Is it solely the responsibility of pastors to develop churches, or is it necessary for both new and seasoned church workers to participate in its development? In the aftermath of the three-year pandemic, there has been a discernible shift in pastoral ministry: a growing number of pastors are providing additional training to church workers and decentralizing authority more than in the past.
The following are a few examples from different cities, which may account for the attempt at a new pastoral ministry strategy.
Firstly, pastors are training church workers using a mentoring approach.
Pastor Z, who leads a church of almost 200 members in City A in East China, is a case in point. Before the pandemic, the church gatherings were held in the lobby, but they transitioned to small-group and online meetings due to the pandemic. Their church is comprised of a mother church, district churches, and local churches. As the senior pastor's energy was limited, he was unable to cater to the needs of eight different churches in a balanced manner, and Pastor Z often felt overwhelmed. Later, he recognized the significance of performing well at the top level of the church, so he started focusing on the current full-time church workers while also promoting new personnel and providing them with spiritual and church management training. Pastor Z remarks, "It typically takes three years to train a worker capable of leading the church. I will establish and reinforce three core workers in a local church and provide them with regular in-person training. Then, I will also share with them my own experiences of ministering to the church and the challenges I face, so that they can observe how I lead and conduct visitations."
At the specific operational level, Pastor Z will use straightforward teaching materials and combine learning with practical activities to foster the growth of workers. He explains, "Now, some new, young workers in my church have emerged and started leading different churches, and the atmosphere has changed. I am no longer as fatigued as I used to be. Currently, I concentrate on supervising and guiding them, so that they can progress together in leading and training new people. They can be strong and resolute."
Pastor Y is from City B in South China. His church has about 100 members in both online and in-person modes. During the pandemic, Pastor Y established a prayer ministry and invited all church members to participate. Through the ministry, he found more responsible workers and then deeply led the workers to commit themselves to the church. Through their participation in service and life changes, Pastor Y became more powerful in his ministry.
Secondly, church workers undergo training by means of being invited to participate in church services.
Pastor Y is from City B in South China where his church caters to around 100 members in both online and in-person modes. In response to the pandemic, Pastor Y established a prayer ministry and extended an invitation to all church members to take part. Through this ministry, he was able to identify responsible workers and then effectively led them to commit themselves to the church. Their involvement in the church's activities and their personal growth had an empowering impact on Pastor Y's ministry.
The prayer platform operates almost continuously and is available every night. During the day, church believers are encouraged to participate in a relay prayer that lasts for half an hour every day and to lead the prayer meeting. Pastor Y explained, "City B is characterized by a tendency among its people to stay up late and find it difficult to wake up early, so we come together both online and in person to pray at night. There were over 20 workers each month, and each worker had the opportunity to participate once or twice a month, for about half an hour. A short five-minute speech was given, and the remaining time was spent in prayer. Ordinary believers in the church were also invited to become workers on the prayer platform. Over the course of three years, many ordinary believers have transformed into influential church workers, enabling them to assist pastors in practical ministry work. As a result, our church has become stronger."
"As an example, we previously provided meal services after each gathering, but as everyone grew increasingly fatigued at the end of each worship service, they were no longer able to provide meals. However, through participation in the prayer platform, more people became willing to serve the meals. The meal service after Sunday worship became more gracious and could be held regularly. Furthermore, newcomers felt a sense of belonging, and membership has increased," he added.
Pastor H, from City E in South China, oversees numerous churches and congregations. He believes that the church should give special attention to the education and personal growth of its workers to promote their development. He embraces the concept that "everyone is the protagonist." During different gatherings throughout the week, especially on Sundays, spaces are reserved for people at each meeting point to participate in the ministry, regardless of its size.
Pastor H says, “The opportunity of the serving positions helps pastors select workers who can be trained continuously. When necessary, they will also give the new workers the opportunity to lead the fellowship. We will also train new workers through marriage and family courses, discipleship courses, practical guidance courses, and different service positions, thus promoting development. In the process of training, the number of new members of some churches is increasing; some pastors have had the joy of serving the church as one with their workers in Christ, while others have a deeper understanding of the importance of their limited and joint service.”
As for the church workers, the training given by Pastor H is a division of labor and cooperation because the number of churches is greater than that of his workers. Therefore, a co-worker is usually responsible for 2-3 local churches, and each will go to different local churches to preach and minister. They will not be confined to one church but also take care of different meeting points. In this process, they can also learn from each other.
