The shortage of pastors has been a problem in the Chinese church, whether in the past or present. We can foresee the situation will continue in the future. However, reasons for a lack of pastors vary. Possible factors can include underpayment, a lack of a systematic co-worker training system, or intrigues and church politics...
Brother An (pseudonym) who pastors a church in eastern China, reveals another reason for losing a staff member.
In a period of time, An’s church moved several times due to COVID-19 restrictions and other issues. Some members left the church during that period.
“Those people would wonder if they should stay in the church after encountering so many things. Should they change to another church?” An said.
An’s church paid a great price for frequently relocating. “We have paid a greater price: furnishing the place, relocating sites, and helping rebuild the faith of believers through care and follow-ups,” he added.
But the trouble was not all bad. “We find that the lives of people who left our church due to the pandemic and political tension contrast sharply with those who continue to worship here.”
That is the Matthew Effect, named after a passage in the gospel of Matthew, which refers to the good becoming better and the bad getting worse.
The membership of some churches in An’s city has declined by more than half since COVID-19 broke out in early 2020 because many Christians have been used to gathering online and do not attend church. At the same time, some churches failed to group the congregation into several teams, and a single Sunday service could not meet the spiritual needs of members. This inevitably led to a membership drain.
An’s church not only encountered losing members but also suffered from the loss of a staff member.
“We have a very important worker who loved the Lord and really devoted himself to the ministry. He did everything well, but he left. When looking back, I would say that he could work very hard in a secure and stable environment, but a fatal problem rose to the surface when suffering knocked at the door. His sufferings were totally strange and unacceptable to him. When there was a tribulation, he became very scared and started to keep a distance from the church. Sadly, he left.”
After this, An began to reflect on how the church trained its staff. “We recognize a very serious problem in leading the staff. We used to believe that the amount of time a believer devotes to his faith indicated the depth of his spirituality. We also judge staff members by this standard. This concept may evaluate a lay believer, but it doesn’t fit a church worker. For quite a long time, we did not pay enough attention to the spiritual practices of believers and staff members. Then we rearrange the standards for staff members. We are training workers with very strict standards. Strictly speaking, we don’t have staff members right now; all we have are candidates.”
"Because we've discovered that many believers pay their tithes on time and even give more than one-tenth. Many rush to the front of the line when the church initiates something. They are very keen on church affairs, and everything seems fine. But there is an old saying—a friend in need is a friend indeed. When trouble comes, the inner life of a person will be truly revealed.”
Brother An said that pastors need to think deeply when people's faith is limited by things like financial stress, restrictions because of a pandemic, or political stress. We must keep informed of the times and actively adjust how to cultivate Christians and staff members.
- Translated by Karen Luo
中国教会缺传道人——这是一个老大难问题了，无论是以前还是现在，甚至在可预见的将来依然将会如此。只是，造成“中国教会缺传道人”这个问题的原因却并不相同。有的教会可能是因为传道人的薪资待遇跟不上，也有的教会是没有健全的同工培养机制，还有一些年轻人不愿意全职服事是因为见识了教会中太多的人情世故、勾心斗角甚至尔虞我诈，因而不愿意进入这样的团体当中……
前段时间，跟华东某地一名牧者安弟兄（化名）交流的时候，这名牧者所分享的一件同工流失的事情或许为我们揭开了“中国教会缺传道人”的另外一面。
信徒流失现象增多
有一段时间，安弟兄的教会频繁的遇到问题，包括疫情防控问题以及其他一些问题，教会因此搬了好几次家。安弟兄说，外在的患难会冲刷掉一部分信仰薄弱的弟兄姊妹，平时可能看起来都挺好的，但是一旦遇到什么风吹草动的时候，把这部分信仰薄弱的人就给冲刷掉了。疫情和患难所影响最大的其实也就是这部分人了。“本来信仰就比较薄弱，又遇到教会这么多的事情，他们就会想，我要不要继续在这里信仰？还是换一个教会？会给他们这样的想法。”
因着频繁的更换教会地点，安弟兄他们的教会代价付的很大。“教会的装修，地点的不断变动，以及信徒牧养上的关怀跟进，从新帮助他们树立信心等等，这些方面都需要我们付出更大的代价。”但是，新安弟兄他们发现这些麻烦事其实也不全是坏事。好的地方是什么呢？“我们就发现，那些因为疫情和环境等流失掉的人跟继续坚持下来、留下来的这些人，他们的生命状况形成了鲜明的对比。”圣书中耶稣所讲的一个故事，后来被引申成为非常有名的“马太效应”，“凡有的，还要加给他，叫他有余。凡没有的，连他所有的，也要夺去。”安弟兄教会流失掉的信徒跟继续坚守的信徒这两者正是形成了马太效应一般鲜明的对比——好的，变得更好；不好的，往往会变得更加不好。
据安弟兄讲，他这个地方的一些教会，疫情爆发以来这两年多的时间，信徒流失了一半以上。因为很多人因着疫情的影响已经习惯了网络上的聚会，或者是习惯了没有聚会的生活。同时，教会又没有很好的划分和使用小组，没有完全发挥小组的职能，只靠主日的一场聚会的话，无法完全满足信徒的需要，因此信徒的大量流失可以说就成为了一种必然。
经历患难后出现同工流失现象
