The year of 2023 was the first year where economic activities began to fully recover in China after the three-year pandemic, and the church also resumed its events involving in-person gatherings and ministries.
Through observation and analysis in 2023, Christianity in China became the same as it was before the pandemic, but many differences also emerged, resulting in far-reaching changes.
The pandemic had a universal impact on the global church: declining memberships. Most churches in China were facing a similar situation, and the loss rate varied from 10% to 30% in different regions. The main reasons were as follows: due to a long time's church closure, believers’ faith became weak and many left the church. As most churches provided online services, believers were already accustomed to the convenience of online gatherings from which they could freely choose their favorite pastors, so some of them had been reluctant to return to in-person meetings since. However, some other pastors said that their churches had done a good job of small groups and discipleship training, and followers did not decrease but increased.
After the pandemic, one of the most obvious environmental changes was the economic downturn, which greatly impacted many churches that mainly relied on tithes and offerings. Due to decreasing churches and the economic downturn, the contribution of churches in many first- and second-tier cities shrank seriously, and even the income of some churches fell into negative growth as the income could not make ends meet. Therefore, both missionaries and churches were facing two difficulties: money and survival. As a result, many small churches had to close down.
Pastors faced obvious economic pressure. A millennial pastor who works in a first-tier city revealed that although he had a salary of 10,000 yuan per month, the house rent was more than 5,000 yuan. In addition, he pays more than 2,000 yuan in social security. Fortunately, his wife is also working to barely support the family, while his church did not offer enough incentives and care provided. Many mid-aged pastors had significantly increased economic anxiety.
The new situation has obviously prompted many churches to make great adjustments either actively or passively, which has made great and far-reaching changes in many aspects such as development, pastoral ministry, and evangelization. To some extent, it can be said that many Chinese churches have evolved into a new development model after the pandemic.
The ten new trends and explorations of churches in China are as follows, complied by the Christian Times.
1. Walking out of the myth of "megachurch"
In recent decades, many well-known churches in the world are megachurches that adopted the session system, leading many Chinese churches to be deeply inclined to this model from 2010 to 2015, especially those attached to the “megachurch myth.”
A pastor in the Yangtze Delta region said, "Over the past 20 years, many pastors and I have been influenced by the megachurch model prevalent in Europe, the United States, and South Korea... There is no doubt that megachurches have many advantages such as large capacity, various talents and reources, professionalism and impact in ministries. Many pastors of churches in China have supported this myth and have been influenced by megachurches abroad. They have been determined to make the church bigger and stronger, regarding a megachurch as the ideal."
But over the years, many experiences have changed his mind. “We must seriously consider our actual situation, which is completely different from that 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 megachurches.”
Out of the myth of megachurch, apart from the change of the model, the deeper change is that of the concept: compared with the previous emphasis on superficial scale, number, and efficiency, it has begun to emphasize the essence of the church and the growth of Christian life.
2. Re-emphasis and longing for revival
Against the background of losing believers after the pandemic, many churches and pastors have called for revival, especially the Asbury Revival that took place in the United States in February 2023, which further stimulated the desire of pastors in China for the same. Many pastors in China, especially young and middle-aged pastors with a spiritual background, kept concerned about revival, preached and appealed about it in various places.
These thoughts and discussions include: What is the real revival? What are the manifestations of revival? How can we usher in a revival? What are the basic elements of revival? There are also many pastors calling for: after the pandemic, the on-site gathering has gradually resumed, but what needs to be restored more than the external recovery is our inner longing, enthusiasm, and expectation for revival.
3. Diversified exploration of church models.
While walking out of the myth of megachurch, pastors have made diversified explorations of church development models. Although shortly after the pandemic was over, some pastors hesitated whether to return to the former large meetings or continue to use the small groups mode. Most churches still affirmed the latter.
Although quite a few pastors gave up after the pandemic due to the loss of believers and the environment, there are still many aspiring pastors who have been making great efforts to explore the further transformation of the church in China and influence the gradual transformation of the other pastors. New growth modes have been explored to consider the model in the apostolic era, small home churches, missional churches, and the gospel ecosystem.
A theologian believes that, unlike the transformation of the church in China in the past 20 years, it is necessary to continue to explore the further transformation of the church in China today. He regards it mainly in three aspects: from the construction of the church system (pastors-centered) to the establishment of Christian daily life; from entering mainstream culture to the implementation of the gospel plus, that is, the connection between the gospel and culture and society; from the church that sends specific clergy to the mission-oriented or community-oriented church where everyone is sent as a missionary.
