Editor's note: Since the reform and opening-up policy (Chinese Economic Reform of 1970), the Chinese church has gone through unprecedented development. Churches have sprung up in different places. The number of Christians has also increased year by year.
At the same time, we are faced with more and more church affairs. The treatment of full-time servants has also become a common problem faced by many churches.
Henan province has the largest number of Christians in China. It is not a rich province in China. However, Tianzhong Church in Zhumadian city pays great attention to the treatment of pastors.
Zhumadian is located in the central southern agricultural areas of Henan Province, which is the poorest part of the province. However, many fellow workers come to visit Tianzhong church in Zhumadian. Some of them claimed that it was the best Chinese church they had ever seen.
How did Tianzhong church become the model church of Henan province despite being located in this barren area? On April 13, I visited Tianzhong Church as the reporter of the Gospel Times (an online Christian news website in the Mainland China). Pastor Bai Jiande, Senior pastor and the head of the church, shook hands with me and said: "My brother, welcome home."
I asked Pastor Bai about the common problems of most grass-roots churches in China as we talked throughout my visit.
The interview was as follows:
Gospel Times: What do you think of the treatment of pastors in churches? Many churches have difficulty with it. How does your church manage it?
Pastor Bai: I think it is a problem of practice. We do not lack in understanding God's words. We lack practice of love and faith.
Before we built the church, a full-time pastor was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. The disease was hard to cure. Pastors had no money for treatment. We couldn't let the worker of God wait for death. We were prepared to devote all the savings of our church at that time to cure his disease, which was around 100,000 yuan.
Although the money was far from enough, we made up our mind. What's surprising, no hepatitis c virus (HCV) was tested in the pastor's body after that!
The testimony is just like when the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River. If we take no action, the water won't disconnect. If we kept the money, the pastor would leave us. God opened the way for us. We took out all our savings to save the pastor's life. God saved both the pastor's life and money for us.
Gospel Times: What's the system for choosing pastors in your church? In your opinion, what is the standard of qualified pastors?
Pastor Bai: What matters most for a church is not hall; but, its leader. We are very picky and careful when it comes to the choosing pastors.
Only believers recognized by the church can study in the theological school. A full-time pastor should have both knowledge and testimony. A good leader can make the church a heaven. A bad leader can make the church become the hell.
Gospel Times: How does your church solve the problem of pastors' livelihood?
Pastor Bai: All workers in our church have wages. The gap of their income is not large. The church should meet their needs as they are committed to the church. We don't want them to worry about their family when they serve in the church.
We try to help ease their burden of life. When children of any full-time worker are admitted to college, the church will pay all their tuition fees. We also give them 800 yuan every month until they graduate from university. No matter if they choose to work outside or serve the church, we will always support them.
It is a problem of love instead of money. The Bible says: "Gold and silver belong to God. God blesses church where people love each other."
We never force believers to dedicate. However, the spirit of dedication in our church is really moving. Some of them devote half of their income to the church because they have really felt the church is their home.
Gospel Times: Corruption may appear after some churches have money. Some church leaders would take the church as a family business and pass it to their children. What do you think about it?
Pastor Bai: The church shouldn't save money in the bank. We should make dedication play a role in preaching the Gospel as soon as possible. We don't need the interest of banks; but, we want the interest of soul. The church can survive without a hall, but it will vanish without people. What supports the church is not the hall but Christians. If we don't save money, we won't take the church as the wealth we can leave to our children.
Gospel Times: You just said that the church should convert the received dedication into the effects of Gospel as soon as possible. Can you tell the reason for doing so?
Pastor Bai: The growth of a believer's life is the first priority of the church. We have spent a lot of money on the spiritual training of believers. We encourage believers to read the Bible more often. We also let believers understand that the money in the church was not saved by us. We use the money to preach the Gospel.
Spiritual leaders encourage believers to pray and read the Bible. Superficial leaders like organizing singing and dancing performances. We also encourage believers to study the Bible instead of indulging in spiritual song and dance. We also encourage believers to care about the movement of capital in the church. it is also a way of regulation. I don't agree with the policy of obscurantism in some churches. They worry that the believers won't be easy to manipulate if they know too much. It's not the case in our church. The more our believers know, the happier we are.
Gospel Times: What's the retirement plan of your church? As far as we know, the leaders of many churches are not willing to hand over their jobs to the next generation. They are worried that once they lose the power, they will have nothing and the church won't care about them anymore.
Pastor Bai: According to our regulation, fellow workers who serve in the church for 10 to 20 years will have a pension equal to 90% of their salary. For fellow workers who have served for 21 years to 30 years, the number is 95%. We will pay retired fellow workers who have served in the church for more than 30 years the full amount of their wages.
Our church tries its best to support every retired pastor. We have paid the social insurance for every full-time fellow worker to ensure their life quality after retirement.
I believe the key to the operation of the church is the choice of pastors. The church should provide pastors love and care.
Gospel Times: What do you think of the relationship between the church and government?
Pastor Bai: Be Open! We don't hide anything when we are faced with the government, which makes our work easy to carry on. Christians should love their country and be proud of their nationality. All economic dividends we enjoy are gained in the current stable environment. Compared with the social environment during the Cultural Revolution, our life is so good and peaceful now. We believers should also thank the government for its efforts.
You went here by high-speed rail and it only took dozens of minutes. If you took a train like the past, it would cost you several hours to get here. It is such a good age that our Christians should love it. We should love our nation and religion. Let's take the love out of the church and let the world see the love in the church.
Reporter's note: After the interview, Pastor Bai invited me to the cemetery of the church where many passed are buried. Pastor Bail can clearly remember the testimonies of everyone. He told me their stories in details. I know he really misses them, and he loves them.
Translated by Emma Ma
