The challenge imposed by the pandemic to the Church in China affects mainly two areas: finance and stability. The pandemic's influence on finance is particularly serious to churches which are dominated by older believers, whose unfamiliarity and lack of acceptance of technology has largely reduced their keenness in making online financial donations. The result is that congregations with a large number of elderly have a much higher financial burden to bear.
For churches in general, the economic downturn caused by the pandemic has reduced job opportunities and the incomes of believers. In turn, believers’ ability to make financial donations is diminished.
The economic downturn is more stressful for churches that value large numbers. They face huge debts as they have to pay construction costs or for the rental of luxurious venues.
Another test for the Church is the increasing instability which would become higher as the mobility of believers increases. Before the pandemic, believers’ mobility was costlier because of the time needed to make changes. In the Internet age, however, it is clear that mobility doesn't require much effort. Click on the screen and believers are linked to other churches’ activities.
Another reason for the instability is that believers now have services at home, replacing the sacred atmosphere a church usually provides. The sense of sanctity created by religious rituals is weakened. Instead, there would be some level of worldliness in a mode like this. Consequently, the believers' recognition of their own churches is damaged.
A reduction in mobility and a loss of the sanctity of the church inevitably leads to instability within the Church. Facing these tests, the Church will need to make adjustments in the post-pandemic era.
First, the Church’s goals will change from promoting size and numbers to the spiritual growth of believers. In the past, a church’s success was evaluated based on the number of believers it had while the spiritual development of believers was largely ignored. From this perspective, a large church gives an impression of growth and revival, but during the pandemic there are very few believers able to cope with the crisis within the church. It's like when Jesus was arrested, all His disciples fled. The pursuit of size brought about weak spirituality. The relationship between believers and God wasn't well established or they were even alienated from God somehow. Perhaps one of the benefits of the pandemic is to return the Church to its original purpose. Thus, in the post-pandemic era, the Church has the possibility of returning to its original course—building spiritual life for believers and identifying with each other in the faith. Such a church could withstand difficult tests.
After the pandemic, large churches might still exist, but they would no longer be the trend and perhaps be more marginalized. Churches that continue to develop based on size might be forced to change because of accumulated debts. And it would be clear that the development of the spiritual life of believers would only be available in small churches. So small churches of twenty or thirty believers would become the trend.
As smaller churches became the trend, there will be a need for ministers to have more training. This would promote a new learning boom in the Church. The learning trend is not only about theology and doctrine but also other kinds of knowledge.
The second change would occur in the Church’s organizational structure. If small churches became the norm, the organizational structure of traditional churches might be changed. The traditional norm where ministers had the final say might not continue because the reduction in the size of congregations would inevitably lead to increased openness among believers. Small churches would necessarily be more democratic than large churches.
The third change would occur in the age of the congregations. The pandemic has demonstrated that youth have unquestionable advantages. Believers from churches with more young persons can quickly adapt to online services. They have no difficulty in accepting new forms of worship as an alternative to traditional patterns. It’s true that there has been a general decline in financial donations, but this is caused by factors that cannot be controlled. The advantages of being young are absolutely apparent in comparison to churches with more elderly. In addition, young people are more tolerant to stress, new things and changes. So younger churches might recover sooner from the disturbance brought by the pandemic than traditionally older churches. Their return to normal church life would be quicker. Therefore, the Church of the future might pay more attention to the development of the young and the Church would consciously pay attention to the age distribution of the congregation.
The fourth change might occur in the form of gatherings. The pandemic has broken the traditional pattern of gatherings, which were mainly on-site and confined to a particular space. The wide-spread acceptance of online services brought about by the pandemic would undoubtedly be a part of the richness of worship services in the post-pandemic era when there could be both on-site and online gatherings. The Church would also pay more attention to the integration of online resources and its Web based promotion. Because such promotion would increase the ‘mobility’ of believers, so the development of believers would inevitably change from face-to-face evangelism to Web based content. This requires the ministers and churches to have a better understanding of the Web and its users as well as a broader perspective.
The diversity how churches gather will definitely bring about a change in the Church’s stability. Its measures to maintain stability would change too. In the past, the movement of believers was restricted through persuasion, supervision and even suppression. Now, a church’s stability may be marked by the spiritual identity of its believers. Therefore, the Church might pay more attention to diverse collective events and like parties, group studies, day trips, picnics, family gatherings, or knowledge sharing, which help to construct a collective memory and strengthen stability.
These changes would require the Church to make adjustments. There is another possible change that cannot be ignored—the change in the interactions between the Church and society.
The pandemic has caused a crisis in the interactions between the Church and society. Crises occur mainly when disasters strike. During these times the Church is unable to play the main role in resolving the crisis for society as it used to in history. The Church’s actual situation could be far from its own position and vision. This would require self-examination and profound reflection on the part of the Church.