Although the mode of exploration is diversified, different experimenters have a common understanding that small groups and discipleship training are the two most important elements for the healthy development of a church in the next decade.
4. Attention to the family
In pastoral care, more churches in China began to attach importance to families. Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary focus of most churches was on numerical expansion, offerings, and ministry-oriented revival. However, in the aftermath of the pandemic, numerous pastors engaged in introspection and came to the realization that the well-being and progress of the church hinged upon fine-tuned ministry, particularly in the context of individual families. "Pastoring the church lies in the ministry for the family" was a summary of a pastor's philosophy for his ministry and also the exhibition of many pastors' new practices.
Because whether it is a newcomer to the church, an ordinary believer, or a group of teaching and pastoral workers, there is actually a common need: the family. On the one hand, there are many families on the verge of breaking up at present, and the marital problems inside and outside the family are more serious, so looking after families is helpful to help new people and ordinary believers. Meanwhile, the biggest pain point for a majority of pastoral workers is family and parenting. How to promote harmony between husband and wife and parent-child relationships is also a great challenge for them.
5. “Living” models
“Living” models are also a new trend. On the one hand, how believers live their faith is one of the biggest demands of Christians at present, so courses in the workplace, family, and interpersonal relationships have become popular. At the same time, this has become a new key point of evangelism. Many pastors find that it is more important to live the faith, that is, to embody the faith in life, the workplace, and the family, than the traditional way of oral transmission and leaflet spreading. More and more pastors say that real life can convince a person more. How to express faith is not only based on religious ceremonies and forms but also on faith in the church. How to live the gospel in daily life is more important.
6. New mission areas: the workplace and community
China has been in the process of rapid urbanization for more than ten years. Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the proportion of urban population in the national population (urbanization rate) is 65.22%. In cities, the most important elements include the working population and the community population. Therefore, the two also began a new focus and direction for pastoral areas.
How to feed the people in the workplace and help them live their faith and witness in the workplace is the focus of urban church pastors. However, it is more difficult for the church to raise the working group at present. Firstly, most pastors have limited working experience and professionalism. The second reason is that there are not many successful Christians in the workplace. A millennial doctor-born western city pastor shared that he was “young and had no work experience” in ministry, which made him lacking in pastoring believers. “At times, believers approach me with work-related challenges and dilemmas. During such moments, it is a formidable task for me to dispense constructive counsel.”
Paying attention to community construction is a current trend in society, and more and more church people and individual Christians see that some pastors have found that the current positioning of churches in developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and South Korea is more of a concept of community, which may be the trend for our next means of ministry, so they have begun to experiment and explore. A pastor realized that the West positioned the church to be more of "community church" with social development.
7. Strengthening "business as mission" concept
Three years after the pandemic, many churches are facing an economic crisis because of reduced offerings. Some pastors endure in poverty, and some leave the church for jobs. For example, there used to be a famous pastor who chose a secular job to support his family. These are relatively healthy ways. The worry is that some pastors fall into different forms of pyramid schemes in order to make a living and even lead their followers into various commercial traps. Some pastors have observed that some pastors have lost a substantial amount of money in recent years, such as by making money by direct selling, pyramid selling, fund-raising and foreign exchange fraud, and selling after preaching or exaggerating the effect of the products they sell in the name of God, which has caused many co-workers and churches to suffer great losses.
Fundamentalism and dualism between the holy and the secular have had a significant impact on the church in China as a whole. The concept of “the poorer the church is, the more spiritual it is” is popular, and there are often many unhealthy understandings about business and management. More and more pastors began to change their minds and think that the church should have financial independence.
Some active churches and pastors have seen that the church needs to raise the awareness of business as mission, and a few have begun to cautiously try various feasible business models to promote the long-term solution of economic problems. For example, businessmen who have experienced the upsurge of industrial and commercial fellowship believe that it is unhealthy to call them missionaries as soon as they believe in the Lord, and their professional identity needs to be respected and herded on this basis, and their offerings can help the church. There are also church leaders who encourage pastors and believers to do small business, buy groups to save on the cost of living, and run some enterprises or industries. However, despite these initiatives, only a handful of mature and viable attempts are currently emerging.
8. Increased demand for localization
A few decades ago, the development of churches in China may have lacked money, but later it was said that the development of churches in China lacked not money but training resources. At present, more and more pastors find that the training resources are no longer lacking, and the training courses for all kinds of newcomers, disciples, co-workers, and group leaders, as well as the courses and resources for singles, marriage, and parenthood, are gradually enriched and diversified.
