When we study the Chinese rural church in the 21st century, we must consider the current environment in China. Some people may conclude that the rural church must decline due to the process of urbanization. Some said the rural church could revive due to the construction of the new socialist countryside.
In fact, we should take all factors into account. There are both opportunities and challenges in China's rural church. We should be brave and strong to create a new situation of the rural church.
Rural Church During Urbanization Process
China's rural churches went through a renaissance at the beginning stage of the reform and opening up. In the past decade huge social changes have taken place in China. The urbanization process has accelerated. Almost all the young and more than half of the middle-aged in the countryside poured into the city. The population of the city becomes larger and larger. The nation is also loosening the household registration system.
It is known that the Guangdong public security department has changed the temporary residence card into residence permit. Some estimate that urban population will be as large as rural population.
Such external environment has resulted in the decrease of rural population. The backbone of the church (such as volunteers, pastors and choirs) also poured into the city. They begin to serve in the urban church. The rural church declined. The young generation has left and the rural church faces talent drainage.
Many believers left the countryside to make a living. The farmland is shrinking while the commodity price is increasing year by year. The one-child policy has made the burden of young generation in rural areas heavier. The changes in climate and natural disasters have made agricultural production more difficult. All these factors drive people in the countryside to find hope in the city.
Therefore, retaining believers in the rural area during the process of urbanization is not realistic. We shall effectively solve the problems of rural church. Therefore, cities need to feedback the countryside. What should we do?
1. The urban church and the rural church become partners
An urban church establishes partnership with one or a few rural churches. It is not about manipulation but to share God's grace with each other. The city church should try its best to help rural churches in faith and life.
We should pay attention to taking coordinate actions and realize the optimizing configuration of church resources. For example, we should regularly visit the rural churches and introduce some training opportunities. We could also give them some part-time manual job. Our goal is to make the rural believers have a stronger faith and a better living condition.
2. The city church supports the fellow workers of rural churches.
Let some rural believers who work in the city accept training in the city church. Then encourage them to serve the church of their hometown. At the beginning, the urban church is responsible for their living expenses. Gradually the urban church and the city church shoulder their living expense together. It will produce long-term effects.
3. Encouraging urban believers who have economic strength to set up enterprises in the countryside
Some urban believers have their own enterprise. If they can set up the branch in the countryside and produce their own products, a lot of rural believers can have a stable job and serve God in their hometown.
4. The city church can introduce some fellow workers from rural churches and develop them into a special pastoral team
Some fellow workers in the city church used to serve in the rural church before they entered the city. Now they have learned from the experience of urban pastors. They can also devote themselves to the construction of the urban church. They can become a special pastoral team in the city church responsible for shepherding rural-urban migrant workers.
The team must be familiar with rural-urban migrant worker due to similar experience. They can build a good relationship with the workers by visiting their working places and sharing gospel with them.
The rural church under the background of new socialist countryside
What is the new socialist countryside? If a village is wealthy, clean, tidy and democratic, it can be called a new socialist village. The whole nation is striving for the goal of building new socialist countryside. Christians should also play their positive role in it.
The rural church can make some efforts in strengthening the rural cultural construction and increasing entertainment facilities in the countryside. Many farmers choose to bury themselves in porn or gambling which damages their spirits.
If the condition allows we could establish a free book house containing books of different themes such as agriculture and technician. We can guide villagers to listen to music or watch movies when they are free. The rural church can also regularly organize some music sermons or galas during Christians' festivals to enrich the spiritual life of villagers.
The children should often visit left-behind children and elderly in the rural area. Violent and porn computer games have seriously damaged the physical and mental health of some rural children. Some of them even took on the path of crimes. The problem of left-behind children has aroused the concern of the society. However, we still lack powerful solutions.
We should also pay more attention to the spiritual life of the left-behind elderly, which haven't caused widespread concern. The rural church should try to become their spiritual home.
During the busy farming season, the church should play its role in mobilizing the manpower. A mutual aid team could be set up to help each other harvest crops. The team could improve the relationship among villagers and act as a testimony of Christians.
To improve the agricultural technology in the rural area, the church can invite experienced believers or experts to make a speech. Some pioneers have taken advantage of rural resources and started up their own business. They have a leading role in the rural area and we should make more villagers know about their stories. We believe that through our efforts the rural church could also become a developed town.
The rural church should make efforts in the aspects mentioned above. We need a well-educated pastoral team with both rich knowledge and good qualities. However, we have to admit that the poor financial conditions and backward ideas have blocked the growth of the pastoral team in the rural church. It is urgent to introduce talents into the rural church and retain them. After that, we should take the initiative to improve their living conditions.
Churches with abundant financial resources should help those weak in economy. We should advocate the spirit of helping each other and let all the rural staff in rural church live a better life. Compared with building a new church, stabilizing the fellow workers in the rural church is more important. We should always remember that the rural pastors are critical to the development of the rural church.
In addition, we should try to improve the quality of rural believers and keep them away from superstition and secularization. The rural church lacks spiritual resources and systematic training. The erosion of heresy is also what we need to be alert about.
The Author is a preacher in Southern China.
Translated by Emma Ma.