There have been changes in how the Church has interacted with society, for example, in its methods of evangelism and aid relief. Before this, its methods or attitude was rather hard-nosed. For instance, during the 2008 earthquake aid relief, those making donations had to believe in Jesus and this needed to be the reason that they gave money. The message that people conveyed was that believing in Jesus guarantees Heaven but otherwise persons will go to hell. The negative effects of this approach led the Church to make changes. These changes include the organizing and designing public welfare activities.
Although the aid relief that the Church has given during the pandemic is not ideal, it has changed significantly from the past die-hard evangelical approach in 2008. For instance, some churches have quietly helped the homeless during the Wuhan lockdown or quietly donated masks. This shows progress and change on the part of the Church in how it participates in public affairs for the good of society.
After the pandemic, the Church will definitely devote more energy to social issues and to finding ways and means for the Church to solve social problems. The Church will be more proactive in participating in social welfare activities and increase its engagement with society and give financial support. Of course, there would be more changes involving more details in the Church in the post-pandemic era. Any major event is an opportunity for the Christian community to change itself. The truth is fixed and absolute, but it can be presented in a variety of ways. Therefore, the Church should follow the teachings of Jesus to stay sharp and make adjustments from time to time. Witness the glory of God in the world. This is not only the responsibility of the Church but also the principle of its existence and development.
Limited by a word count, I cannot cover all the changes in this article. We look forward to seeing more changes and seeing the Church’s continuing leading role in history as it presents the gospel of Jesus.
- Translated by Charlie Li
观察与思考丨面对后疫情时代，教会需要做出的4个调整 这次疫情对教会的考验主要集中两个方面，一个是经济，一个是教会稳定性。 经济方面的考验主要集中在老年信徒为主的教会。因为老年信徒对网络的不熟悉，甚至排斥，降低了他们的奉献积极性。所以以老年信徒为主的教会，承担的经济压力可能更大。 而对于大部分教会来说，因为疫情带来的经济下滑，从而使工作机会减少，信徒收入降低，相应地信徒奉献能力也就随之减弱。 这种经济下行对于那些追求规模的教会，可能压力更大，他们要面临巨大的因为建立教堂或者租用豪华写字楼而欠下的债务。 另一个考验则是教会的稳定性会降低。这种稳定性是随着信徒流动性的增加而产生。在过去平常时期，因为时间冲突，信徒流动可能要付出更大的成本，但在网络时代，这种流动性显然不需要付出太多，只要动动手指就可以参加其它教会的活动。 另外一个原因，就是信徒在家聚会，远离教会这个特殊场景，宗教仪式所带来的神圣性必然减弱，充斥其间的是世俗烟火之气，因此信徒对教会的认同也会动摇。 信徒流动成本的降低和神圣性的减弱，必然带来教会的不稳定性。经历这些考验，后疫情时代教会必然会做出自身的调整。 首先，会改变过去规模的追求，更加注重信徒的灵命成长。过去追求教会规模，把信徒人数作为衡量教会成败的依据，而忽略了信徒的灵命建造，这样的教会虽然规模很大，聚会时人熙熙攘攘，给人一种繁荣的感觉，但在疫情期间，教会遇到危机的时候，真正担当教会危机的信徒却不多。这就像耶稣被抓的时候，门徒四下逃散一样。追求规模带来的灵命薄弱，信徒与上帝关系没有建立，甚至疏远，疫情不过是把教会打回原形罢了。 因此，后疫情时代，教会会重新回到教会的核心，建造信徒的属灵生命，在信仰观念上彼此认同，这样的教会才能经受得住考验。 疫情过后，大规模教会可能依然存在，但已经不是主流，只能是不断边缘化。那些继续发展规模的教会，可能迫于前期的经济债务，而不得已为之。而信徒灵命建造，显然只有在人数较少的小教会才有可能。因此二三十人小教会必然成为主流。 随着认同更高的小教会成为主流，也就意味着教会传道人需要更强的牧养能力，这会促进教会新一轮的学习热潮，这种学习不仅学习神学和教义，还包括世俗知识的装备。 第二是组织结构的变化，而随着小教会的建立和主流化，那么过去大教会的组织结构可能有所改变。过去由传道人说了算的模式可能不会再继续，因为小规模教会的人员数量的减少，必然带来人员之间互动的加强，小规模的教会与规模教会相比必然更加民主。 第三个是年龄结构的变化。