However, pastors find that Chinese churches keep learning various internationally popular pastoral and group courses, each of which is taken as a movement or trend. Every two or three years, a new wave of movement or trend emerges, and the pastoral staff fall into a strange circle of repeatedly learning new courses and constantly following various new movements and trends. Meanwhile, more and more mature local pastors have found that not all kinds of teaching materials or resources for discipleship training and group ministry introduced from abroad can be directly applied to China. The key is how to apply the teaching materials in the Chinese context, and some pastors have started to make their own materials for small groups or localized teaching materials.
9. The obvious trend of "atomization" of believers
After the pandemic, one point of the present situation in Christianity is that believers tend to be atomized. The problems of the general environment have directly brought about greater economic pressure on churches, and some are unable to bear the cost of worship meetings and other Christian activities. The direct result of the reduction of these sacred activities is that believers’ commitment to the church is reduced. On the one hand, it also shows how attractive traditional churches are to the younger generation. As a result, more and more believers began to dissociate themselves from the church.
At the same time, due to the loss of some pastors’ co-workers due to economic and other reasons and because it is difficult for traditional churches to provide jobs for laymen, some of these groups began to find jobs again or do individual business in society, and some of them had feelings and pursuits to establish various non-church institutions and ministries. For example, many laymen do psychological counseling, family education, marriage counseling, and other enterprises or institutions in a purely commercial way to help meet the needs of the social crowd.
10. The emphasis of the kingdom of God, community and gospel ecosystem
From 2010 to 2015, urban churches in China put more emphasis on the concepts of vision and membership and paid more attention to the institutionalization of individual churches and denominations. But now, the city church has gradually stepped out of institutionalization, emphasizing new concepts: the kingdom of God, community, and gospel ecology.
The pandemic and the environment itself have completely changed the pattern of getting along with each other in the past and changed the core issues that everyone cares about. The discovery is how unnecessary it was to argue among churches because in the past, when resources were abundant, a clear line was drawn for resource allocation, various doctrinal arguments, institutional establishment, etc. Now, when resources are scarce, the fragmented border consciousness will make individual churches isolated and helpless, leading to the church finding that differences are not so important and need more communication and unity.
