"Ridiculous"—this is the harsh evaluation made by Pastor A regarding the chaos caused by the separation of pastoral care and administrative affairs in his church. This disorder ultimately led to Pastor A leaving the church, which he had been devoted to for almost two decades, a few years ago.
Nearly ten years ago, Pastor A's church imitated other churches' experiences and began promoting the reform of its management system. The work of pastors and deacons in the church committee was clearly differentiated according to their respective responsibilities.
"At that time, they suggested that pastors should concentrate on preaching and not deal with the church's miscellaneous affairs. We thought it was a good idea without a second thought," recalled Pastor A.
However, the pastoral staff soon realized that this new separation system had caused an imbalance of power. "After the establishment of the core team of the new church board, there was not a single seminary student or pastor in the team; all were full-time administrative staff," Pastor A said. "Several of the staff members smoked and drank in the church, which was very unpopular."
It turned out that the head of the church board, who had long sought to eliminate dissidents, took advantage of the loophole of "separation of church affairs and administration" and forced all pastoral staff out of the church management.
"For a long time afterward, the pastors in our church did not have any substantial authority. Instead, we took direction from an office director who had just been promoted from a lay believer, and we were even instructed by them on how to shepherd the believers," Pastor A said, his eyes filled with tears.
Because most of these administrative staffers lacked theological knowledge or pastoral experience, they made misguided decisions in their subsequent ministries, which also dealt a severe blow to the church itself.
"The pastorship is a divine appointment from God. Shepherding the flock remains at the core of all church activities. All management techniques should only serve as an aid to pastoring, and it is essential not to put the cart before the horse," stated Pastor A.
Exploration in another church can serve as a valuable reference for identifying talents suitable for church administration while avoiding improper selection of church administrators and power imbalances.
In Pastor X's church, high-quality administrative personnel not only serve as assistants to the pastor, helping with various complex tasks of the church, but also become "leaders" who can train and lead other grassroots church management personnel.
"Presently, the Chinese church is not lacking in pastors but rather faces a significant absence of administrative talent, especially individuals who are spiritually mature and gifted," stated Pastor X, who leads the central church in a prefecture-level city and is the head of the municipal CC&TSPM.
"Currently, there are still some shortcomings in the education system for church administration in domestic theological colleges. Therefore, lay believers with business management experience could become crucial targets for grassroots pastors to discover and train as staff workers."
Upon assuming the position of head of the municipal CC&TSPM, Pastor X embarked on a series of experiments in his church as well as in a few small churches within the vicinity. The main objective was to identify competencies among the laypeople and appoint them as "deputy administrative directors."
"The 'administrative director', on the other hand, must be the respective pastor in charge of each church. However, there should be some degree of delegation of authority," Pastor X explained.
He went on to highlight that while there are similarities between church administration and enterprise management, there are fundamental differences. Whereas enterprise administration is centered around directives, the core of church administration is "the love of Christ". Hence, exemplary church administration should not solely rely on authority but rather be rooted in love and tolerance in resolving all disputes during the administration process."
"I have heard that some urban churches have adopted a system of competitive selection among highly educated lay believers for appointing church administrators in recent years. This, I believe, is also an effective approach," Pastor X concluded.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
