Pastor Chen was born and raised in the south of China with overseas education. He believes that in the current new environment, Chinese churches need to return to denominationalism but must also learn to appreciate and respect each other and be able to rationally view the differences among themselves.
"Vast China" determines that Chinese churches will be diverse.
Pastor Chen believes that within any healthy church, there must be “diversity.” Since China is vast with very different regional situations, Chinese churches will not be limited to a single model.
After the reform and opening-up, the Chinese church began to re-embark on its journey. Some churches quickly established a development model of "team networks." Many large teams appeared, leading to the rapid development of the Chinese church.
However, as time goes by, the team networking model has shown many shortcomings in the current situation and can no longer adapt to the constantly changing environment. Pastor Chen believes that one of the important reasons is that theological thought has not and cannot be unified. Some teams tend towards the Reformed theology, while others align more with the Charismatic movement. Therefore, whether within the co-workers’ community or at the church level, many problems have begun to emerge.
Christians should not seek a monolith in church governance models and theology.
Pastor Chen believes that “forcing a square peg into a round hole is not a good idea.” Instead of forcibly gathering people together through artificial means, it is better to separate them. He believes that the Chinese church has gradually come to the time of “dismantling” and "reassembling,” that is, people reorganizing their churches according to their theological beliefs.
Pastor Chen said that due to some special historical reasons, denominations almost completely disappeared in the Chinese church for a long time. However, denominations are generally positive and healthy for Christianity now.
In the history of the Chinese church, there have been attempts to oppose denominationalism through localization movements because some church members intended to eliminate denominations, believing that they all came from the West. Therefore, organizations such as the Church of Christ in China were established. Pastor Chen commented, “China is so vast, and there are significant cultural differences in different regions. Under such circumstances, the church can only unite through theology; otherwise, it can only forcibly gather the church through secular, artificial means, which the Roman Catholic Church has proven to be a failed approach.”
Pastor Chen elaborated that our thinking about theology should be dynamic. "In terms of denominations, we need to absorb the good and healthy factors from those denominations, but we must also constantly adjust and develop according to the actual situation of the Chinese church."
“We should not pursue monolithic church governance models and theology,” he said. “Chinese culture and history both attach great importance to and pursue ‘unification.’” However, he believes that in terms of theology and denominations in the Chinese church, we must learn to respect others, appreciate their strengths and advantages, and view the differences between each other with a tolerant attitude.
Finally, Pastor Chen said that the church certainly needs to unite, and the only thing that can truly unite all churches is evangelism. "When everyone works together, there is no need to emphasize denominational or sectarian issues, and the strength of all churches is unleashed."
- Translated by Charlie Li
在当前的新环境下面，生在南方、长在南方然后又有过异国求学经历的陈牧师认为中国教会需要重新归回宗派化的道路，但是同时又必须学会彼此欣赏和尊重，能够理性看待对方和自己的不同之处。
“中国很大”决定了中国教会一定是多元的
陈牧师认为，任何一所健康的教会必须要是“多元化”的，而中国很大，不同的地方的处境也有很大的不同。因此，中国教会一定不会只是某一个单一的一种模式。
改革开放以后，中国教会重新开始出发。一些教会迅速确定了团队制（team network）的教会发展模式，很多大的团队开始兴起，中国教会取得了堪称迅猛的发展。
而时过境迁，团队制教会模式在现在的处境下暴露了许多缺点，无法再继续适应不断变革的环境。陈牧师认为其中一个重要的原因就是神学思想没有并且也不可能统一。有些团队是改革宗倾向，有的更加欣赏灵恩运动，因此无论是同工团队内部还有教会层面，都陆续开始出现很多的问题……
基督徒不应寻求教会治理模式、神学等的统一
陈牧师认为“强扭的瓜不甜”，与其通过人为的方式强行把人聚集在一起，还不如分开。他认为，现在中国教会已经逐渐来到了“打散”然后“重组”的时候——人们按照自己的神学思想来重组教会。
陈牧师说，中国教会因为一些特殊的历史原因，宗派在很长时间中几乎完全消失。而宗派对基督教现在来说，整体上是积极和健康的。