Emphasizing the gospel ecosystem is the embodiment of this trend, thinking that it is not only about the growth of one’s own church but also how churches with different backgrounds and various ministries can focus on the kingdom of God and create a healthy church ecosystem within their own region and culture. The concept of community is a correction to the trend of atomization of individual Christians after the pandemic and the emphasis of the organized church on belonging, emphasizing the common community life of believers, integrating faith into the family and life of each believer, and letting seekers see what the life of Christians is like in the process of dealing with the world through relationships, life, and openness.
After talking about the ten trends in Chinese Christianity after the pandemic, we should not neglect the difficulties and crises that the churches in China are facing are more serious: how to guide the Gen Z, how to preserve the independence of churches and businesses, and how to develop new talents.
- Translated by Charlie Li
2023年是三年疫情后生产生活开始全面恢复的第一年，教会也是如此，无论是实体聚会还是各类事工，都开始重新活跃起来。
这一年透过观察和分析可以发现：中国基督教呈现出许多和疫情前一样的样子，也呈现出许多和疫情前非常不一样的样子：它已经在发生着深远的变化。
疫情对全球教会都带来的一个共同影响是：信徒流失明显。中国大部分教会也都面临类似的情况，不同地区有教会反馈的流失比率10%-30%不等。
信徒流失的原因主要有：疫情期间，教会实地聚会无法正常举行，有些信徒长期不能聚会，没有人来牧养，时间一久，信徒信心软弱而流失；大部分教会因无法实地聚会而提供线上聚会，疫情结束后，部分信徒习惯了线上聚会的便利，还能自由地在网络上挑选喜欢的牧者，因此疫情后有一部分人不愿意回归实体教会。不过，也有牧者介绍说，自己所在的教会很好的做了小组和门训，信徒没有流失，反而有增长。
疫情后，一个最直接的环境变化是经济下滑，这对很多主要依赖信徒奉献而生存的教会影响是巨大的。由于教会人数减少以及经济下滑，不少一二线城市的教会的奉献萎缩严重，甚至有些教会的收入是负增长的状态，奉献无法支付教会开支，因此传道人和教会都面临经济和生存的双重困难，不少小型教会也不得不关门。
传道人所面临的经济压力也是明显的。一位在一线城市做牧会的80后牧者谈到，他本人虽然有1万块的工资，但租房就需要5000多，加上自己交社保2000多，幸亏妻子也在工作，所以他们夫妻二人和一个女儿可以勉强生活，而教会给予的其他福利和照顾并不多。不少70后和80后的牧者在经济方面的焦虑明显增加。
新的处境变化明显，促进不少教会不得不内在主动或被动地去做出巨大调整，使其在发展模式、牧养方式、福传方式等许多方面都发生了重大和深远的变化。在一定程度上可以说：疫情后不少中国教会已经进入到一个新的发展模式阶段。
其呈现的新的趋势和探索主要有：
1. 走出大教会的迷思
近几十年来全世界知名的很多教会是超大型教会，采用的是堂会制，这导致2010-2015年间很多中国的教会也非常倾向于这种教会模式，尤其有一种“大教会的迷思”。
一位长三角的牧者曾说：“过去20多年，我和不少牧师同样受到尤其是欧美和韩国等超大型教会模式的影响…毫无疑问，超大型教会有着许多的优点，教会的体量非常大，拥有的人才也非常多，资源也很多，很多的服事和事工都可以很方便的开展，而且同时还能够做的相当专业，拥有卓越的影响力…很多中国教会的牧者也都曾经有过这样的迷思，立志把教会做大做强，最好做成超大型教会，这样的初衷和想法可以说都是非常美好的。”
但这些年不少的经历让他改变了这样的想法，“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。”因此，“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。”
走出大教会的迷思，除了模式变化外，其中更深层的是观念上的转变：比起之前重视表面的规模、人数和效率，更加开始强调教会的本质和基督徒生命的成长。
2. 重新强调和渴慕复兴
在疫情后信徒流失的大背景下，多个教会和多位牧者都呼吁要渴望和迎接复兴，特别是2023年2月在美洲发生的阿斯伯里大复兴也让更加激发中国的牧者同工对复兴的渴望。中国国内不少牧者尤其是灵恩派背景的中青年牧者同工对复兴保持关注、讨论和思考，并且在各地宣讲和呼吁。
这些思考和讨论包括：真正的复兴是什么？复兴的表现形式有哪些？如何才能迎来复兴？复兴的基本元素有哪些？也有多位牧者呼吁：疫情后实地聚会逐渐恢复了，但比起外在的恢复更加需要恢复的是我们内在的渴慕和热心与对复兴的期待。
3. 教会模式的多样化探索
在走出大教会迷思的同时，牧者们就教会发展模式进行了多样化的探索。虽然疫情放开后不久，仍有牧者就是否回归到曾经的大堂会模式，还是继续使用小组和分点牧养的模式产生过犹豫，但大部分教会还是肯定了分点和小组的模式。
虽然疫情后因为信徒流失和环境等原因，躺平的牧者不在少数，但仍旧有许多有追求的牧者在中国教会进一步转型的探索上汲汲进取，并影响着周围的牧者逐渐转变。这些模式的探索包括回归使徒时代的教会、家教会、微型教会、使命教会（Missional Church，或译为社区型教会）、健康教会、福音生态系统等。
一神学研究者认为，和过去近20年中国教会转型不同的是，今天需要继续探讨中国教会的进一步转型。他认为主要是三方面：从教会制度（牧者）的建设转向基督徒的日常生活的建立；从走向主流文化的提岀到落实福音+即福音与文化、与社会的对接; 从差派神职人员的教会到人人皆被差派的使命导向/社区型教会。
模式探索虽然多元，但不同的尝试者们有一个共同的认识，就是小组+门训是未来十年教会健康发展最重要的2个元素。
4. 重视家庭
在牧养上，更多中国教会开始重视牧养家庭。疫情前，教会主要的焦点是偏向于人数、奉献以及事工导向的增长。但疫情期间，面对教会发展陷入停滞和信徒流失的局面，许多牧者开始反思并意识到教会的健康与发展离不开精细化的牧养，其中最重要的一个对家庭的深度牧养。因此，疫情结束后，越来越多的牧者更加重视家庭的精细化牧养。“牧会就是牧家”（pastoring the church lies in the ministry for the family），这是一位华南牧者对自己牧会哲学的概括，也是不少牧者当下展开的实践尝试。
因为不管是刚来教会的新人、普通的信徒、还是教牧同工群体，其实都有一个共同需要，就是家庭。一方面，当下濒临破碎的家庭很多，主内外的婚姻问题都比较严重，因此牧养家庭对于帮助新人和普通信徒都是帮助；同时，对许多教会牧者同工而言，最大的痛点就是家庭和亲子，如何促进夫妻关系和亲子关系的和谐对他们也是很大的挑战。
5. 信仰生活化
