As the development of the times demands, more churches are shifting their core pastoral ministry towards building up faith-based families. This story tells how an influential large church in southern Fujian uses their well-established pastoral ministry to build up Christian families and lead the church to achieve unity in their missionary vision.
As one of the three-city downtown central churches in southern Fujian and also the earliest century-old church in the region, Church Q (pseudonym for safety reasons) has rich pastoral power and resources. However, it faces greater ministerial pressure. “Before the pandemic, there were more than 6,000 believers in our church,” said Pastor F, who is in charge. “When everything is resumed this year, we find that the number of our believers decreased significantly.”
Facing a large number of believers as such, learning how to do a fine job in pastoral ministry is a big test for the church. Pastor F said that they built the family ministry by relying on the existing fellowship groups.
As early as the 1990s, Church Q began to build a fellowship ministry. Today, the church has formed a total of 41 fellowships, including choir, pensioners, doctors, etc. In recent years, as large gatherings were greatly declining, the church was determined to repeat their traditional practice, “family ministry," which was the threshing floor of how the church originated.
To this end, since 2022, a vision has come to them, and it is “making every believer shoulder the primary responsibility for making their families Christ-centered.” Church Q stipulates that the construction of Christian families lies in its core pastoral ministry.
“All our fellowships have always paid special attention to systematic bible study and faith practice, but before that, it was mainly to call everyone to participate in church services. However, we now encourage believers to take their families as the first place to practice their faith.” The pastor believes that in the family, believers can see the effect of the practice and the conflicts they face, so as to gradually internalize the Word in the process of receiving, meditating, practicing, and reflecting.
In addition, Church Q also gives laymen the opportunity to approach the daily lives of pastors and see examples of Christian families.
According to the pastor, the church has further refined the leadership ministry of fellowship. That is, more than ten full-time pastoral workers in the church lead the fellowship, and combined with the characteristics of each fellowship, they independently compile the teaching materials for pastoral care. “This requires every pastor to understand the believers deeply, to know what everyone wants and thinks, and to show a true life to the believers.”
In his view, in the early years, believers generally waited for faith more passively, “like being pushed by the church.” However, nowadays, more and more laymen understand that gospel work is not only the duty of the church but also a mission closely related to themselves, which further promotes the vision of the church.
- Translated by Charlie Li
随着时代发展与需求，越来越多教会开始将信仰化家庭建造作为核心牧养事工。本文记录了一所在闽南地区颇具影响力的大型堂会是如何利用成熟的牧养体系打造信仰家庭，并带领教会在使命异象中达到合一。
作为闽南三市之一的城区中心堂，同时又是当地设教最早的百年老堂，Q教堂在拥有丰富的教牧力量与牧养资源的同时，也面临的较大的牧养压力。“早在疫情之前，我们堂实地聚会的信徒就已经有六千多人了，”堂会负责牧者F牧师表示，“今年聚会恢复以后，我们的信徒人数不仅没有减少，反而还增加了。”
面对如此庞大的信徒群体，如何做好精细化牧养成为教会的一大考验。F老牧师说他们依托已有的团契牧养体系把家庭建造事工搭建起来。
早在上世纪九十年代，Q教堂就已经开始着手建设团契牧养体系。时至今日，教会已经形成了包括诗班、乐龄、医生的共41个团契架构。而随着近年来大堂会牧养的瓶颈愈发凸显，教会也决心重拾初代教会的“家教会”传统，将家庭作为禾场。
为此，自2022年起，带着“让每一位身为家庭成员的信徒成为福音的第一责任人”的异象，Q教堂将基督化家庭的建造列为了教会核心牧养事工。
“我们所有团契牧养历来特别重视体系化的查经和话语的践行，不过之前主要是呼召大家参与教会服侍。但现在，我们更鼓励信徒把家庭作为实践话语的第一场所。”牧师认为，在家庭中，信徒可以更加看到话语践行的果效与自身面临的争战，从而在领受、默想、践行、反思的过程中不断让道逐步内化。
另外，Q教堂也让平信徒们也有机会走近牧者的日常生活，看到基督化家庭的实例。
牧师介绍，教会也进一步细化团契的带领制度。即由该堂十余位全职教牧同工带领团契，并结合各个团契的特点自主编撰牧养栽培教材。“这样就要求每一位牧者都要深入到信徒中间明白大家的所求所想，也把自己的最真实的生命展现在信徒面前。”
在他看来，早年间信徒普遍对于信仰更多是一种被动的等待，“像是被教会推着走。”但是现如今，越来越多平信徒明白福音工作并不只是教会的职分，而是与自身息息相关的使命，而这也进一步促进了教会的异象传递。
回归初代“家”教会——某城区教堂在团契体系中重塑家庭意义
As the development of the times demands, more churches are shifting their core pastoral ministry towards building up faith-based families. This story tells how an influential large church in southern Fujian uses their well-established pastoral ministry to build up Christian families and lead the church to achieve unity in their missionary vision.
As one of the three-city downtown central churches in southern Fujian and also the earliest century-old church in the region, Church Q (pseudonym for safety reasons) has rich pastoral power and resources. However, it faces greater ministerial pressure. “Before the pandemic, there were more than 6,000 believers in our church,” said Pastor F, who is in charge. “When everything is resumed this year, we find that the number of our believers decreased significantly.”
Facing a large number of believers as such, learning how to do a fine job in pastoral ministry is a big test for the church. Pastor F said that they built the family ministry by relying on the existing fellowship groups.
As early as the 1990s, Church Q began to build a fellowship ministry. Today, the church has formed a total of 41 fellowships, including choir, pensioners, doctors, etc. In recent years, as large gatherings were greatly declining, the church was determined to repeat their traditional practice, “family ministry," which was the threshing floor of how the church originated.
To this end, since 2022, a vision has come to them, and it is “making every believer shoulder the primary responsibility for making their families Christ-centered.” Church Q stipulates that the construction of Christian families lies in its core pastoral ministry.
“All our fellowships have always paid special attention to systematic bible study and faith practice, but before that, it was mainly to call everyone to participate in church services. However, we now encourage believers to take their families as the first place to practice their faith.” The pastor believes that in the family, believers can see the effect of the practice and the conflicts they face, so as to gradually internalize the Word in the process of receiving, meditating, practicing, and reflecting.
In addition, Church Q also gives laymen the opportunity to approach the daily lives of pastors and see examples of Christian families.
According to the pastor, the church has further refined the leadership ministry of fellowship. That is, more than ten full-time pastoral workers in the church lead the fellowship, and combined with the characteristics of each fellowship, they independently compile the teaching materials for pastoral care. “This requires every pastor to understand the believers deeply, to know what everyone wants and thinks, and to show a true life to the believers.”
In his view, in the early years, believers generally waited for faith more passively, “like being pushed by the church.” However, nowadays, more and more laymen understand that gospel work is not only the duty of the church but also a mission closely related to themselves, which further promotes the vision of the church.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Urban Church Reshapes Families Toward Christ-Centered