中国教会历史上曾经发生了反对教会宗派化的本土化运动的一些尝试，因为当时一些教会人士想要去掉宗派，认为这些都是从西方过来的，因此当时建立了比如中华基督教联合会等组织。陈牧师评价道：“中国地方这么大，不同地区的文化也存在非常大的差异。在这样的情况下教会只能是通过神学让教会联合起来，否则就只能够是通过世俗的、人为的方式强行把教会聚集起来，西方天主教会已经通过事实证明了这样的做法是失败的。”
陈牧师解释说，我们对于神学的思考应该是动态的，在宗派方面我们需要吸取那些宗派里面好的、健康的因素，但是也一定要在中国教会的现实处境下面不断调整和发展。
“我们不应该寻求教会治理模式、神学等上面的统一”，他说，“中国文化也好，中国历史也好，都非常重视和追求‘大一统’。”但是陈牧师认为，在中国教会神学和宗派方面，我们必须要学会尊重别人，欣赏对方的长处和优点，带着包容的心来看待对方和自己的不同之处。
陈牧师最后说，教会当然需要联合，而真正能够把所有教会联合起来的那就是福传，大家一起做事工的时候不需要强调宗派、教派问题，这时发挥出来所有教会的力量。
南方一牧者：中国教会需要放弃神学大一统的想法 学习彼此欣赏和尊重
Pastor Chen was born and raised in the south of China with overseas education. He believes that in the current new environment, Chinese churches need to return to denominationalism but must also learn to appreciate and respect each other and be able to rationally view the differences among themselves.
"Vast China" determines that Chinese churches will be diverse.
Pastor Chen believes that within any healthy church, there must be “diversity.” Since China is vast with very different regional situations, Chinese churches will not be limited to a single model.
After the reform and opening-up, the Chinese church began to re-embark on its journey. Some churches quickly established a development model of "team networks." Many large teams appeared, leading to the rapid development of the Chinese church.
However, as time goes by, the team networking model has shown many shortcomings in the current situation and can no longer adapt to the constantly changing environment. Pastor Chen believes that one of the important reasons is that theological thought has not and cannot be unified. Some teams tend towards the Reformed theology, while others align more with the Charismatic movement. Therefore, whether within the co-workers’ community or at the church level, many problems have begun to emerge.
Christians should not seek a monolith in church governance models and theology.
Pastor Chen believes that “forcing a square peg into a round hole is not a good idea.” Instead of forcibly gathering people together through artificial means, it is better to separate them. He believes that the Chinese church has gradually come to the time of “dismantling” and "reassembling,” that is, people reorganizing their churches according to their theological beliefs.
Pastor Chen said that due to some special historical reasons, denominations almost completely disappeared in the Chinese church for a long time. However, denominations are generally positive and healthy for Christianity now.
In the history of the Chinese church, there have been attempts to oppose denominationalism through localization movements because some church members intended to eliminate denominations, believing that they all came from the West. Therefore, organizations such as the Church of Christ in China were established. Pastor Chen commented, “China is so vast, and there are significant cultural differences in different regions. Under such circumstances, the church can only unite through theology; otherwise, it can only forcibly gather the church through secular, artificial means, which the Roman Catholic Church has proven to be a failed approach.”
Pastor Chen elaborated that our thinking about theology should be dynamic. "In terms of denominations, we need to absorb the good and healthy factors from those denominations, but we must also constantly adjust and develop according to the actual situation of the Chinese church."
“We should not pursue monolithic church governance models and theology,” he said. “Chinese culture and history both attach great importance to and pursue ‘unification.’” However, he believes that in terms of theology and denominations in the Chinese church, we must learn to respect others, appreciate their strengths and advantages, and view the differences between each other with a tolerant attitude.
Finally, Pastor Chen said that the church certainly needs to unite, and the only thing that can truly unite all churches is evangelism. "When everyone works together, there is no need to emphasize denominational or sectarian issues, and the strength of all churches is unleashed."
- Translated by Charlie Li
Pastor Urges Chinese Churches to Abandon Theological Monolith, Embrace Mutual Respect