信仰生活化也是新的一个大趋势。一方面信徒如何活出信仰是当下基督徒最大的诉求之一，因此职场、家庭和人际等方面的课程变得热门。同时，这也成为新的福传关键点。很多牧者发现比起之前传统的口传和单张的福传方式，信仰生活化即信仰要在生活、职场和家庭中体现出来是更加重要的。愈来愈多牧者谈到，真实的生活才能更加能说服一个人，信仰如何体现出来不只是靠宗教仪式和形式，也不只是在教会里的信仰，日常生活的点滴中如何活出福音更加重要。
6. 新的牧区：职场和社区
中国近十多年一直处于高速城市化的进程中。国家统计局数据显示，城镇人口占全国人口比重（城镇化率）为65.22%。在城市之中，最重要的构成元素包括职场人群和社区人群。因此，这两者也开始新的牧区重点和方向。
如何牧养职场中的人群并且帮助他们在职场中活出信仰和见证，是城市教会牧者的重心转向。但当下教会对于职场群体的牧养较为困难，第一因为大部分牧者的职场经验有限，专业性也有限；第二是因为当下成功的职场基督徒也不多。一位80后的博士出身的西部城市牧者分享说，在牧养中，由于自己“年纪轻，并没有什么工作经验”，这使得他在牧养信徒时多有欠缺。“有时，信徒会因为一些工作上的事情和困惑来找我，每当这时我就很难给予他们什么建设性的建议。”
重视社区建设是社会当下的一种趋势，也有愈来愈多教会人士和个体基督徒看到：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。有牧者发现，当下欧美韩国等发达国家的教会在伴随着社会的发展后，当下的定位更多是一种“社区教会”的概念。
7. 营商理念加强
疫情三年后，因为奉献减少，不少教会面临经济危机。有的传道人是在贫穷中忍耐，有的是下海打工，比如有曾经的名牧下海开滴滴养家，这些属于比较健康的方式。值得担心的是，有一些牧者为了谋生陷入到不同形式的传销里，甚至导致自己所带领的信徒陷入到多种商业陷阱里面。有牧者观察到，这些年一些牧者因为钱倒下了不少，比如做直销、传销、集资、外汇诈骗等敛财，也有在讲道后销售或利用属灵名义夸大自己推销的产品效果等多种方法，使得好多同工和教会受到很大亏损。
整体上，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”（“the poorer the church is, the more spiritual it is."）的观念比较流行，对于商业和经营等常常有许多不健康的认识；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(financial independence)。
一些积极的教会和牧者都看到教会需要加强营商理念（business as mission），少数也开始谨慎的尝试多种可行的营商模式，以促进经济问题的长远解决。比如经历过工商团契热潮的商人认为，曾经只要商人一信主就呼召他们做传道人的方式并不健康，商人本身的职业身份需要得到尊重并在此基础上进行牧养，透过他们的奉献可以帮助到教会；也有教会领袖鼓励牧者同工和信徒做小买卖、团购节省生活成本、经营一些企业或实业等。但整体而言，较为成熟和可行性的尝试仍旧很少，处于萌芽的状态。
8. 本土化需求增大
几十年前，中国教会发展可能缺少的是钱，但随后有人说中国教会发展缺少的不是钱，而是培训方面的资源；而当下愈来愈多的牧者发现，中国教会在培训的资源也并不再缺乏了，各种新人、门训、同工、小组长的培训课程以及单身、婚姻和亲子的课程和资源都逐渐丰富和多样化。
但牧者们发现，虽然中国教会在不停地学习各种国际流行的牧养和小组课程，但每种课程都好像一个运动或风潮一样，每次都是二三年就过去了，然后下一个运动或风潮又出来了，而教牧同工们也陷入到了反复学习新课程、不断地跟从各种新的运动和风潮的怪圈里。因此，愈来愈多逐渐成熟起来的本土牧者发现，其实从国外引进的各种门徒培训、小组牧养等方面的教材或资源并不能直接适用于中国，关键是如何根据情况将教材本土化(contextualizing pastoral resources in the Chinese context)来进行应用，也有牧者开始自己制作小组牧养的材料或本土化的教材。
9.信徒原子化趋势明显
疫情后基督教的一个现状就是信徒的原子化趋向明显。一方面，各种大环境加上教会经济压力变大，不少教会更难承担礼拜聚会以及其它基督教活动的成本，直接导致信徒对教会的委身度降低，加之传统教会在吸引新一代上较为无力，因此游离于主体教会之外的信徒增多，信徒原子化倾向更加明显。
同时，由于经济等原因导致一些牧者同工的流失，以及传统教会很难给平信徒提供岗位，因此这些群体中一些人开始在社会中有重新就业、或者做个体生意的，也有其中一些有情怀和追求的人创办非教会类的多种机构和事工方式。如不少平信徒以纯商业的方式做心理咨询、家庭教育、婚恋辅导等企业或机构，以帮助到社会人群的需要。
10.开始强调神国、共同体和福音生态
2010-2015年间，中国城市教会比较强调异象、会友等观念，比较关注个体教会和宗派的建制化。但如今，城市教会开始逐渐走出建制化，强调一些新的观念：神国、共同体(community)、福音生态等。
疫情和环境本身也彻底改变了过去的教会相处的格局，改变了大家关心的核心问题，发现教会之间的争论原来多么没有必要，因为过去资源丰富的时候，为了资源分配，各种教义争论、体系建制等方式划清界限，而现在，资源困乏，各自为政的边界意识会让教会个体孤立无援，导致教会发现分歧已不是那么重要，需要更多交流和合一。
强调福音生态(gospel ecosystem)是这一趋势的体现，认为不仅仅只是关于自己教会的成长，而是不同背景的教会和多种事工如何聚焦于神国，在自己的地区和文化范围内打造出健康的教会生态系统。共同体观念则是对疫情后基督徒个体原子化趋势增强、以及建制化教会强调所属的一种矫正，强调信徒共同的社区生活，让信仰融入每个信徒的家庭和生活中，并通过关系、生活、开放式的方式来应对这个世界的过程中让慕道友看到基督徒的生活是怎样的。
在种种处境变化和新的趋势探索的同时，中国教会面临的挑战和危机是更为深层的，其中最重要的包括：如何牧养95后00后，教会和商业如何保持独立，以及培养新的人才等。
2023年终盘点| 疫情后的中国基督教：呈现十大发展新趋势
The year of 2023 was the first year where economic activities began to fully recover in China after the three-year pandemic, and the church also resumed its events involving in-person gatherings and ministries.
Through observation and analysis in 2023, Christianity in China became the same as it was before the pandemic, but many differences also emerged, resulting in far-reaching changes.