Pastor H says, “When the number of workers is not enough, we will train and recruit. Meanwhile, we link the existing workers with the overall resources of our church so that they can get priority training first, and then they will give full play to their specialties in their respective churches. Apart from serving on the podium, they will also take care of the meeting places that others are responsible for according to their specialties, so as to solve some problems encountered in actual ministry. We will also have regular assessments and exchanges.”
Third, pastors train church workers to explore their gifts and expertise to improve the quality of pastoral care.
Pastor J, from City C in South China, has a church that is mainly composed of young and middle-aged working-class believers. Because they live in different areas of the city, they have different needs for meeting in different locations. During the pandemic, Pastor J insisted on training workers as a means to promote development. He has built different service platforms through the expertise and gifts of believers in their professional fields to attract and serve interested new friends. Every half a month, their church will hold professional lectures in the fields of workplace, psychological counseling, and marriage and family programs. These seminars are all done by church workers in their church, and they are also recognized professionals in their respective fields.
Pastor J says, “Every time before giving a lecture, I will lead them to pray and let them spiritually watch for each other as an add-up to the preparation in their professional field. That is done in order to ensure their gifts and talents are valuable to the Lord.” Before giving the lecture, each speaker will explain to the new friends that the lecture will use Christian values and ideas. In this process, we find new friends who agree with the content of the lecture and Christian values and continue to carry out follow-up services.”
In addition, Pastor J arranges a weekly Bible study, the interpretation of the Bible, and basic theological courses for pastors and workers in different churches. He will also discuss with his coworkers how to deepen the quality time. Meanwhile, he listens to the suggestions of each coworker and lets them practice freely. Finally, there will be an evaluation and arrangement of their work every month.
Fourth, pastors train preachers through Bible education programs.
Pastor L, from City D in Northeast China, has served his church for nearly 30 years. He once worked as a mobile preacher for many years, relying on some 20 sermons that he knew by heart. At that time, he felt that these sermons were completely sufficient. But later, when he settled his ministry in a city, he found that he could not understand the Bible and could not grasp what the whole Bible and every book were talking about. Therefore, after he and his followers launched the activities of reading and taking exams again and again, he gradually explored a set of ways and methods to understand the Bible and summarized each book of the Bible with the help of interpreting the Bible. Pastor L sighed with emotion: “I now find that many believers and pastors in the church have only read the periphery of the Bible, and their understanding of each book of the Bible and the overall relationship are still vague. Therefore, in recent years, I have begun to train church workers to help them get into the Bible and eliminate ‘biblical illiteracy’ (a figurative expression meaning not really understanding the Bible, translator’s note).”
