learn different content according to their levels, gradually progressing. Each person is equipped based on their unique circumstances. It's not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Wang mentioned that many churches, especially rural ones, had a common flaw: they put believers in the “same class”. Regardless of their individual situations, every Christian learned the same things. This was why someone had believed in the Lord for many years but still didn't understand the truth or their faith. The important reason was that the church had not provided believers with the opportunity for systematic learning and equipping, he added.
"Our church aims to provide believers with systematic and professional learning and training. After gaining skills, they can provide professional service," Wang said. "Today's era is very different from the past. In the past, you could get by with casual learning in many cases. But now many things require professionalism, such as pre-marital counseling and post-marriage counseling, and in recent years, there has been an increase in depression, homosexuality, and mental illnesses. People without systematic professional learning cannot help them."
Non-professionals can carry out some of the traditional tasks of the church, such as management, logistics, and church hosting. However, without professionalism, it is challenging to do these tasks well. Wang said that some of his previous ministries were not done well due to a lack of professionalism, and they ended.
Therefore, the church where Wang serves is determined to continue deepening their efforts in these four areas.
As for the future, Wang remained positive and optimistic. "In recent years, due to factors such as the pandemic, some churches have faced a decline, and even some have closed their doors. I believe that any church now needs to implement standardized management and pastoral care through classification and grouping. If we continue with the old approach of one-size-fits-all, a hodgepodge of activities, and loose management, Christianity will become a ritualistic religion and lose its meaning. The challenges the church faces today are not a bad thing in themselves, as they are pushing the church to break down into smaller groups and provide refined pastoral care to believers. However, some churches have not yet seen this situation, nor have they recognized the spiritual needs of believers. They only see surface problems. God will tear down bad things and then rebuild what is good."
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Pastor Says Churches Should Conduct Refined Pastoral Care, Systematic Training
