When looking back at the churches in China between 1979 and 2009, we can see that growth was one of its most prominent features. Despite numerous challenges and inexperience, grassroots churches generally benefited from the era and developmental dividends, achieving exponential growth in membership and size.
Since 2009, the period of vigorous growth has subsided. While some churches have seized opportunities for development during special times (such as leveraging online gatherings during the pandemic), many grassroots churches generally feel the strain of stagnation and struggle to maintain vitality. Coupled with other factors, this has led many pastors to adopt a laid-back mentality. During a visit to a region with relatively developed churches, I was surprised to hear local pastors estimate that about 80% of pastors or churches show this laid-back attitude, exacerbating the perception that churches are struggling to sustain vitality and continuous development.
However, regardless of the era or environment, there are always churches that serve as spiritual beacons, maintaining vitality and continuous growth, passing on the faith. This holds true today. Compared to the monotonous forms of Chinese churches decades ago, today’s orthodox Protestant churches exhibit greater diversity in terms of categories and theological stances. By category, there are rural churches, urban churches, migrant worker churches, and churches for professionals, etc. Theological stances encompass Fundamentalism, Charismaticism, Evangelicalism, Reformed theology, and others.
Within the diversities of regions, theological positions, and church systems, we can find churches that remain vibrant and sustainable. Although they vary in form and characteristics, they all grasp the fundamental missions and responsibilities of a church – gathering, nurturing, training, serving, and evangelizing – to meet the needs of people and the times.
Upon closer examination of these vibrant cases, seven key principles are concluded, ranked from most to least important. By solidly implementing two or three of these points, a church can regain vitality and achieve growth; some churches may even exhibit attractiveness by excelling in just one of these points.
Below are the seven points:
I. Emphasizing Sunday worship and sermons
II. Fostering daily devotion and spirituality
III. Providing abundant pastoral resources
IV. Investing in training and education for fellow workers
V. Exploring changes of evangelization
VI. Extending into social services as a new dimension
VII. Updating management and development modes
This article, part 1, discusses the first three points and the incoming article will articulate the rest points.
I. Emphasizing Sunday worship and sermons
When we take a closer look at reality, it becomes evident that over 70% of thriving churches share a common trait: they prioritize Sunday worship, recognizing that doing it well is the simplest yet most crucial key. In particular, the sermon messages shared on Sunday are akin to the diamond at the center of a ring. If Sunday worships are conducted effectively, at least 60% of the issues faced in pastoral ministry can resolve themselves naturally.
Regrettably, the harsh reality is that perhaps up to 70% of churches do not excel in their Sunday worship and sermon delivery.
Rev Dr Caleb Soo Lee Chong, a supervisory and training pastor at Singapore Life Church, once talked about the necessity for today’s churches to foster healthy Christian lives by integrating the spiritual traditions of different denominations through four aspects: knowledge, affection, will, and action. After addressing the traditions of Evangelicalism, the Charismatic movement, the Holiness tradition, and the Catholic tradition of imitating the Incarnation, he emphasized that the first recommendation for renewing both personal and communal worship today is to revitalize Sunday worship. Analyzing the characteristics of the current era, he stated, “Postmodernism is characterized by an abundance of choices. Children will grow up even if we do not feed them, but they may become wild, especially in a postmodern world where unwavering devotion is scarce. We must wholeheartedly devote ourselves to worship.”
In terms of practical implementation, he suggested that worship renewal encompasses three parts.
Hymns: The emotional aspect. It is recommended to adopt a lively style, serving as a weekly outlet for expressing feelings and emotions. During this time, new messages are more readily absorbed.
Sermons: The rational aspect. The utmost importance lies in the speaker’s preparation and delivery of the message, emphasizing personalization and avoiding rote recitation, thereby enhancing its appeal.
Willfulness: The holy calling aspect. Similar to Jesus’ calling to “go,” we must also “go” as a response in addition to emotions, rationality, grace, and strength. The pastor’s benediction at the end of the worship serves as commissioning, signifying that our lives continue to receive blessings even after leaving the worship venue, and we anticipate the next worship service.