这次疫情所带来的考验，年龄所表现出的优势是无可怀疑的。那些年轻人为主的教会，信徒能很快适应网络聚会的模式，并表达一种与传统模式相比没有什么障碍的认同。虽然在奉献能力上，有所减弱，但这是大环境所致，与老年信徒为主的教会相比其优势还是非常明显的。 此外，年轻人的抗压性和对新事物的接纳能力更强，更容易适应变化。所以疫情带来的创伤，与传统老年信徒为主的教会相比可能更快地修复，其回归正常教会生活的时间更短。因此，未来的教会可能会更加注重发展年轻人，注重向年轻人倾斜，会有意识地关注年龄结构。 第四变化，可能是聚会形式的变化。疫情打破了过去传统的单一聚会形式，这一形式主要是现场的，局限在特定空间的聚会。疫情其间，网络聚会、云敬拜的普及，无疑让后疫情时代的聚会模式变得多样。后疫情时代，可能传统空间聚会和网络APP云敬拜并行，教会也会更加注重网络资源的整合，以及教会资源的网络开放性。 因为网络的开放性，带来信徒的流动性，发展信徒必然会由过去实地见面传福音的方式，转变到依靠网络内容吸引信徒的方式。这就要求传道人要能具备更好的网络使用的能力，和把握网络使用者的能力，这要求传道人和教会要有更宽广的视野。 因此，聚会形式的多样化，必然带来教会稳定的改变。教会维持稳定性的措施也必然会改变，过去是通过说教、监督制止等方式限制信徒流动，现在势必要把稳定性转到信徒对教会的灵命认同上来。因此教会会更加注重信徒的聚会、灵修等集体活动，也会带来活动的多样性，以出游、野餐、家庭聚会、知识分享等方式来加强共同记忆的建造，以此来稳固教会的稳定性。 以上这些变化都是教会内部的自身调整，还有一种变化也不能忽略，那就是教会与社会之间互动关系变化。 疫情带来教会的社会互动危机，这种危机主要表现在疫情时期，教会不能像历史上那样活动在社会的中央，成为解决危机的担纲者。实际情况可能与教会自身的定位和理想相去甚远。这必然给教会带来反思。 正如08年地震之后，教会暴力传教以及暴力赈灾的方式有所改变，这里的暴力是指教会与社会接触，参与公共事件的生硬模式，比如发放赈灾物资以信耶稣为条件，传福音以信耶稣上天堂，不信下地狱为口号，这样的方式带来负面的效应，让教会自觉改变。这些改变包括组织公益机构和公益活动。 这次疫情教会参与公共活动的事实虽然不太理想，但与08年的暴力传教相比还是有很多改变。比如一些教会会无声地帮助在武汉封城其间流浪汉的生活问题，会无声地发放口罩等。这不能不说是教会在参与社会公共事件中的进步和变化。 那么疫情之后，教会必然会增加更多的精力来关注社会问题，并寻求教会切入社会问题的途经和方式。更加积极主动地参加社会公益活动，在教义上增加与社会的接触内容，以及在经济上给予支持。 当然，后疫情时代教会的变化还有很多，还有更多细节的改变。任何一次重大事件，都是基督教改变自身的机会，真理是固定的、绝对的，但真理展现的方式却是丰富多样的。因此，教会应按照耶稣的教导，时时警醒，调整自己，在世界上见证上帝的荣耀，这既是教会的责任，也是教会得以存在和发展的规律。 更多的变化，本文限于篇幅不能一一涵盖，我们期待更多的变化，期待教会在耶稣福音的道路上一直走在历史的前头。 https://www.christiantimes.cn/news/32047/
The challenge imposed by the pandemic to the Church in China affects mainly two areas: finance and stability. The pandemic's influence on finance is particularly serious to churches which are dominated by older believers, whose unfamiliarity and lack of acceptance of technology has largely reduced their keenness in making online financial donations. The result is that congregations with a large number of elderly have a much higher financial burden to bear.
For churches in general, the economic downturn caused by the pandemic has reduced job opportunities and the incomes of believers. In turn, believers’ ability to make financial donations is diminished.
The economic downturn is more stressful for churches that value large numbers. They face huge debts as they have to pay construction costs or for the rental of luxurious venues.
Another test for the Church is the increasing instability which would become higher as the mobility of believers increases. Before the pandemic, believers’ mobility was costlier because of the time needed to make changes. In the Internet age, however, it is clear that mobility doesn't require much effort. Click on the screen and believers are linked to other churches’ activities.
Another reason for the instability is that believers now have services at home, replacing the sacred atmosphere a church usually provides. The sense of sanctity created by religious rituals is weakened. Instead, there would be some level of worldliness in a mode like this. Consequently, the believers' recognition of their own churches is damaged.
A reduction in mobility and a loss of the sanctity of the church inevitably leads to instability within the Church. Facing these tests, the Church will need to make adjustments in the post-pandemic era.
