From a dozen people meeting at the pastor's house, Church Y has grown into a medium-sized city church with three to four hundred people meeting and a full range of ministries within two decades. During the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the church continued its worship services online and onsite, maintained its donations, and retained its members nearly without loss.
Achieving such results requires extensive effort, and the vitality of Church Y is attributed to the senior pastor’s philosophy: the church must grasp social development trends and think about how to address the issues of this era.
"It is not that this era does not need the gospel, but that we need to consider how to present it," Pastor A said. The church should address the needs of social groups and respond to their concerns with truth.
Pastor A identified marriage relationships as a key issue, believing that the greatest societal problem in China over the past forty-plus years of reform and opening up has been related to marriage. The problem of the parent-child relationship and the current young people's view of marriage are the continuation of marriage problems. Many parents are not good role models of marriage, and children can hardly expect a good marriage relationship. "We often say that education starts with children, but in fact, it starts with parents, and we cannot continue to be traditional Chinese parents."
After setting the right goal, the church promoted couples' fellowship as a key ministry. Pastor A and his wife serve together in the church, setting an example for the congregation with their marriage. The couples' fellowship is divided into small groups, with weekly group meetings and bi-weekly family worship services at the church to facilitate interaction among different groups. In addition, there are regular intensive courses or activities throughout the year, targeting both families and individual men and women.
By offering couples' fellowship, the church has attracted many families. Gradually, the majority of believers are families, and the age structure becomes quite healthy (believers are mainly middle-aged people, followed by young and old people). Families have become the backbone of the church, from which a core group of workers has emerged. The church relies on volunteers for various ministries, with volunteers comprising one-third of the congregation, and over 90% of these volunteers are couples.
Pastor A continues to learn and improve the couples' fellowship ministry, providing better counseling for existing families and creating conditions to attract new ones.
During the pandemic, with restrictions on travel and gatherings, the church introduced new marriage courses and learning methods within the couples' fellowship. The courses are promoted step by step from the core staff of the church. Two families who have completed the course lead a new family to learn. The courses are carried out in a rolling manner, and each lesson is new. At the halfway point of the courses, a second new family can be added. Families that complete the courses can remain as group members or form new groups with other completed families to lead new families.
The main advantage of this form of course is its flexibility and ease of scheduling; six people can arrange a time to study together. Additionally, the two-on-one learning format provides personalized care to the families being counseled, allowing for a detailed understanding of their situations and fostering close relationships between mentors and mentees.
What the church has is a continuous relationship, and through teaching and studying, the entire church is woven into a dense network of relationships that build life among believers and strengthen their sense of belonging to the church. Furthermore, families that have improved their marriages through the courses often enthusiastically recommend the program to non-believing families around them, expanding the course’s reach beyond the church and serving as a means of evangelism.
Despite the thriving couples' fellowship, Pastor A remains cautiously realistic. He deeply feels the overall decline of the church in the current environment, acknowledging the overwhelming pressures and temptations people face. The church’s response to marriage issues can only reach those who are eager for change. He is aware of the changing times, calmly accepts the situation facing the church, and does what he can do. "The decline of the church is irreversible, and people have no choice but to do what they can, and the power to change lies with God."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
从在牧师家里聚会的十几人开始，十多年时间里，Y教会发展成有三四百人聚会的城市中型教会。三年疫情期间，教会采用线上线下不同方式礼拜，一次没有间断，经济上也没有陷入艰难。恢复聚会之后，有老信徒返乡，也有新前来的务工人员加入，聚会人数没有太大变化。
Y教会从在牧师家聚会的十几个人，在十多年时间里发展成有三四百人、各项事工齐备的城市中型教会，三年疫情期间礼拜不停、奉献不断、人员不流失。达到如此果效需要方方面面的努力，Y教会的活力所系，是主任牧师做教会的理念：教会要抓住社会发展趋势，思考怎么回应这个时代的问题。
Y教会最突出的特点是主任牧师以结合现实需求的思考为指导，教会方方面面的工作都以此为中心开展。
“教会要抓住社会发展趋势，思考怎么回应这个时代的问题，”A牧师说，“不是这个时代不需要福音，而是要思考怎么讲福音。”教会要关切社会群体的需要，用真理回应他们关心的问题。A牧师找到的突破点是婚姻关系，他认为中国改革开放四十多年来，社会最大的问题是婚姻问题。亲子关系问题以及当下年轻人的婚育观都是婚姻问题的延续，父母没有做好婚姻榜样，子女很难期待美好的婚姻关系。“我们常说教育要从娃娃抓起，其实不是从娃娃抓起，而是要从教育父母抓起，不能继续做传统的中国式父母。”
确定方向之后，教会将夫妻团契作为重点事工推进。牧师和师母一同在教会服侍，他们的婚姻首先给教会信徒树立了榜样。在事工开展上，夫妻团契内部分小组，每周小组内有聚会，每两周在教会有一次家庭礼拜，方便不同小组间的家庭互相交流了解。此外，一年还有固定次数的密集型课程或活动，有针对家庭的，也有单独针对弟兄和姐妹的。
