The past two or three decades, from the beginning of reform and opening up in 1978 to the early 2000s, marked a time of rapid growth for the Chinese church. Some pastors refer to the loosely organized church system that emerged and experienced great expansion during this period as the "traditional church system" of China. However, since then, the church's growth has sharply slowed due to varied internal and external factors such as church structure, societal trends, and changing times. Many churches have even experienced splits, and many have disappeared.
Pastor Gao, a man in his fifties, began his ministry at under twenty years old. He believes that the Chinese church seized the opportunity for the gospel during those two or three decades. In that era, many people were lost with a struggling soul, desperately seeking hope. Some churches recognized and seized this opportunity, and naturally, these churches grew.
So why did they decline or falter after two or three decades? Pastor Gao explained that the primary strategy adopted by traditional churches was "immigrant ministry" (carrying out mission work across regions), which resembled a dandelion puff, where many seeds were scattered by the wind, landing wherever they may. However, not many seeds that land are able to take root and grow; even fewer are able to bear fruit. Therefore, the success rate of transregional mission work is very low.
At the time, traditional churches sent many workers to diverse locations, and the biggest challenge faced by these missionaries was how to survive in an unfamiliar place. Given many factors, most workers were sent out as couples, while single individuals were often not considered for mission work. When sent out, a couple might only have two or three hundred yuan, and they had to pay for transportation, food, and accommodation. Many pastors faced a very difficult life when they arrived in a new place.
One pastor, who came out of the traditional church, recalled how difficult life was when they were first sent out. He and his wife had only 300 yuan, and for two months after arriving, they could not find any work. The most painful part was that they had no idea how long the situation would last, so they just had to continue living a hard life. Some pastors were eventually forced to set up street stalls to earn a little money to support themselves and their ministry. Most pastors, being very young and inexperienced, simply focused on preaching the gospel, believing that God would provide for their needs.
Pastor Gao explained, “It is right that God will supply our needs and the problem is how we understand and apply this idea in real life. It’s true that God will provide for us, but do we need to strive and make efforts, or should we just wait for God’s provision?”
In fact, many pastors, due to their tough living conditions, poor clothing, and exhausted appearances, were mistaken for beggars.
“When you think about it, it’s clear that a group of young people from rural areas in central China, with almost no knowledge of the world, would have found it very difficult to adapt to new situation quickly, suddenly arriving in first- and second-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Living in a city, especially a large one, they needed to be agile, or else they would be eliminated by society.”
Pastor Gao noted that the overall survival rate of immigrant ministry was low.
He analyzed the reason for the decline of many traditional church systems, emphasizing that the most crucial factor was that their models had not changed and evolved over time. For example, if they had placed more focus on the financial support of missionaries, at least the pastors would have been able to sustain themselves for a period after arriving at a new place. Alternatively, before sending workers to a location, some preparatory work could have been done, such as sending other people who could generate income, like opening an electronics factory. That way, missionaries could have arrived with more stable support, making it easier for them to live and serve. This would have greatly improved the overall survival rate of the pastors.
He called for the church today to pay attention to the financial assistance of pastors and missionaries, not just in the past. In his own church, pastors and missionaries receive a salary of “at least a few thousand or even over ten thousand yuan, enough to meet their basic needs.” However, many pastors and missionaries in other churches are often struggling financially.
- Edited by Karen Luo, translated by Abigail Wu
