As Chinese urbanization progresses with the rural population gradually moving to cities, fewer and aging believers are left behind. Most young adults have left for work or migration. Due to the low number of believers and limited payments, pastoral ministry and retaining full-time pastors remain difficult.
During visits to churches in Guangdong and Northeast China, I observed that rural churches do not have full-time pastors at all. On Sundays, they invite pastors from other places to preach and provide them honorariums. During weekdays, believers rely on volunteer ministers for sipritual growth. Some churches even rely on volunteer church workers to take turns in giving sermons, which inevitably affects the spiritual growth of believers over time. Apart from relying on assistance from urban churches, what should rural churches do to address this issue?
The importance of having full-time pastors for the development of churches, including grassroots ones, is self-evident. However, for rural churches, it is even more challenging but crucial to have dedicated pastors who have a solid faith foundation and theological education to be able to settle down and carry out pastoral work.
The Zhangcun Church in Meizhou, Guangdong, is one that is particularly struck by the issue. It has a history of over 160 years and is the birthplace of the churches along the two rivers, the Dong and Mei Rivers, having a rich Hakka church history. However, due to its location in a mountainous area, it currently lacks full-time pastors and can only invite pastors from nearby churches to preach on Sundays. Gospel work cannot be carried out effectively. The pastor who came with me works in a church that is about half an hour’s drive away. He is also frequently invited to preach here. “Such a historic church is now without pastoral care, which is just sad,” he said.
Regarding the importance of hiring full-time pastors, a pastor in Northeast China said that some church leaders believe that not hiring full-time pastors saves the church the expense of supporting them. After all, they can simply invite other pastors to preach for a few hundred Yuan per session, totaling only one or two thousand Yuan a month, which is much lower than the cost of supporting a full-time pastor. This is a typically short-sighted mindset. “In fact, a church without an assigned pastor is in a style of the free-range ministry. Sometimes one pastor preaches in one way, and another in another way. They even contradict each other. That causes confusion among believers, not knowing to whom they should listen,” he said. Churches should be willing to invest in their pastors and pastoral ministry, recognizing the importance of full-time pastors for the work.
In addition to such a mindset, another practical difficulty is the issue of compensation and personnel. The leader of a rural church in Jiangxi is eager to hire a full-time pastor. Although they can invite pastors from nearby churches to preach and conduct spiritual training, and elders and volunteers can also participate in some work in terms of pastoral care, the lack of a full-time pastor makes it difficult for the church to effectively and continuously carry out pastoral care as such. A full-time pastor can continuously follow up on the spiritual growth of believers, which is essential for the church’s development.
However, a practical problem is that the church has only about 200 members, with only around 100 remaining after the pandemic, limiting its ability to support a pastor. The former pastor left after being employed by a city church, using the current church as a stepping stone. Regarding this, he believes that pastors should not consider pastoral care for rural believers as a waste. This should not be the perspective of a pastor.
Regardless of the pastors’ willingness, churches should try their best to provide appropriate salaries for pastors according to local conditions. Considering the decreasing believers in rural churches, if a single church has limited support capabilities, it can join nearby churches to co-support a pastor.
Since 2018, Pastor Y in Meizhou, Guangdong, has been managing two churches, which are predominantly rural. Together, the two churches have around 300 believers, with annual offerings amounting to approximately 100,000 Yuan, less than 10,000 per month. However, the two churches collectively hire four young pastors, two elders, and one theology student.
To support the pastors, Pastor Y collaborate with other congregations to provide for them. The salary from the church is roughly 3,000 Yuan. Additional opportunities to serve at other congregations are provided. By visiting one gathering point twice a month, pastors can receive a subsidy of 500 to 800 Yuan, bringing their total monthly income to over 4,000. Overall, the compensation is considered decent.
Pastor Y noted that rural churches need to address the salary issue and arrange suitable work for pastors to retain them. He understands that Meizhou churches generally lack pastors. On one hand, there should be an awareness of supporting pastors; on the other hand, salaries must be adequate. Collaborating among several churches to jointly hire and share pastoral resources is undoubtedly a feasible solution.
In Jilin, Northeast China, a pastor couple has been serving rural churches since 2008. Due to a shortage of pastors in nearby churches, they subsequently take charge of two more, totaling fewer than 50 people across the three churches, but all make their best efforts to support the couple.
The couple’s initial serving Church H has fewer than 20 believers. Their monthly living allowance increased from 200 Yuan to 1,800, and the church also pays for the rent and provides firewood for heating. An extra month’s living allowance is given at the end of each year. The second church has a stable membership of fewer than 10. Due to low offerings in the initial years, no living allowance was provided, but as finances improved, it gradually increased from 300 Yuan to 800. The third church, with around 20 believers, increased payment from 500 when they first arrived in 2015 to 1,200 now.
Additionally, during each Spring Festival, all three churches provide extra subsidies to the couple. When they were buying a car, the churches covered some expenses for them. These gestures fill them with gratitude and provide comfort and strength amidst multiple pressures, including external voices questioning their spirituality and lack of accomplishment due to the small size, low attendance, as well as life’s hardships.
In reality, when churches properly support their pastors and pastors focus on nurturing believers as entrusted by God, the church can enter a virtuous cycle and receive God’s blessings.
A rural church in Hunan initially had monthly offerings of only a few hundred Yuan but was willing to pay its pastor two to three thousand Yuan in salary, enabling him to fully devote himself to pastoral work and serve stably for many years. Over time, the church did not suffer from a lack of funds. Instead, offerings increased. The pastor mentioned that the church's offering never exceeded 3,000 Yuan for several years, but when his family had a new child, the church decided to offer him a pay raise. In that same month, the offering surpassed 3,000. Moreover, in the past decade, unlike other churches experiencing believer fatigue and attrition, the church he serves has maintained slow but steady growth with no loss of believers during the pandemic.
- Translated by Charlie Li