The above three parts are interconnected, and their combined effort can generate immense influence. I once attended a Sunday worship service in an urban church where every session, from the preparatory prayers, the 50-minute praise and worship, church announcements and interactions, sermon delivery, to the closing prayer, was captivating. Even believers who were addicted to their phones could immerse themselves fully, avoiding distractions throughout. Some attendees traveled two hours by public transportation or car from suburban areas and neighboring cities to participate. The sermon, particularly impressive, addressed prevalent issues identified among the congregation from a biblical perspective, providing spiritual answers and supplementing them with relatable personal and real-life examples.
Moreover, I had the privilege of visiting several churches in downtown Wenzhou last year and attended three Sunday worship services. Each sermon was clear, passionate, and thoughtfully crafted. Upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that the vibrant churches in the area invest the most effort into their Sunday worship and sermons.
These are positive examples of effective Sunday sermons, but the negative cases are even stickier.
Many pastors who have served for years have observed this. Pastor Li in Beijing lamented and gave one word "weak” to identify the pulpit services in Chinese churches. Pastor Liu in Guangdong responded, “Sermon delivery is a significant issue, if not the biggest, in Chinese churches today.” He cautioned that churches must not be distracted by other activities such as small groups, fellowships, and training. “As pastors and preachers, our most crucial task is to preach God’s Word well.”
Pastor Ye from Wenzhou emphasized that preaching well is the foundation for retaining believers. “If a church does not preach well and cannot adequately nourish believers, why would they continue to attend? In terms of attracting believers, I believe that at least 60% of the factor lies in the pulpit, and perhaps even more,” he said. As a pastor who has served full-time for decades, Pastor Ye is acutely aware of the widespread dissatisfaction with sermons among many Christians today. “It is not that believers have overly high expectations or are overly critical of preachers. Rather, many preachers simply do not understand the reality of believers’ situations and speak haphazardly on the pulpit,” he noted.
Pastor Liu from Guangdong stressed that pastors and preachers need to relearn the art of preaching, which he has done after many years of pastoral work. While there are fundamental principles and practical exercises to learn for preaching, preachers cannot prepare an excellent sermon without putting in effort, time, and prayer.
Churches must also prioritize the training, supervision, and accountability of preachers. Pastor Ye from Wenzhou reiterated, “A significant reason for poor preaching lies in the lack of church management. Without proper management or a robust governance structure, a patriarchal leadership style among pastors and pastoral staff becomes prevalent. No one evaluates the quality of their sermons, and fellow staff members are afraid to speak up, let alone believers daring to tell pastors or preachers that their preaching is inadequate. If someone dares to do so, they may be labeled as disobedient or defiant against church authority. Therefore, churches must establish governance and supervision mechanisms to allow believers to intervene and even dismiss preachers who fail to preach effectively.”
II. Fostering daily devotion and spiritual practices
Daily morning devotions and spiritual disciplines are among the best ways for churches to combat heresy, as discovered by Pastor Zeng, a seasoned pastor of an urban church in southern China. In his pastoral work, he observes that most confused believers lack a clear understanding of two crucial concepts: “the gospel” and “the church.” Faced with the problem of cults and heresies, they considered whether it was necessary to train believers in systematic theology, but for ordinary believers, mastering systematic theology can be daunting. Strengthening their faith foundation through direct biblical teachings is more accessible and effective. His church primarily relied on traditional Bible study groups to nurture believers, but these groups met only once a week, resulting in low frequency, low participation, and suboptimal outcomes. Therefore, they shifted to individual morning devotions as a learning method.
During the pandemic, they leveraged the Internet’s advantages to transform morning devotions into a 30-minute online session every weekday, starting with Bible reading, followed by verse explanations, and concluding with a “7-minute pastor’s sharing.” Within seven minutes, the pastor shared spiritual messages tailored to the church and believers’ current situations, emphasizing issues requiring attention and reflection. These messages were then packaged by group leaders and shared in their respective group chats, enabling those who missed the live broadcast to catch up. Participants could also share their insights and reflections in the group chats, using the morning devotion messages to guide and inform their daily lives. By evening, individuals would reflect on their experiences and takeaways from the day, sharing them with their families or in group gatherings with fellow believers.
Today, Pastor Zeng’s church has gradually transitioned from individual to collective morning devotions, fostering a shift from passive to proactive learning. This practice has not only engaged many believers, fostering their spiritual growth, but also nurtured vibrant young church leaders.
Many churches made similar attempts during the past three years of the pandemic, with noticeable results. Some pastors systematically examined and shared each book of the Old and New Testaments with their congregations. Some churches invite different pastors to take turns each morning to study the Old and New Testaments chapter by chapter. Numerous believers reported significant benefits from these activities.
