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2022年9月24日星期六

From Following Christ to Full-time Ministry, Chinese Christian Experiences God's Guidance

 Translated By Richard Zou

Brother Wu has been serving full-time in Hainan Province for almost four years. Rather than just being a Sunday Christian, he expects more young Christians to stand up and respond to God's call to treat the church as a family and devote themselves to it. 


"The mission of Sanya Bihai International Church is clear: to be a missionary church." Brother Wu, a co-worker from Haixiu Church in Haikou, was sent last year to help with the Sanya church planting project. This is what he said about the church.


Sanya is home to migratory birds during migration season, so believers in Sanya churches come and go just like migratory birds. According to Brother Wu, the church pastors some people who, in a year or two or three, may go elsewhere again. Nevertheless, Sanya Bihai International Church remains committed to pastoring such a group so that they can one day serve their communities as salt and light.


As far as the youth fellowship is concerned, one or two hundred people have been pastored, but only one or two dozen still remain.


Recently the church is sending a brother to study theology and has contacted the seminary for him. He is planning to serve in a church in another city after graduating from seminary. "That's okay, I think he has the calling from the Lord and it's God's blessing, right?" he said.


The middle-aged and elderly believers who come to Sanya to pass the winter are relatively stable in their attendance. They go to churches in Sanya and in their hometowns. When they come to Sanya in winter, they will go to the church on their own initiative and do not need to be reminded by the church.


Brother Wu was sent to Sanya Bihai International Church this time to help expand the ministries of the Happiness Group (an approach to reach seekers) and the Nurturing Class (mainly for the newly baptized believers). The Happiness Group at the church started a few years ago but stopped off and on for a year. This year, it was re-launched in May and the congregation was more enthusiastic to participate.


During his time in Sanya, Brother Wu hopes to help the church discover and raise up people with passion and encourage them to rise up and serve. Happiness Groups and Nurturing Classes contain discipleship lessons, and the believers will be trained to serve independently as evangelists. 


Talking about his conversion experience, Brother Wu said, "It wasn't that I chose God, but that God kicked me in at the door."


Since he was a child, his Christian grandmother had preached the gospel to him, but at that time he did not get touched by God. When he learned by chance in high school that there was a church near his school, he went to the Sunday service with his classmates. After the service, one of the older sisters in the church led him in a prayer of determination. After that, he went to church every Sunday for worship.


During his high school and college years, he also used his spare time to participate in some church services.


In October 2018, Brother Wu came to Haixiu Church to serve full-time.


Brother Wu's major was engineering construction, and he worked on construction sites for a while after graduation, which was very hard and he also felt spiritual fatigue at that time.


He was eager to go to church. After this project was over, he returned to Haikou and worked as a store manager in a sales company. His work was still very busy, and sometimes he had to work night shifts.


"Haixiu Church's youth fellowship needed people at that time, and I was eager to get involved." During that time, he often talked to the church preacher and the preacher suggested, ‘You are working in a company for two or three thousand yuan, and a full-time job in the church is almost two or three thousand yuan. You love the work inside the church, why don't you come and work here?' 


His non-Christian parents were authentic Hainanese with a tradition of idolatry. In this case, God opened the way in a wonderful style. His mother was complaining about his sales job and wanted him to change his job, so she agreed to let him go to work at the church full-time. When his mother tried to change her mind, Brother Wu told her, "It's too late, I've already told the company I'm quitting, and I've already confirmed full-time service with the church."


"Some of my previous ministry experiences have taught me to be accepting and tolerant; working on a construction site has taught me to rely on God in difficult circumstances and wait for His call." Brother Wu said, "I believe all of this is God's way of preparing me to be able to respond to His love in full-time service. Everything is just right, hallelujah to the Lord!" 


- Translated by Richard Zou 

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特写| 回到乡村：一名95后年轻传道人的服事选择之路

 特写| 回到乡村：一名95后年轻传道人的服事选择之路

说起自己的负担，华东L弟兄他希望扎根这里七年，用七年的时间帮助这个乡村教会转型成小组牧养的教会。“耶稣当年用了3年半培养门徒，我没有耶稣的水平，所以我想用2倍的时间来在这里做小组培养主的门徒。“

L弟兄的老家在一较发达沿海城市下面的乡村，从小时候起，常常在爷爷奶奶的家聚会。因为已经开始上学识字了，L弟兄就在教会里面参与一些简单的服事。

去年，神学毕业以后，L弟兄毅然决然地选择回到老家的一所乡村教会服事，成天跟一群老年人打交道。这在中国城市化进程迅速推进的今天，是一个并不常见的情形。(==当summary)