The pandemic had a universal impact on the global church: declining memberships. Most churches in China were facing a similar situation, and the loss rate varied from 10% to 30% in different regions. The main reasons were as follows: due to a long time's church closure, believers’ faith became weak and many left the church. As most churches provided online services, believers were already accustomed to the convenience of online gatherings from which they could freely choose their favorite pastors, so some of them had been reluctant to return to in-person meetings since. However, some other pastors said that their churches had done a good job of small groups and discipleship training, and followers did not decrease but increased.
After the pandemic, one of the most obvious environmental changes was the economic downturn, which greatly impacted many churches that mainly relied on tithes and offerings. Due to decreasing churches and the economic downturn, the contribution of churches in many first- and second-tier cities shrank seriously, and even the income of some churches fell into negative growth as the income could not make ends meet. Therefore, both missionaries and churches were facing two difficulties: money and survival. As a result, many small churches had to close down.
Pastors faced obvious economic pressure. A millennial pastor who works in a first-tier city revealed that although he had a salary of 10,000 yuan per month, the house rent was more than 5,000 yuan. In addition, he pays more than 2,000 yuan in social security. Fortunately, his wife is also working to barely support the family, while his church did not offer enough incentives and care provided. Many mid-aged pastors had significantly increased economic anxiety.
The new situation has obviously prompted many churches to make great adjustments either actively or passively, which has made great and far-reaching changes in many aspects such as development, pastoral ministry, and evangelization. To some extent, it can be said that many Chinese churches have evolved into a new development model after the pandemic.
The ten new trends and explorations of churches in China are as follows, complied by the Christian Times.
1. Walking out of the myth of "megachurch"
In recent decades, many well-known churches in the world are megachurches that adopted the session system, leading many Chinese churches to be deeply inclined to this model from 2010 to 2015, especially those attached to the “megachurch myth.”
A pastor in the Yangtze Delta region said, "Over the past 20 years, many pastors and I have been influenced by the megachurch model prevalent in Europe, the United States, and South Korea... There is no doubt that megachurches have many advantages such as large capacity, various talents and reources, professionalism and impact in ministries. Many pastors of churches in China have supported this myth and have been influenced by megachurches abroad. They have been determined to make the church bigger and stronger, regarding a megachurch as the ideal."
But over the years, many experiences have changed his mind. “We must seriously consider our actual situation, which is completely different from that 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 megachurches.”
Out of the myth of megachurch, apart from the change of the model, the deeper change is that of the concept: compared with the previous emphasis on superficial scale, number, and efficiency, it has begun to emphasize the essence of the church and the growth of Christian life.
