"You can feel whether a church is healthy or not if you stay there," said Pastor Wang of a church in City A. "You can get a feeling of happiness here in my church, as it is a place where you can settle down and enjoy being here to worship with communion with each other."
Pastor Wang's words echo the sentiments of this church’s congregants. Take this elderly female believer, for instance, who after attending the Sunday morning service is waiting to attend the afternoon service as well. "I want to learn more about the truth, so I’m happy to stay at church," she said.
According to Pastor Wang, the worship atmosphere at this church wasn't always this way. The change happened four years ago when a new team of staff workers was established during a leadership transition.
This new church worker team, made up of people born between the 1990s and 2000s, includes the church affairs department, research department, and training department. They are specifically responsible for regular church meetings, holiday events, weddings, funerals, and following up with new believers and their baptism and discipleship.
Currently, this church holds seven services over the weekend, with four services on Saturday and three on Sunday.
The church has six full-time staff members, and there is a bulletin board outside the church office that displays the staff's daily status, marking whether they are "on duty" or "out." Congregants are free to talk with pastors, and there are cases where believers reflect concerns about a pastor's performance. In such instances, the office members step in to have a conversation with the pastor, understand the situation, and provide feedback to congregants.
Friday is the fellowship day for the staff with morning and afternoon schedules, and every team member must participate. The morning consists of a study session and an office meeting. The afternoon is reserved for fellowship activities, where the team might go outdoors for some fresh air, Christian men may play sports together, and Christian women may have tea and chat. "Fellowship shouldn't just share God’s love; we also pointed out each other’s problems."
This church, located in City A of a provincial capital, provides its staff with a fixed salary. Recalling his time in seminary, Pastor Luo mentioned, "We all studied theology with faith in God. Our parents and seminary teachers would say, 'God will meet all your needs in the future.' We don’t place importance on a high salary, but in the city, you need to rent a house, get married, and at least afford to buy a new set of clothes each year." In 2020, the church referenced local public institutions to establish a salary system, including base salary and performance bonuses and plans to incorporate educational qualifications in the future to encourage further studies.
Additionally, the weekly sermon is required to be submitted to a staff worker. Pastor Wang explains, "This isn't for inspection, but to avoid laziness. You must take each service seriously." The division of labor among the church staff is clear. Pastor Wang spends half his time on administrative matters, such as preparing materials and handling diverse inspections. He mentions that these tasks are relatively quick to complete, which allows other staff to focus more on pastoral care.
"When a pastor is healthy, you can feel their bright and positive side." The positive attitude of church staff leaves a deep impression. As they say, this is largely thanks to the church's well-established system, which in turn builds an effective pastoral team and nurtures the congregants.
- Edited and translated by Abigail Wu