L弟兄为什么没有选择城市教会，而是毅然决定到乡村教会全职服事呢？

一个中国线上基督教媒体 基督时报采访了L弟兄。

L弟兄回答了选择老家教会的三个方面的理由。第一个理由就是他认为老家教会对他一向很好，“一直很支持他；第二个理由就是现在爷爷奶奶的年纪都上来了，L弟兄说“我怕我在外面服事的话，万一哪天爷爷奶奶回天家了，我都没办法即时赶回来。”至于第三个理由，L弟兄说是当时是因为考虑婚姻问题，曾经L弟兄的女朋友也在L弟兄的老家这边全职服事。

L弟兄说以前在第一所神学院读神学的时候，有一段时间每周都会乘坐小面包车往返6个小时到另外一个地方服事，这6个小时，其中大部分时间都是在城市外面乡村的道路上。后来L弟兄去往另一个地方的另外一所神学院读书，但是也经常去乡村教会参与服事。通过公交、火车、公交、走路，才到达了那所乡村教会。面对乡村与城市的巨大落差，他说“我从来没有想着要做什么名牧，只想着踏踏实实的服事”。同时，L弟兄分享说，“我以前的时候跟年轻人会很聊得来，跟老年人交流不了，但是后来我发现我现在跟老年人反而会很聊得来。在读神学期间，在两个城市牧养的都是老年人群体。这应该也是上帝对我的一个提前预备吧。”

牧养老年人有什么难处吗？L弟兄的答案是其实不算难。“有一句话说老年人其实很像孩子，因为老年人他们要的很简单，就是跟他们说话一起谈谈心、聊聊天就可以，他们要的也不多。我觉得带着爱的服事很重要，我要把他们当做我的爷爷奶奶，那么一切都不是问题。“

但实际的牧养过程中还是出现了许多的问题。比如，由于过去的历史背景原因，很多上了岁数的老年人都不识字，理解能力也有所欠缺。因此L弟兄在牧养过程当中，不得不经常手把手的引导他们，教他们认字等。然后查经的时候，比如一个小时查经的时间，L弟兄会用大概40分钟时间进行查经，然后剩下的20分钟用来交流。指导他们如何应用——比如一段经文，对当时的人说的是什么意思，对今天的我们来说又是什么意思，然后我们又应当如何理解和应用这段经文。

如今，一年过去，他看到教会很多改变和成长，但因传道人薪资和供养问题没有解决，因此他也不得不自己想办法营商来供养自己。

https://christiantimes.cn/news/37318/%E7%89%B9%E5%86%99%7C%20%E5%9B%9E%E5%88%B0%E4%B9%A1%E6%9D%91%EF%BC%9A%E4%B8%80%E5%90%8D95%E5%90%8E%E5%B9%B4%E8%BD%BB%E4%BC%A0%E9%81%93%E4%BA%BA%E7%9A%84%E6%9C%8D%E4%BA%8B%E9%80%89%E6%8B%A9%E4%B9%8B%E8%B7%AF


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2022年9月21日星期三

Pastor: The Church Is Responsible for Witnessing God's Love With Good Deeds

Translated By Richard Zou

 "The church is the light, just as Jesus said, the light should shine in front of the people. In facing the present generation, the church is responsible for shining for the Lord and turning the generation around,” urged a Chinese pastor.  


During a recent conversation with the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, pastor L stated, "The church is not isolated, It's not an ivory tower, nor is it hidden from the people. "


When it comes to the church, most Chinese people have the impression that it is a group of old, feeble people with few pursuits who sing and gather together and give no special help to others and have little ability to make any contribution to society.


This stereotype also reflects the problem that people in the world see the church as if through frosted glass, they cannot see clearly, and the church really has little influence and positive testimony to society.


However, it was not like this when Jesus came to this earth. The early church had many positive impacts on the Roman Empire, such as the prohibition of infanticide and the abandonment of infants.


Pastor L said that a problem with the church today is that "the church is eager to leave the darkness of the world". But this was not the case when Jesus came to this earth, and on the contrary, "Jesus came to the world because of the darkness of the world." We need to pray to God "to help us to experience the incarnate love of Jesus Christ."


Therefore, we should live like Jesus, so that the light in us may be set before men. It is through our good deeds that the glorious light of Christ can shine, he noted. 


"If we want to have an influence upon society, we have to pay the price of love, the price of good deeds." Pastor L said, "The world won't feel our love and God’s love if we only study the Bible and pray inside the church."


