A total of 12 pastoral staff members participated in a selection meeting for pastor ordination in south China’s Guangdong Province, which consisted of a written test and an interview.
The tests were given on February 24 by Guangzhou CC&TSPM, including basic knowledge of theology, church history, religious laws and rules, pastoral practice, pastors' duties, the practical operation of church administration, management of believers' crises, and the general understanding of current events. The pastoral search committee gave scores based on the comprehensive ability of the candidates. The top seven can enter the next round of public speeches. In the stage of public speeches, the top five will be selected through democratic voting by all the pastoral staff of the Guangzhou Christian Church and become the 2023 candidates for pastor ordination, said the municipal CC&TSPM.
Guangzhou CC&TSPM has changed the mechanism of pastor ordination to public exams and democratic selection since 2020, which can stimulate the self-growth of the pastoral staff and optimize the pastoral team structure. After that, two elections have been held and a total of eight new pastors were ordained.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