通过展开夫妻团契，教会吸引了不少家庭加入。逐渐地，信徒中家庭占大多数，年龄结构健康，以中年人为主，青年和老年次之。家庭成为教会的中坚力量，从中成长出一批核心同工。教会依靠义工开展各项事工，义工占信徒人数的三分之一，而义工当中90%以上是夫妻。
在夫妻团契事工开展上，A牧师一直保持学习。疫情期间，由于出行受限，多人聚集难以开展，教会在夫妻团契内引进新的婚姻课程和学习方式。简单来讲，是从教会核心同工开始逐级推广，已经完成课程学习的两个家庭带领一个新家庭进行学习，课程滚动式进行，每一课都是新的，进行到一半的时候，可以加入第二个新家庭，学完的家庭可以留下做组员，也可以和其他学完课程的家庭组队带领新家庭，建立新的小组，如此持续进行。
这种形式的课程学习最大的优点是形式灵活，时间容易协调，六个人约好时间就可以学习。同时，二对一的学习可以给被辅导家庭提供定制化的关怀，细致地了解他们的情况，辅导者和被辅导者之间建立起亲密的关系。教会真正拥有的是持续的关系，通过辅导与被辅导中，整间教会被密密的关系网编织起来，信徒之间彼此建造生命，也增强信徒对教会的归属感。此外，一些通过学习婚姻关系得到改善的家庭，也推荐自己身边不信仰的家庭参加学习，起到向不信者传福音的作用。
虽然教会的夫妻团契一派欣欣向荣的发展景象，A牧师却不是盲目乐观。他深切感受到在整体大环境下教会的衰落，如今人们的压力太大，面临的诱惑也太多，教会对婚姻问题的回应只能讲给渴望改变的人，先影响这部分人。他关心时代变化，坦然接受教会面临的处境，在自己力所能及的范围内做好该做的事。“教会衰落趋势不可逆，人没有办法，只能尽力做能做的，改变的能力在神那里。”
华北某教会：回应时代需求 以婚姻关系为突破口探索发展
From a dozen people meeting at the pastor's house, Church Y has grown into a medium-sized city church with three to four hundred people meeting and a full range of ministries within two decades. During the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the church continued its worship services online and onsite, maintained its donations, and retained its members nearly without loss.
Achieving such results requires extensive effort, and the vitality of Church Y is attributed to the senior pastor’s philosophy: the church must grasp social development trends and think about how to address the issues of this era.
"It is not that this era does not need the gospel, but that we need to consider how to present it," Pastor A said. The church should address the needs of social groups and respond to their concerns with truth.
Pastor A identified marriage relationships as a key issue, believing that the greatest societal problem in China over the past forty-plus years of reform and opening up has been related to marriage. The problem of the parent-child relationship and the current young people's view of marriage are the continuation of marriage problems. Many parents are not good role models of marriage, and children can hardly expect a good marriage relationship. "We often say that education starts with children, but in fact, it starts with parents, and we cannot continue to be traditional Chinese parents."
After setting the right goal, the church promoted couples' fellowship as a key ministry. Pastor A and his wife serve together in the church, setting an example for the congregation with their marriage. The couples' fellowship is divided into small groups, with weekly group meetings and bi-weekly family worship services at the church to facilitate interaction among different groups. In addition, there are regular intensive courses or activities throughout the year, targeting both families and individual men and women.
By offering couples' fellowship, the church has attracted many families. Gradually, the majority of believers are families, and the age structure becomes quite healthy (believers are mainly middle-aged people, followed by young and old people). Families have become the backbone of the church, from which a core group of workers has emerged. The church relies on volunteers for various ministries, with volunteers comprising one-third of the congregation, and over 90% of these volunteers are couples.
Pastor A continues to learn and improve the couples' fellowship ministry, providing better counseling for existing families and creating conditions to attract new ones.
During the pandemic, with restrictions on travel and gatherings, the church introduced new marriage courses and learning methods within the couples' fellowship. The courses are promoted step by step from the core staff of the church. Two families who have completed the course lead a new family to learn. The courses are carried out in a rolling manner, and each lesson is new. At the halfway point of the courses, a second new family can be added. Families that complete the courses can remain as group members or form new groups with other completed families to lead new families.
The main advantage of this form of course is its flexibility and ease of scheduling; six people can arrange a time to study together. Additionally, the two-on-one learning format provides personalized care to the families being counseled, allowing for a detailed understanding of their situations and fostering close relationships between mentors and mentees.
What the church has is a continuous relationship, and through teaching and studying, the entire church is woven into a dense network of relationships that build life among believers and strengthen their sense of belonging to the church. Furthermore, families that have improved their marriages through the courses often enthusiastically recommend the program to non-believing families around them, expanding the course’s reach beyond the church and serving as a means of evangelism.
Despite the thriving couples' fellowship, Pastor A remains cautiously realistic. He deeply feels the overall decline of the church in the current environment, acknowledging the overwhelming pressures and temptations people face. The church’s response to marriage issues can only reach those who are eager for change. He is aware of the changing times, calmly accepts the situation facing the church, and does what he can do. "The decline of the church is irreversible, and people have no choice but to do what they can, and the power to change lies with God."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
North China Church: Addressing Today’s Needs Through Marriage Ministry