"Faith without deeds is dead. If faith only meets personal needs, it is easy to fall into mysticism and legalism. God's love can be felt by all when we serve people outside the church,” he concluded. 


 - Translated by Richard Zou

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2022年9月20日星期二

Church planting

 


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Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or fresh expression is created that is integrated into an already established congregation. For a local church to be planted, it must eventually have a separate life of its own and be able to function without its parent body, even if it continues to stay in relationship denominationally or through being part of a network.

History of church planting[edit]

According to the Rev. Mike Ruhl, “Church planting has been happening for nearly twenty centuries.”[1] The first place that the church spread from Judea was Samaria.[2] Christianity spread to other areas because persecution forced the Christians to leave Jerusalem.[3] Christianity then spread to the Gentiles largely because of the Apostle Paul, who had formerly been a Pharisee and a persecutor of the church.[4] In the Bible, the book of Acts describes Christianity as spreading by the preaching of it in public areas. It then describes the believers of Christianity as gathering together regularly in homes and, at least in the beginning, at the Temple in Jerusalem.[5] This period is known as the Apostolic Period. During this period, and up until the late second century, there is no record of church buildings. Instead, there are references to house churches. Not much is known about how these house churches multiplied.[6] After the late second century, church buildings became the norm.[6] In 380, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, which convinced many to become Christians. As Germanic kings conquered areas of the Roman Empire, many of them converted to Christianity to gain the support of their new subjects.[7] In British colonies, Anglican missionary and church planting efforts coincided with British colonialism.[8] The missionary model of Baptist missionaries, such as in mid-twentieth century Brazil, was a form of church planting. For Southern Baptists, church planting, with its focus on establishing new and independent congregations, is a logical outcome of their theology. "Southern Baptist mission work was driven by church planting. Based on a voluntaristic faith, the work defined individual salvation as the cornerstone of religious life; and religious life took place within local, autonomous congregations."[9] Recently, there has been a focus on Church Planting Movements.[10] However, not all SBC/IMB members agree with the general theory of church planting movements and think much of it is, detrimentally, man and method focused rather than centered on God. Church planting is not troublesome but the "movements" part of the theory is. [11] For a discussion on the viability of church planting movements, Linda Bergquist and Michael Crane argue for and against the notion.[12]

Holy Trinity Brompton, a Church of England church in London, has been involved in planting churches since the 1980s: its plants form the HTB network. In May 2015, the Church of England announced that the See of Islington would be brought out of abeyance to create a "bishop for church plants". The bishop would be based in the Diocese of London but would also assist the whole Church.[13][14] The following month, Ric Thorpe was announced as the first bishop for church plants.[14] As of 2018, there are 49 churches in the HTB network.[15]

Models of church planting[edit]

There are several different models of church planting:

  • Parachute or parachute drop method. In this method, a church planter and family move into a new location to start a church from scratch.
  • Another method is for an existing church or church planting organization, known as the mother church, to provide the initial leadership, money, and personnel to start a new, or daughter, church. This may also be done by a group of organizations working together. The daughter church (in some denominations called mission church) may either serve a new housing development, or may serve a specific ethnic group (such as for Hispanics) which speaks a different language than the mother church.
    • One expression of this model is called the hiving method, in which a church sends a portion of its membership to start a new church.[16]
  • Another method is the "house church", or cell church, method. Small groups, called cells, which meet in homes may form and multiply using a relational model (see house church). Some cell groups are networked with one another and periodically meet together in a larger group.
  • A church may also be planted when an existing church splits.
  • Finally, the expansion of a multi-site church may result in new locations being established, however, this is not the same as church planting (and, in some cases, is the result of the main church taking over a struggling independent congregation). [17]

Advocates[edit]

C. Peter Wagner describes church planting as "the single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven"[18] and for its advocates this remains church planting's greatest rationale. Gisbertus Voetius, a Dutch Reformer, viewed the purpose of Christian missions as threefold: conversion, church planting, and the glorification of God's grace. Georg Vicedom, in his book The Mission of God, says the goal of Christian missions to both proclaim the message and to gather people into the church.[19]

Territorial objections[edit]

For Anglicans and Catholics, "church-planting" can be very problematic because of the territorial nature of a diocese. For both the Catholic and Anglican churches, this practice may be viewed as an abrogation of the rights of a local bishop. This is because the bishop of the diocese has the right to decide where churches will be planted, and the phenomenon of church planting sometimes ignores both courtesy and obedience to the local bishop. Traditionally the Catholic Church has used this method in its missionary work to establish the initial church of a region or colony with the goal of establishing a brand new diocese. However in the modern era the necessity of this method has declined partly due to the global nature of the modern church.