不仅出现信徒流失的情况，安弟兄说之前他们教会也出现了同工流失的事情，流失掉了一名同工。虽然已经离开了，但是直到现在安弟兄依然很见证这名同工，能够客观的看到他的优点。“我们有一个很重要的同工，很好的同工，很爱主，也很能够奉献，平时的时候可以说什么都很好。但是他却离开了。回过头来看的话，他的问题在于，他可以在很安全、平稳的环境下面付出很多，可是一旦当患难来到的时候，致命的问题就出来了。作为教会同工要遭受患难，这样的事情对于这名同工来讲是完全陌生且不可接受的。然后当患难发生的时候，这名同工就非常惧怕，开始主动的疏远教会，最终就这样很可惜的流失掉了，让人无比扼腕叹息。
经历了这样的事情以后，安弟兄开始反思他们在同工培养方面的问题。“我们就发现我们在带领同工方面出现了一个很严重的问题。以前，我们认为，一个信徒他的付出多少就意味着他的属灵生命的质量如何，不仅是信徒，对同工我们也是这样来判断的。这样的观念对普通信徒可能是比较适合的，但是对同工来说却并不适合。之前很长一段时间，我们对信徒和同工属灵生命的操练没有引起足够的重视。所以，经历这样的事情和反思以后，我们重新制定了同工标准。我们现在是按照非常严格的标准来培养同工的。现在，我们教会严格来说是没有同工的，全部都是预备同工。”安弟兄如此说。
“因为我们就发现，对很多信徒来说，可能他们的十一做的非常好，从来都不缺，做的也很及时，甚至比十一奉献的更多都没有问题。然后教会里面有什么事情的话，很多人都冲在第一线，对教会的事情非常热心，看起来一切都非常好。可是有句话叫做患难见真情，当患难来到的时候，一个人的生命程度究竟如何就会被真实的显露出来。”
新安弟兄说，通过这样的信徒和同工流失的事情，通过这些外在的现象，他们也深刻的反思了自己，看到了他们需要回应这个时代的地方。信徒他们更多关注的只是一些外在的表象，经济的巨大压力，疫情和环境给他们的生活和信仰带来的不自由等等。但是对于牧者来讲，必须思考的更深。在今天这个时代如何才能够做好信徒模样和同工培养，必须主动的调整和改变牧者自身的思想和观念，拥抱时代，了解时代特征，主动思考在最新的时代特征下怎么更好的牧养信徒、同工，满足信徒和同工的需要，化被动为主动，而不是每次都被事情倒逼着被动的作出改变。
对话 患难见真情：华东一教会从一次同工流失事件反思同工培养问题
The shortage of pastors has been a problem in the Chinese church, whether in the past or present. We can foresee the situation will continue in the future. However, reasons for a lack of pastors vary. Possible factors can include underpayment, a lack of a systematic co-worker training system, or intrigues and church politics...
Brother An (pseudonym) who pastors a church in eastern China, reveals another reason for losing a staff member.
In a period of time, An’s church moved several times due to COVID-19 restrictions and other issues. Some members left the church during that period.
“Those people would wonder if they should stay in the church after encountering so many things. Should they change to another church?” An said.
An’s church paid a great price for frequently relocating. “We have paid a greater price: furnishing the place, relocating sites, and helping rebuild the faith of believers through care and follow-ups,” he added.
But the trouble was not all bad. “We find that the lives of people who left our church due to the pandemic and political tension contrast sharply with those who continue to worship here.”
That is the Matthew Effect, named after a passage in the gospel of Matthew, which refers to the good becoming better and the bad getting worse.
The membership of some churches in An’s city has declined by more than half since COVID-19 broke out in early 2020 because many Christians have been used to gathering online and do not attend church. At the same time, some churches failed to group the congregation into several teams, and a single Sunday service could not meet the spiritual needs of members. This inevitably led to a membership drain.
An’s church not only encountered losing members but also suffered from the loss of a staff member.
“We have a very important worker who loved the Lord and really devoted himself to the ministry. He did everything well, but he left. When looking back, I would say that he could work very hard in a secure and stable environment, but a fatal problem rose to the surface when suffering knocked at the door. His sufferings were totally strange and unacceptable to him. When there was a tribulation, he became very scared and started to keep a distance from the church. Sadly, he left.”
After this, An began to reflect on how the church trained its staff. “We recognize a very serious problem in leading the staff. We used to believe that the amount of time a believer devotes to his faith indicated the depth of his spirituality. We also judge staff members by this standard. This concept may evaluate a lay believer, but it doesn’t fit a church worker. For quite a long time, we did not pay enough attention to the spiritual practices of believers and staff members. Then we rearrange the standards for staff members. We are training workers with very strict standards. Strictly speaking, we don’t have staff members right now; all we have are candidates.”
"Because we've discovered that many believers pay their tithes on time and even give more than one-tenth. Many rush to the front of the line when the church initiates something. They are very keen on church affairs, and everything seems fine. But there is an old saying—a friend in need is a friend indeed. When trouble comes, the inner life of a person will be truly revealed.”
Brother An said that pastors need to think deeply when people's faith is limited by things like financial stress, restrictions because of a pandemic, or political stress. We must keep informed of the times and actively adjust how to cultivate Christians and staff members.
- Translated by Karen Luo
'A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed': Reflection from Losing Staff Member
