As the church's internal and external environments have changed in recent years, the traditional preaching ministry from the lectern no longer fits with the church's current situation. Under such circumstances, many churches have begun the transformation toward forming small groups. Therefore, almost all churches began to form groups over time. However, the results of small groups work turn out quite different. Some groups work well, and both pastors and members are happy with them. Other small groups might not work well, but they still need to keep going because the environment affects them.
The Christian Times, a Chinese online Christian newspaper in China, has recently interviewed Pastor Zhou Peng, the pastor of a church in southern China. He shared his experience with the transformation of forming small groups in his church and provided an overview of some of the factors influencing the success or failure of this transformation within his church.
Pastors must be involved in grassroots ministry
Pastor Zhou's church has been exploring the road to transformation for more than a decade. He is a firm believer that the transformation of forming small groups in a church must occur "from the top down," meaning that the pastors and leaders at the top of the church must place a high value on this transformation within the church. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to start the transformation within the church "from the bottom up."
Pastor Zhou has much on his plate, but even though he is busy, he decided to lead a group himself. Otherwise, it would be impossible for pastors and fellow believers alike to pay enough attention to the work of small groups. He added that if pastors don't lead groups themselves, they can't really experience the hard work of pastoring.
If pastors do not personally participate in grassroots ministry, they will not truly understand the difficulties of the grassroots, and in the long run, they will become disconnected from the grassroots and the congregation, and eventually only build an ivory tower for themselves, losing their connection to the reality of the outside world and others. Because there are many co-workers under pastors and church leaders, they may hand over pastoring to one person, worshiping to another, and prayer to another. The pastors are simply the people in charge of managing these ministries. Even if the pastors have been involved in these services before, they may end up in the strange situation of being pastors who don't know anything about ministry. Only when pastors themselves participate in pasturing can they learn about the difficulties and sweetness of the process of pasturing and reach an agreement with the grassroots. In this way, the hearts of all people can be connected, and the church can move forward with more power instead of wandering or even retreating into internal friction due to the disunity of the people.
The church needs more sisters to step up and get involved in service
Not only does Pastor Zhou participate in the actual ministry himself, but now his wife also take a part in the ministry herself, partly to reach out to the hearts of the people in this way, but also to be a role model for the family and encourage more couples to both participate in the ministry. "If my family doesn't do it, how could we persuade other people to do this?" he said.
"It's a completely different situation than it was a few decades ago when we had a lot of sisters who were serving in the church, including worshipping, praying, and preaching. However, in the past few decades, the situation of the church in China has changed greatly. At present, in many churches, brothers are pastors and leaders. Most of the ministry work is done by brothers, and many sisters stand behind and support them."
Under such circumstances, Pastor Zhou asked his wife to step forward and participate in the ministry. Several other sisters began to get involved in church ministry under the leadership of his wife. According to him, the brothers now pastor the brothers in their church, while the sisters pastor the sisters. This has the advantage of making pastoring more targeted and easier to go deeper.
(At the request of the interviewees, the names of the people in the article are pseudonyms.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
近些年来，因为教会所面对的内部和外部环境的改变，传统的讲台式牧养已经不符合当下教会的情况。在这种情况下，很多教会开始了教会的小组化转型。于是，一时间，几乎所有教会都开始做小组，然而，教会做小组的结果却大不相同——有的教会小组做的很好，无论是牧者还是信徒都很满意，也有的教会小组做的并不好，但是迫于环境的影响还是需要继续做，硬着头皮还是需要做下去。
近日，基督时报采访了南方某地一教会牧者周鹏牧师，他分享了他们教会在小组化转型中的心得，一瞥一些影响教会小组化转型成败的因素。
牧师必须参与基层服事
周牧师所在的教会，转型之路已经探索了十余年的时间。他坚定地认为，一所教会的小组化转型，必须是“从上往下”的，即教会的上层牧者和领袖必须高度重视教会的小组化转型，甚至把这个放在最重要的位置上。因为“从下往上”来推动教会的小组化转型，则会困难重重，甚至几乎是不可能的。
虽然周牧师要处理的事务非常多，然而即便再忙，他还是决定——亲自带领一个小组。不然，无论是牧者还是同工包括普通信徒大家就不可能对小组引起足够的重视。他还说，如果牧师自己不亲自带领小组的话，那就没有办法真正体验到牧养的辛苦。
牧者如果不去亲身参与基层的服事的话，就无法真切地体会到基层的难处，长此以往，就会与基层和信徒脱节，最终为自己建造了一座象牙塔，失去了与外界和他人真实的连接。因为在牧师、领袖下面有很多的同工，把牧养交个这个人，敬拜交给那个人，祷告交给另外一个人……牧师只是负责管理这些事工的负责人。哪怕之前这名牧师都参与过这些服事，最终就会造成虽然是牧师但是却不懂牧养的奇怪状况。只有牧师自己亲自参与牧养的时候，才能够品尝到牧养过程中的酸甜苦辣咸，才能够与基层达成一致，这样的时候所有人的心才能够通起来，教会才能够更有力量的往前面走，而不是因为人心不齐而陷入到徘徊甚至后退、内耗当中。