This issue is particularly sensitive in regard to the Anglican diocese of Sydney in Australia, from which many Evangelical churches are "planted" in non-evangelical dioceses.[20]

The Church of England has begun its Fresh Expressions initiative, which is seeking to encourage the development of new congregations even when they are across parish boundaries, for the sake of mission, under the bishop's permission. The recent Anglican conference GAFCON contained a broad hint that it would consider offering oversight to churches that have been planted without authorization from the local bishops.[21]

Church planting movement[edit]

In a missiological context, church planting may be defined as "initiating reproductive fellowships who reflect the kingdom of God in the world."[22] When this happens with rapid growth, it is generally known as a church planting movement or disciple making movement. In a church planting movement, indigenous churches plant more churches within a people group or geographic area. A church will sponsor formation of multiple spinoff churches that will themselves very quickly reproduce new churches, generally with common teachings and doctrine. It is different from traditional missions in that the new churches are generally started by a lay leader from the sponsoring church and not an outside missionary. A key characteristic of an authentic church planting movement is the rapidity with which a new congregation itself starts another similar church.[23][24]

History of church planting movements[edit]

The modern Church Planting Movement can trace its roots to the mid-nineteenth century when Henry Venn and Rufus Anderson developed the three-self formula of an indigenous missions policy: "they believed that young churches should be self-propagating, self-supporting, and self-governing from their inception."[25] Donald McGavran, a missionary in India who "coined the concept of 'people movements' to Christ," is credited as an early proponent of the kind of missionary work that underlies the Church Planting Movement, by focusing his missionary work on converting groups of people ("groups, tribes, villages, ethnic groups") rather than individuals.[26]

According to One Magazine, the official organ of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, such tactics were used successfully in Cuba in the 1940s by Tom and Mabel Willey; in the 1950s in North India Carlisle and Marie Hanna; and in the 1960s in Ivory Coast by LaVerne Miley.[23] Christianity Today also claims success in Cuba for the "Western Baptists, historically linked to the Southern Baptist Convention."[27] Bhojpuri church planting movement was started by David L. Watson and produced thousands of Churches from the beginning of Nineties. This is also the longest surviving (rather thriving) movement in the world. It has become Movementum now and still producing thousands of Churches. This movement is also referred to where the term church planting movement originated. This Movement has impacted many other countries and continues to impact the other parts of India as well.[citation needed]

Essentials of church planting movements[edit]

There are three key characteristics of a Church Planting Movement: it reproduces rapidly, multiplying churches, and that the churches are indigenous.[28]

  • Within a very short time, newly planted churches are already starting new churches that follow the same pattern of rapid reproduction. Though the rate varies from place to place, Church Planting Movements always outstrip the population growth rate as they race toward reaching the entire people group. Where with other methods of church planting it may take five years to plant a church, with church planting movement, multiple generations of churches may be planted within five months.[28]
  • "Church Planting Movements do not simply add new churches. Instead, they multiply."[29] Most churches in the middle of a Movement will start as many churches as they can, with a goal of filling the area with new churches.[28]
  • Church Planting Movements are indigenous. It may start with the training from a non-native missionary or church member, but will very quickly form new congregations that are all within a single ethnic people group. Leaders are self-identified by their willingness to do what the trainer asks them, and then are given additional instruction on how to reproduce new churches.[28]
  • Church Planting Movements train leaders.[30][31]

Methods[edit]