Pastor L is still training workers in different churches, and his purpose is to make more and more workers go on a healthy and stable service pathway at the podium. “Preachers are no longer worried about preparing sermons. Listeners can understand the platform information. They can clearly grasp the core points and preach the truth of the Bible to more people. When believers integrate the Bible into their own lives, the construction and development of the church are in line with God’s wishes,” Pastor L adds.
- Translated by Charlie Li
教会的发展难道只是牧师一个人的事情吗？教会里的其它牧者同工与新同工是否需有必要参与到教会的发展之中呢？三年疫情结束后，有一个牧养教会的新趋势：越来越多的牧师们比以往更加关注对教会同工的培养与放权。
以下有几个来自不同城市的牧者的案例，或许可以看到教会在牧养策略上的一种新尝试。
一，用师徒制的模式 培养教会同工
来自一华东A市的Z牧师所带领的是一个近200人的教会，在疫情前曾经有过大堂聚会的模式，但在疫情三年间，他们采取了小组化、线上化的聚会模式。他们的教会有母会、区会和堂会的划分。因主任牧师精力有限，无法均衡照顾到8个不同堂点的需要，Z牧师常常感受到分身乏术。后来，他认识到了做好教会顶层设计的重要性，于是他开始着重关怀现有的教会全职同工，也提拔新的同工，提供灵性和教会管理上定向的学习和训练。Z牧师谈到：“培养一个能够带领教会的同工往往需要3年的时间。我会在一个堂会里，建立并坚固3个核心同工，定期给他们上门训课程，然后我也会与他们一起经历实际牧养教会过程中要面对的事情，让这些同工们去看我是如何带领教会，以及如何做探访工作等等。”
在具体操作层面，Z牧师会用简单的教材配合牧养现场的实践课，以学和做的结合的方式来训练同工们的成长。Z牧师分享说：“现在我的教会有一些新的年轻同工站立起来了，他们也开始带领不同的堂点，教会的氛围也会改变。我不再像从前那么疲累，我目前偏重于为同工们做监督与守望的工作，从而让同工们在带领和牧养新人的事奉上，彼此联合着前进，又能够刚强壮胆。”
二，借邀参与事奉平台 来培养教会同工
来自一华南B市的Y牧师，他的教会是一间线上和线下大约有100人左右的教会。Y牧师在疫情期间，建立了一个祷告的事工，并邀请全教会的信徒参与其中，通过祷告事工来发现有更有担当的同工，并继而深度带领同工们委身教会，通过教会同工们参与事奉和生命的改变，让Y牧师更有力量的牧养教会。
这个祷告平台几乎是不停的，每天晚上都有，当日会邀请教会的信徒参加每天的半个小时的接力祷告并且带领这个祷告会。Y牧师说：“B市的特点是大家都睡的很晚，很难早起，所以我们是在晚上一起线上线下结合聚集祷告。一个月会有20多个同工，每个人每个月能轮到一到两次，一次是半个小时左右。会有简短的5分钟的话语分享，其它的时间都是用来祷告。教会的普通信徒也被邀请成为祷告平台事奉的同工，三年下来，许多普通信徒在参与的过程中，变成了有力量的教会同工，也帮助牧者分担一些实际的事奉工作，我们教会因此变得就更有力量了。”
“例如，礼拜后的爱宴服事，之前是大家越做越累，后来就做不下去了。但教会的信徒们通过参与祷告平台的事奉后，更多的人开始乐意担当与分工爱宴的服事，主日礼拜后的爱宴就变得越来越有恩典，也可以定期举行下去，新来的人也找到归属感。教会的人数也在加增，”他补充道。
而来自华南E市的H牧师，他的教会人数较多，堂会也很多。他认为，教会尤其要重视同工的培养和成长，如此才能推动教会的发展。H牧师采用的是“全民皆主角”的方式来培养同工。在一周的不同的聚会里，尤其是主日聚会，他们会给每一个聚会点里的人预备参与服事的位置，无论位置大小。
H牧师分享说：“借着每一次提供的事奉教会的岗位，我们教会的牧者会在他们的聚会点里选出继续可以深度培养的带职同工，必要的时候，也会给新同工带领团契的机会。我们也会通过婚姻家庭课程、门徒课程和实际的带领礼拜的教程和不同的事奉位置，让新同工们得到培养，从而促进教会的发展。在培养同工的过程中，有的教会新人数在增加；有的牧者品尝到了在基督里和同工们成为一体事奉教会的喜乐，也有的牧者更深的理解了自己的有限和联合事奉的重要性。”
而对于教会的牧者同工层面，H牧师给与同工们的训练则是分工协作，因为堂点数多于牧者同工的数量，因此，一位牧者同工通常要负责2-3个堂会，每个牧者同工都会去不同的堂会讲道和牧养，牧者同工不会局限在一个教会里，而是也要照顾不同的聚会点，在这个过程中，牧者同工们也可以彼此的学习。
H牧师谈到：“牧者同工人数不够的时候 ，我们除了一方面在培养和招募，一方面我把现有的牧者同工与我们教会整体的资源链接在一起，让他们先得到优先的培养，然后他们又在各自负责的堂点里发挥他们的特长，除了讲台事奉以外，也会根据每个牧者同工的特长，去照顾到他人所负责的聚会点，解决一些实际牧养和探访中遇到的问题，这样的过程，他们自己都会有想要继续学习和成长的心志。我们也会有定期的评估和交流。”
三，用恩赐与特长培养教会同工 提升教会牧养
一位来自华南C市的J牧师，他的教会主要是以中青年职场群体信徒为主，信徒们住在城市的不同地方，因而他们也有对不同地点的堂会的需求。疫情期间，J牧师坚持通过培养同工们来促进教会的发展，他会通过信徒在他们专业领域里的特长与恩赐，来建立不同的事奉平台，吸引并事奉到感兴趣的新人朋友。每半个月，他们的教会会举办专业的职场领域的讲座、心理咨询领域的讲座、婚姻家庭方面的讲座，这些讲员都是他们教会里的带职同工，他们也是在各自的领域里得到认可的专业人士。
J牧师见证到：“每次做讲座前除了他们专业的领域内的预备以外，为了让他们的恩赐和才干能够被主宝贵的使用，我会带领他们一起做祷告和守望。每个讲员会在提供讲座前对新来的朋友介绍说，本次讲座会用到基督教的价值观和理念。我们在这个过程中，找到认同讲座内容以及基督教价值观的新人朋友，继续展开后续的跟进事奉。”
初此之外，J牧师每周也会安排固定时间，提供给不同堂点的牧者同工一起学习圣经、解经和基础的神学课程。他也会给牧者同工们一起讨论如何深化牧养的时间，同时，J牧师会听取每个同工的建议，同时也放开一定的空间，让同工们放手去实践，之后每个月会有对他们工作的评估和整理。
四，从圣经教育入手 培养教会讲台同工
来自一东北D市的L牧师，在事奉教会近30年的时间里，他曾经靠着20篇烂熟于心的讲章做过多年的流动式讲道人，那时候他觉得这些讲章完全够用。但后期，当他开始固定在一个城市做精细化牧养的时候，他发现自己其实看不懂圣经，无法把握整本圣经和每一卷书到底在讲什么。于是在他与信众们一次次的发起读经和考试的活动后，他借着解经书的帮助，逐渐摸索出一套理解圣经和概括圣经每卷书的方式和方法。L牧师感慨到：“我现在发现有很多教会的信徒、牧者都只是读懂了圣经的外围，对圣经每卷书的理解和整体的关联依然是模糊不清的，因此我这些年，开始着手于培养教会同工， 帮助他们走进圣经，消除圣经文盲。”
L牧师目前仍然在培养不同教会的同工，他的目的就是让越来越多的教会同工在讲台事奉上走向健康稳固的事奉之路。“讲道人不再发愁于预备讲章，听道的人可以听懂讲台信息，他们可以清晰的抓住核心要点后，为更多人更加接地气的传讲圣经真理，当信徒把圣经融入了自己的生活后，这样教会的建造与发展才是合上帝心意的。”L 牧师补充说到。
观察｜教会成长趋势：主任牧师透过牧养同工来推动发展
Is it solely the responsibility of pastors to develop churches, or is it necessary for both new and seasoned church workers to participate in its development? In the aftermath of the three-year pandemic, there has been a discernible shift in pastoral ministry: a growing number of pastors are providing additional training to church workers and decentralizing authority more than in the past.
The following are a few examples from different cities, which may account for the attempt at a new pastoral ministry strategy.