教会需要姊妹更多站出来 参与到服事当中
不仅是周牧师自己参与实际牧养，现在他家妻子也会亲自参与牧养，一方面是通过这样的方式与大家的心达成一致，另外一方面这样做也是为了成为家庭的榜样，鼓励更多的家庭双方都能够参与到服事当中来。“如果我们家都不这么做，那么又有谁能够这么做呢？”
“现在的情况跟几十年前相比可以说完全不一样，那时候很多地方都有很多姊妹出来服事，包括敬拜、祷告、讲道等等。然而，在过去几十年间，中国教会的情况发生了非常大的变化。现在很多地方的教会里面弟兄是很强的，服事的事情基本都是弟兄在做，姐妹有很多都是站在后面默默支持的。”
在这样的状况下，周牧师让妻子也站出来，参与到教会服事当中，在师母的带动下，也有其他的几名姊妹站了出来。他说，现在在他们教会里面，是弟兄来牧养弟兄，姊妹来牧养姊妹。这样做的好处是牧养更有针对性，也容易更加深入。
（应受访者要求，文中人物姓名均为化名）
观察基层牧养不仅是教会同工的事情 牧师也必须参与基层服事
As the church's internal and external environments have changed in recent years, the traditional preaching ministry from the lectern no longer fits with the church's current situation. Under such circumstances, many churches have begun the transformation toward forming small groups. Therefore, almost all churches began to form groups over time. However, the results of small groups work turn out quite different. Some groups work well, and both pastors and members are happy with them. Other small groups might not work well, but they still need to keep going because the environment affects them.
The Christian Times, a Chinese online Christian newspaper in China, has recently interviewed Pastor Zhou Peng, the pastor of a church in southern China. He shared his experience with the transformation of forming small groups in his church and provided an overview of some of the factors influencing the success or failure of this transformation within his church.
Pastors must be involved in grassroots ministry
Pastor Zhou's church has been exploring the road to transformation for more than a decade. He is a firm believer that the transformation of forming small groups in a church must occur "from the top down," meaning that the pastors and leaders at the top of the church must place a high value on this transformation within the church. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to start the transformation within the church "from the bottom up."
Pastor Zhou has much on his plate, but even though he is busy, he decided to lead a group himself. Otherwise, it would be impossible for pastors and fellow believers alike to pay enough attention to the work of small groups. He added that if pastors don't lead groups themselves, they can't really experience the hard work of pastoring.
If pastors do not personally participate in grassroots ministry, they will not truly understand the difficulties of the grassroots, and in the long run, they will become disconnected from the grassroots and the congregation, and eventually only build an ivory tower for themselves, losing their connection to the reality of the outside world and others. Because there are many co-workers under pastors and church leaders, they may hand over pastoring to one person, worshiping to another, and prayer to another. The pastors are simply the people in charge of managing these ministries. Even if the pastors have been involved in these services before, they may end up in the strange situation of being pastors who don't know anything about ministry. Only when pastors themselves participate in pasturing can they learn about the difficulties and sweetness of the process of pasturing and reach an agreement with the grassroots. In this way, the hearts of all people can be connected, and the church can move forward with more power instead of wandering or even retreating into internal friction due to the disunity of the people.
The church needs more sisters to step up and get involved in service
Not only does Pastor Zhou participate in the actual ministry himself, but now his wife also take a part in the ministry herself, partly to reach out to the hearts of the people in this way, but also to be a role model for the family and encourage more couples to both participate in the ministry. "If my family doesn't do it, how could we persuade other people to do this?" he said.
"It's a completely different situation than it was a few decades ago when we had a lot of sisters who were serving in the church, including worshipping, praying, and preaching. However, in the past few decades, the situation of the church in China has changed greatly. At present, in many churches, brothers are pastors and leaders. Most of the ministry work is done by brothers, and many sisters stand behind and support them."
Under such circumstances, Pastor Zhou asked his wife to step forward and participate in the ministry. Several other sisters began to get involved in church ministry under the leadership of his wife. According to him, the brothers now pastor the brothers in their church, while the sisters pastor the sisters. This has the advantage of making pastoring more targeted and easier to go deeper.
(At the request of the interviewees, the names of the people in the article are pseudonyms.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Voice: Grassroots Ministry Is Not Just a Matter for Church Staff But Also for Pastors