Apart from morning devotional interactive activities, morning prayers have also proven effective in growing churches. A Christian writer from Fujian shared a case: “There is a church in Fujian that, despite being established for less than three decades, has experienced a surge in membership and produced over a dozen preachers. Its dedication to public welfare has garnered widespread praise both within and outside the church. When asked about the reasons for its revival, many believers mention the church’s vital ministry – the morning prayer meeting. Indeed, since its inception, the church has established a morning prayer meeting, which has grown from a handful of attendees to several hundred. Participants range from elderly individuals to young adults who attend the prayer meeting before heading to work every morning. Even during typhoons and rainstorms, the morning prayer meeting has never been canceled. During the pandemic, believers voluntarily continued their morning prayers at home.”
III. Providing abundant pastoral resources
Compared to over two decades ago, the current pastoral resources are significantly more abundant, and the approaches to pastoral ministry have become more flexible and diverse. The mainstream trend is toward group-based pastoral care. However, experienced pastors have discovered that dividing a church into small groups is fundamentally different from establishing a church made up of small groups, as the former merely represents a passive change in form, while the latter captures the essence.
Given that most congregations have grown accustomed to the traditional large-group gathering model over the past decade, a complete transition to small groups can lead to various issues. Many churches, therefore, maintain a hybrid model of large group gatherings combined with small groups. Some pastors caution that each church’s development path should be tailored to its unique context and environment, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. In this regard, Pastor Liang from Guangdong firmly opposes the simplistic and rigid approach of mandating all churches to adopt small group structures.
Currently, there are various small group models in practice. For instance, some churches effectively utilize the “5G model,” while others develop their unique group pastoral care styles based on their characteristics. For instance, an urban church in central China emphasizes that group learning should always center on the Sunday sermon, relying on Jesus to solve problems rather than relying solely on oneself, and reducing the burden on group leaders rather than increasing it.
Regarding group materials, there is increasing diversity in resources for seekers, lay members, pastors’ development, and other issues. Therefore, blindly following others is not advisable; selecting materials that suit a specific church is crucial. Some pastors suggest that while it is essential to expose oneself to various resources and courses, a reasonable allocation centered on the Great Commission is necessary. Others create their own materials by drawing on the strengths of various sources, which can be an effective approach. For instance, a 95-year-old evangelist from a grassroots church in the coastal region of eastern China returns to serve full-time in a rural church in his hometown after graduating from an overseas seminary. He aspires to help transform this church into a group-based pastoral care model over seven years. To achieve this, he studied over ten sets of domestic and international group pastoral care materials and referenced more than 50 books. Finally, he compiled his own materials and trained group leaders, taking into account the high proportion of elderly members in the church he serves.
Pastoral care for families is also a growing trend. Many pastors conclude the sentiment that “pastoring the church is pastoring families.” For a long time, churches have focused more on individuals than families. However, as collectivism wanes, people seek a sense of belonging, and families, as one of the core units of belonging, have gained increasing importance in society. This trend is even more pronounced within churches, where families constitute a vital component.
Pastor Zheng from Zhejiang believes that the core of the church is the family. This idea stems from his participation in a training course on family harmony, where he witnessed the exceptional relationships among the participating families, deeply touching his heart. Recognizing his shortcomings in family pastoral care, he was inspired by the training and began implementing in-depth family-based pastoral care in his church.
Sister Cao from southern China recalls that when she first started a pastoral ministry over 20 years ago, many women in the church often sought her out to vent their troubles. “Singles cried to you, those who could not get married cried to you, women with marital problems cried to you, even those whose husbands did not believe in God cried to you.” These situations highlighted the need for coursework to cater to various age groups. Consequently, she and her husband focused on a key aspect of pastoral care – nurturing families, which they found to be more effective in producing fruit in the church. “From premarital counseling for church members to maintaining marriages and parenting children to honoring the elderly, each aspect is interconnected, forming a comprehensive system.”
Starting with courses on dating and marriage preparation for singles, they offer marriage camps and classes for married couples and parenting classes for older Christians, ensuring that brothers and sisters can find sufficient resources to help them at different stages of life.
In addition to these areas, pastoral care extends to various domains such as career development, financial management, and mental health, providing a more comprehensive approach to addressing people’s needs.
(To be continued...)
- Translated by Charlie Li