Firstly, pastors are training church workers using a mentoring approach.
Pastor Z, who leads a church of almost 200 members in City A in East China, is a case in point. Before the pandemic, the church gatherings were held in the lobby, but they transitioned to small-group and online meetings due to the pandemic. Their church is comprised of a mother church, district churches, and local churches. As the senior pastor's energy was limited, he was unable to cater to the needs of eight different churches in a balanced manner, and Pastor Z often felt overwhelmed. Later, he recognized the significance of performing well at the top level of the church, so he started focusing on the current full-time church workers while also promoting new personnel and providing them with spiritual and church management training. Pastor Z remarks, "It typically takes three years to train a worker capable of leading the church. I will establish and reinforce three core workers in a local church and provide them with regular in-person training. Then, I will also share with them my own experiences of ministering to the church and the challenges I face, so that they can observe how I lead and conduct visitations."
At the specific operational level, Pastor Z will use straightforward teaching materials and combine learning with practical activities to foster the growth of workers. He explains, "Now, some new, young workers in my church have emerged and started leading different churches, and the atmosphere has changed. I am no longer as fatigued as I used to be. Currently, I concentrate on supervising and guiding them, so that they can progress together in leading and training new people. They can be strong and resolute."
Pastor Y is from City B in South China. His church has about 100 members in both online and in-person modes. During the pandemic, Pastor Y established a prayer ministry and invited all church members to participate. Through the ministry, he found more responsible workers and then deeply led the workers to commit themselves to the church. Through their participation in service and life changes, Pastor Y became more powerful in his ministry.
Secondly, church workers undergo training by means of being invited to participate in church services.
Pastor Y is from City B in South China where his church caters to around 100 members in both online and in-person modes. In response to the pandemic, Pastor Y established a prayer ministry and extended an invitation to all church members to take part. Through this ministry, he was able to identify responsible workers and then effectively led them to commit themselves to the church. Their involvement in the church's activities and their personal growth had an empowering impact on Pastor Y's ministry.
The prayer platform operates almost continuously and is available every night. During the day, church believers are encouraged to participate in a relay prayer that lasts for half an hour every day and to lead the prayer meeting. Pastor Y explained, "City B is characterized by a tendency among its people to stay up late and find it difficult to wake up early, so we come together both online and in person to pray at night. There were over 20 workers each month, and each worker had the opportunity to participate once or twice a month, for about half an hour. A short five-minute speech was given, and the remaining time was spent in prayer. Ordinary believers in the church were also invited to become workers on the prayer platform. Over the course of three years, many ordinary believers have transformed into influential church workers, enabling them to assist pastors in practical ministry work. As a result, our church has become stronger."