First, the Church’s goals will change from promoting size and numbers to the spiritual growth of believers. In the past, a church’s success was evaluated based on the number of believers it had while the spiritual development of believers was largely ignored. From this perspective, a large church gives an impression of growth and revival, but during the pandemic there are very few believers able to cope with the crisis within the church. It's like when Jesus was arrested, all His disciples fled. The pursuit of size brought about weak spirituality. The relationship between believers and God wasn't well established or they were even alienated from God somehow. Perhaps one of the benefits of the pandemic is to return the Church to its original purpose. Thus, in the post-pandemic era, the Church has the possibility of returning to its original course—building spiritual life for believers and identifying with each other in the faith. Such a church could withstand difficult tests.
After the pandemic, large churches might still exist, but they would no longer be the trend and perhaps be more marginalized. Churches that continue to develop based on size might be forced to change because of accumulated debts. And it would be clear that the development of the spiritual life of believers would only be available in small churches. So small churches of twenty or thirty believers would become the trend.
As smaller churches became the trend, there will be a need for ministers to have more training. This would promote a new learning boom in the Church. The learning trend is not only about theology and doctrine but also other kinds of knowledge.
The second change would occur in the Church’s organizational structure. If small churches became the norm, the organizational structure of traditional churches might be changed. The traditional norm where ministers had the final say might not continue because the reduction in the size of congregations would inevitably lead to increased openness among believers. Small churches would necessarily be more democratic than large churches.
The third change would occur in the age of the congregations. The pandemic has demonstrated that youth have unquestionable advantages. Believers from churches with more young persons can quickly adapt to online services. They have no difficulty in accepting new forms of worship as an alternative to traditional patterns. It’s true that there has been a general decline in financial donations, but this is caused by factors that cannot be controlled. The advantages of being young are absolutely apparent in comparison to churches with more elderly. In addition, young people are more tolerant to stress, new things and changes. So younger churches might recover sooner from the disturbance brought by the pandemic than traditionally older churches. Their return to normal church life would be quicker. Therefore, the Church of the future might pay more attention to the development of the young and the Church would consciously pay attention to the age distribution of the congregation.
The fourth change might occur in the form of gatherings. The pandemic has broken the traditional pattern of gatherings, which were mainly on-site and confined to a particular space. The wide-spread acceptance of online services brought about by the pandemic would undoubtedly be a part of the richness of worship services in the post-pandemic era when there could be both on-site and online gatherings. The Church would also pay more attention to the integration of online resources and its Web based promotion. Because such promotion would increase the ‘mobility’ of believers, so the development of believers would inevitably change from face-to-face evangelism to Web based content. This requires the ministers and churches to have a better understanding of the Web and its users as well as a broader perspective.
The diversity how churches gather will definitely bring about a change in the Church’s stability. Its measures to maintain stability would change too. In the past, the movement of believers was restricted through persuasion, supervision and even suppression. Now, a church’s stability may be marked by the spiritual identity of its believers. Therefore, the Church might pay more attention to diverse collective events and like parties, group studies, day trips, picnics, family gatherings, or knowledge sharing, which help to construct a collective memory and strengthen stability.
These changes would require the Church to make adjustments. There is another possible change that cannot be ignored—the change in the interactions between the Church and society.
The pandemic has caused a crisis in the interactions between the Church and society. Crises occur mainly when disasters strike. During these times the Church is unable to play the main role in resolving the crisis for society as it used to in history. The Church’s actual situation could be far from its own position and vision. This would require self-examination and profound reflection on the part of the Church.
There have been changes in how the Church has interacted with society, for example, in its methods of evangelism and aid relief. Before this, its methods or attitude was rather hard-nosed. For instance, during the 2008 earthquake aid relief, those making donations had to believe in Jesus and this needed to be the reason that they gave money. The message that people conveyed was that believing in Jesus guarantees Heaven but otherwise persons will go to hell. The negative effects of this approach led the Church to make changes. These changes include the organizing and designing public welfare activities.
Although the aid relief that the Church has given during the pandemic is not ideal, it has changed significantly from the past die-hard evangelical approach in 2008. For instance, some churches have quietly helped the homeless during the Wuhan lockdown or quietly donated masks. This shows progress and change on the part of the Church in how it participates in public affairs for the good of society.
After the pandemic, the Church will definitely devote more energy to social issues and to finding ways and means for the Church to solve social problems. The Church will be more proactive in participating in social welfare activities and increase its engagement with society and give financial support. Of course, there would be more changes involving more details in the Church in the post-pandemic era. Any major event is an opportunity for the Christian community to change itself. The truth is fixed and absolute, but it can be presented in a variety of ways. Therefore, the Church should follow the teachings of Jesus to stay sharp and make adjustments from time to time. Witness the glory of God in the world. This is not only the responsibility of the Church but also the principle of its existence and development.
Limited by a word count, I cannot cover all the changes in this article. We look forward to seeing more changes and seeing the Church’s continuing leading role in history as it presents the gospel of Jesus.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Church Needs to Make Four Changes in Post-pandemic Era