2. Re-emphasis and longing for revival
Against the background of losing believers after the pandemic, many churches and pastors have called for revival, especially the Asbury Revival that took place in the United States in February 2023, which further stimulated the desire of pastors in China for the same. Many pastors in China, especially young and middle-aged pastors with a spiritual background, kept concerned about revival, preached and appealed about it in various places.
These thoughts and discussions include: What is the real revival? What are the manifestations of revival? How can we usher in a revival? What are the basic elements of revival? There are also many pastors calling for: after the pandemic, the on-site gathering has gradually resumed, but what needs to be restored more than the external recovery is our inner longing, enthusiasm, and expectation for revival.
3. Diversified exploration of church models.
While walking out of the myth of megachurch, pastors have made diversified explorations of church development models. Although shortly after the pandemic was over, some pastors hesitated whether to return to the former large meetings or continue to use the small groups mode. Most churches still affirmed the latter.
Although quite a few pastors gave up after the pandemic due to the loss of believers and the environment, there are still many aspiring pastors who have been making great efforts to explore the further transformation of the church in China and influence the gradual transformation of the other pastors. New growth modes have been explored to consider the model in the apostolic era, small home churches, missional churches, and the gospel ecosystem.
A theologian believes that, unlike the transformation of the church in China in the past 20 years, it is necessary to continue to explore the further transformation of the church in China today. He regards it mainly in three aspects: from the construction of the church system (pastors-centered) to the establishment of Christian daily life; from entering mainstream culture to the implementation of the gospel plus, that is, the connection between the gospel and culture and society; from the church that sends specific clergy to the mission-oriented or community-oriented church where everyone is sent as a missionary.
Although the mode of exploration is diversified, different experimenters have a common understanding that small groups and discipleship training are the two most important elements for the healthy development of a church in the next decade.
4. Attention to the family
In pastoral care, more churches in China began to attach importance to families. Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary focus of most churches was on numerical expansion, offerings, and ministry-oriented revival. However, in the aftermath of the pandemic, numerous pastors engaged in introspection and came to the realization that the well-being and progress of the church hinged upon fine-tuned ministry, particularly in the context of individual families. "Pastoring the church lies in the ministry for the family" was a summary of a pastor's philosophy for his ministry and also the exhibition of many pastors' new practices.
Because whether it is a newcomer to the church, an ordinary believer, or a group of teaching and pastoral workers, there is actually a common need: the family. On the one hand, there are many families on the verge of breaking up at present, and the marital problems inside and outside the family are more serious, so looking after families is helpful to help new people and ordinary believers. Meanwhile, the biggest pain point for a majority of pastoral workers is family and parenting. How to promote harmony between husband and wife and parent-child relationships is also a great challenge for them.
5. “Living” models
“Living” models are also a new trend. On the one hand, how believers live their faith is one of the biggest demands of Christians at present, so courses in the workplace, family, and interpersonal relationships have become popular. At the same time, this has become a new key point of evangelism. Many pastors find that it is more important to live the faith, that is, to embody the faith in life, the workplace, and the family, than the traditional way of oral transmission and leaflet spreading. More and more pastors say that real life can convince a person more. How to express faith is not only based on religious ceremonies and forms but also on faith in the church. How to live the gospel in daily life is more important.
6. New mission areas: the workplace and community
China has been in the process of rapid urbanization for more than ten years. Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the proportion of urban population in the national population (urbanization rate) is 65.22%. In cities, the most important elements include the working population and the community population. Therefore, the two also began a new focus and direction for pastoral areas.
How to feed the people in the workplace and help them live their faith and witness in the workplace is the focus of urban church pastors. However, it is more difficult for the church to raise the working group at present. Firstly, most pastors have limited working experience and professionalism. The second reason is that there are not many successful Christians in the workplace. A millennial doctor-born western city pastor shared that he was “young and had no work experience” in ministry, which made him lacking in pastoring believers. “At times, believers approach me with work-related challenges and dilemmas. During such moments, it is a formidable task for me to dispense constructive counsel.”
Paying attention to community construction is a current trend in society, and more and more church people and individual Christians see that some pastors have found that the current positioning of churches in developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and South Korea is more of a concept of community, which may be the trend for our next means of ministry, so they have begun to experiment and explore. A pastor realized that the West positioned the church to be more of "community church" with social development.