"As an example, we previously provided meal services after each gathering, but as everyone grew increasingly fatigued at the end of each worship service, they were no longer able to provide meals. However, through participation in the prayer platform, more people became willing to serve the meals. The meal service after Sunday worship became more gracious and could be held regularly. Furthermore, newcomers felt a sense of belonging, and membership has increased," he added.
Pastor H, from City E in South China, oversees numerous churches and congregations. He believes that the church should give special attention to the education and personal growth of its workers to promote their development. He embraces the concept that "everyone is the protagonist." During different gatherings throughout the week, especially on Sundays, spaces are reserved for people at each meeting point to participate in the ministry, regardless of its size.
Pastor H says, “The opportunity of the serving positions helps pastors select workers who can be trained continuously. When necessary, they will also give the new workers the opportunity to lead the fellowship. We will also train new workers through marriage and family courses, discipleship courses, practical guidance courses, and different service positions, thus promoting development. In the process of training, the number of new members of some churches is increasing; some pastors have had the joy of serving the church as one with their workers in Christ, while others have a deeper understanding of the importance of their limited and joint service.”
As for the church workers, the training given by Pastor H is a division of labor and cooperation because the number of churches is greater than that of his workers. Therefore, a co-worker is usually responsible for 2-3 local churches, and each will go to different local churches to preach and minister. They will not be confined to one church but also take care of different meeting points. In this process, they can also learn from each other.
Pastor H says, “When the number of workers is not enough, we will train and recruit. Meanwhile, we link the existing workers with the overall resources of our church so that they can get priority training first, and then they will give full play to their specialties in their respective churches. Apart from serving on the podium, they will also take care of the meeting places that others are responsible for according to their specialties, so as to solve some problems encountered in actual ministry. We will also have regular assessments and exchanges.”
Third, pastors train church workers to explore their gifts and expertise to improve the quality of pastoral care.
Pastor J, from City C in South China, has a church that is mainly composed of young and middle-aged working-class believers. Because they live in different areas of the city, they have different needs for meeting in different locations. During the pandemic, Pastor J insisted on training workers as a means to promote development. He has built different service platforms through the expertise and gifts of believers in their professional fields to attract and serve interested new friends. Every half a month, their church will hold professional lectures in the fields of workplace, psychological counseling, and marriage and family programs. These seminars are all done by church workers in their church, and they are also recognized professionals in their respective fields.
Pastor J says, “Every time before giving a lecture, I will lead them to pray and let them spiritually watch for each other as an add-up to the preparation in their professional field. That is done in order to ensure their gifts and talents are valuable to the Lord.” Before giving the lecture, each speaker will explain to the new friends that the lecture will use Christian values and ideas. In this process, we find new friends who agree with the content of the lecture and Christian values and continue to carry out follow-up services.”
In addition, Pastor J arranges a weekly Bible study, the interpretation of the Bible, and basic theological courses for pastors and workers in different churches. He will also discuss with his coworkers how to deepen the quality time. Meanwhile, he listens to the suggestions of each coworker and lets them practice freely. Finally, there will be an evaluation and arrangement of their work every month.
Fourth, pastors train preachers through Bible education programs.
Pastor L, from City D in Northeast China, has served his church for nearly 30 years. He once worked as a mobile preacher for many years, relying on some 20 sermons that he knew by heart. At that time, he felt that these sermons were completely sufficient. But later, when he settled his ministry in a city, he found that he could not understand the Bible and could not grasp what the whole Bible and every book were talking about. Therefore, after he and his followers launched the activities of reading and taking exams again and again, he gradually explored a set of ways and methods to understand the Bible and summarized each book of the Bible with the help of interpreting the Bible. Pastor L sighed with emotion: “I now find that many believers and pastors in the church have only read the periphery of the Bible, and their understanding of each book of the Bible and the overall relationship are still vague. Therefore, in recent years, I have begun to train church workers to help them get into the Bible and eliminate ‘biblical illiteracy’ (a figurative expression meaning not really understanding the Bible, translator’s note).”
Pastor L is still training workers in different churches, and his purpose is to make more and more workers go on a healthy and stable service pathway at the podium. “Preachers are no longer worried about preparing sermons. Listeners can understand the platform information. They can clearly grasp the core points and preach the truth of the Bible to more people. When believers integrate the Bible into their own lives, the construction and development of the church are in line with God’s wishes,” Pastor L adds.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Senior Pastors Training Church Workers May Be Church Growth Trend