7. Strengthening "business as mission" concept
Three years after the pandemic, many churches are facing an economic crisis because of reduced offerings. Some pastors endure in poverty, and some leave the church for jobs. For example, there used to be a famous pastor who chose a secular job to support his family. These are relatively healthy ways. The worry is that some pastors fall into different forms of pyramid schemes in order to make a living and even lead their followers into various commercial traps. Some pastors have observed that some pastors have lost a substantial amount of money in recent years, such as by making money by direct selling, pyramid selling, fund-raising and foreign exchange fraud, and selling after preaching or exaggerating the effect of the products they sell in the name of God, which has caused many co-workers and churches to suffer great losses.
Fundamentalism and dualism between the holy and the secular have had a significant impact on the church in China as a whole. The concept of “the poorer the church is, the more spiritual it is” is popular, and there are often many unhealthy understandings about business and management. More and more pastors began to change their minds and think that the church should have financial independence.
Some active churches and pastors have seen that the church needs to raise the awareness of business as mission, and a few have begun to cautiously try various feasible business models to promote the long-term solution of economic problems. For example, businessmen who have experienced the upsurge of industrial and commercial fellowship believe that it is unhealthy to call them missionaries as soon as they believe in the Lord, and their professional identity needs to be respected and herded on this basis, and their offerings can help the church. There are also church leaders who encourage pastors and believers to do small business, buy groups to save on the cost of living, and run some enterprises or industries. However, despite these initiatives, only a handful of mature and viable attempts are currently emerging.
8. Increased demand for localization
A few decades ago, the development of churches in China may have lacked money, but later it was said that the development of churches in China lacked not money but training resources. At present, more and more pastors find that the training resources are no longer lacking, and the training courses for all kinds of newcomers, disciples, co-workers, and group leaders, as well as the courses and resources for singles, marriage, and parenthood, are gradually enriched and diversified.
However, pastors find that Chinese churches keep learning various internationally popular pastoral and group courses, each of which is taken as a movement or trend. Every two or three years, a new wave of movement or trend emerges, and the pastoral staff fall into a strange circle of repeatedly learning new courses and constantly following various new movements and trends. Meanwhile, more and more mature local pastors have found that not all kinds of teaching materials or resources for discipleship training and group ministry introduced from abroad can be directly applied to China. The key is how to apply the teaching materials in the Chinese context, and some pastors have started to make their own materials for small groups or localized teaching materials.
9. The obvious trend of "atomization" of believers
After the pandemic, one point of the present situation in Christianity is that believers tend to be atomized. The problems of the general environment have directly brought about greater economic pressure on churches, and some are unable to bear the cost of worship meetings and other Christian activities. The direct result of the reduction of these sacred activities is that believers’ commitment to the church is reduced. On the one hand, it also shows how attractive traditional churches are to the younger generation. As a result, more and more believers began to dissociate themselves from the church.
At the same time, due to the loss of some pastors’ co-workers due to economic and other reasons and because it is difficult for traditional churches to provide jobs for laymen, some of these groups began to find jobs again or do individual business in society, and some of them had feelings and pursuits to establish various non-church institutions and ministries. For example, many laymen do psychological counseling, family education, marriage counseling, and other enterprises or institutions in a purely commercial way to help meet the needs of the social crowd.
10. The emphasis of the kingdom of God, community and gospel ecosystem
From 2010 to 2015, urban churches in China put more emphasis on the concepts of vision and membership and paid more attention to the institutionalization of individual churches and denominations. But now, the city church has gradually stepped out of institutionalization, emphasizing new concepts: the kingdom of God, community, and gospel ecology.
The pandemic and the environment itself have completely changed the pattern of getting along with each other in the past and changed the core issues that everyone cares about. The discovery is how unnecessary it was to argue among churches because in the past, when resources were abundant, a clear line was drawn for resource allocation, various doctrinal arguments, institutional establishment, etc. Now, when resources are scarce, the fragmented border consciousness will make individual churches isolated and helpless, leading to the church finding that differences are not so important and need more communication and unity.
Emphasizing the gospel ecosystem is the embodiment of this trend, thinking that it is not only about the growth of one’s own church but also how churches with different backgrounds and various ministries can focus on the kingdom of God and create a healthy church ecosystem within their own region and culture. The concept of community is a correction to the trend of atomization of individual Christians after the pandemic and the emphasis of the organized church on belonging, emphasizing the common community life of believers, integrating faith into the family and life of each believer, and letting seekers see what the life of Christians is like in the process of dealing with the world through relationships, life, and openness.
After talking about the ten trends in Chinese Christianity after the pandemic, we should not neglect the difficulties and crises that the churches in China are facing are more serious: how to guide the Gen Z, how to preserve the independence of churches and businesses, and how to develop new talents.
- Translated by Charlie Li
10 New Trends in Chinese Christianity After Pandemic