There is not a solitary method used to spark a church planting movement. The Training for Trainers (T4T) method has been successful in China.[32] It differs from the Insider Movement in that leaders do not seek to act like indigenous persons, but simply train locals who train others within their (or closely related) people group.[33] One popular interrelated element with T4T is called OBD (Obedience Based Discipleship) but it has not met with acceptance from certain church planters. [34]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ruhl, Mike. "Church Planting: A Historical Look. Archived 2014-04-26 at the Wayback Machine" New Harvest (September 2006): n. pag. Centerforusmissions.org. Center for U.S. Missions. Web. 2 December 2013.
  2. ^ Neander, Augustus. History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church by the Apostles. Trans. J. E. Ryland. New York: Sheldon, 1865. Print. pg. 58
  3. ^ Neander, Augustus. History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church by the Apostles. Trans. J. E. Ryland. New York: Sheldon, 1865. Print. pg. 65
  4. ^ Neander, Augustus. History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church by the Apostles. Trans. J. E. Ryland. New York: Sheldon, 1865. Print. pg. 79, 84
  5. ^ Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.
  6. ^ Jump up to:a b McCallum, Dennis. "Planting Home Groups." Planting Home Groups. Xenos Christian Fellowship, 2012. Web. 2 December 2013.
  7. ^ How Christianity Rose to Dominate Europe. Worldology. Web. 2 December 2013.
  8. ^ Wright, Marcia (2003). "Rev. of The Church Mission Society and World Christianity, 1799-1999 by Kevin Ward". Church History. 72 (3): 679–80. doi:10.1017/s0009640700100721. JSTOR 4146297.
  9. ^ Cavalcanti, H.B. (2001). "Human Agency in Mission Work: Missionary Styles and Their Political Consequences". Sociology of Religion. 66 (4): 381–98. doi:10.2307/3712387. JSTOR 3712387.
  10. ^ "History of the Church's Expansion into the World." BiblicalTraining.org. Biblical Training. Web. 2 December 2013.
  11. ^ Hayward, Kenneth. "God and a Godward Worldview for the IMB - Concerns about CPM Theory". GlobalMissiology.org. January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  12. ^ Bergquist, Linda; Crane, Michael D. City shaped churches: Planting churches in a global era. Skyforest, California. ISBN 978-0-9989177-8-8. OCLC 1082523333.
  13. ^ "The revival of the See of Islington". Diocese of London. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  14. ^ Jump up to:a b Gledhill, Ruth (9 July 2015). "New church plant bishop will be Rev Ric Thorpe". Christian Today. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  15. ^ Davies, Madeleine. "HTB planters seek to bless the west". churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  16. ^ Chester, Tim (2000). Church Planting: A Theological Perspective. Ross Shire: Christian Focus Publications. p. 35.
  17. ^ "Church Planting Tutorial." Church Planting Tutorial. Church Planting Solutions, 2005. Web. 20 November 2013.
  18. ^ Church Planting for Greater Harvest (Regal, Glendale: 1991) 5
  19. ^ Ott, Craig, and Gene Wilson. Global Church Planting: Biblical Principles and Best Practices for Multiplication. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011. Print. pg. 20
  20. ^ 'An Unholy Row' four corners, transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/s141770.htm Archived 23 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Global Anglican Future – Holy Land 2008 – GAFCON Final Statement
  22. ^ Van Rheenen, Gailyn. "Essential Mission Tasks : The Missiology Homepage." Missions: Biblical Foundations & Contemporary Strategies. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996. N. pag. The Missiology Homepage RSS. Web. 2 December 2013.
  23. ^ Jump up to:a b Forlines, James (2005). "Our Goal: Church Planting Movements". One Magazine. National Association of Free Will Baptists. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  24. ^ "Church Planting Movements". International Mission Board. 2002. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  25. ^ Fanning, Don (1 January 2009). "Church Planting Movements". The Center for Global Ministries. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  26. ^ Kooistra, Paul. "Toward a Definition of Church-Planting Movements" (PDF). Mission to the World. Presbyterian Church in America. Retrieved 27 October 2011.[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ Weber, Jeremy (9 July 2009). "Cuba for Christ—Ahora!". Christianity Today. Retrieved 27 October 2011. The Communist island's improbable revival is 15 years old and growing stronger.
  28. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Haney, Jim (1 March 2011). "Assessing Church Planting Movements". Mission Frontiers. U.S. Center for World Mission. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  29. ^ Garrison, David (1 May 2010). "What Are Church Planting Movements?". Church Planting Movements. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  30. ^ Anatomy of a Church Planting Movement [1] quote: The movement does not need a board; it needs a group of leaders of leaders to form an "apostolic team." This is the team that becomes the leaders of leaders. Instead of the movement depending on the passion of a leader of leaders, a core group of passionate vision casters of the movement's DNA are scattered about so that every plant is visited annually. This is the primary way to deal with the loss of the movement's founder.
  31. ^ Butler, Robby. Church Planting Movements from One Indian Perspective [2]
  32. ^ Smith, Steve and Kai, Ying. "T4T: A Discipleship ReRevolution" (Monument, CO: WIGTake Resources, 2011) p36
  33. ^ Garrison, David Church Planting Movements vs Insider Movements: Missiological Realities vs Mythiological Speculations in Proceedings of the ISFM 2004 Meeting: Insider Movements [3]
  34. ^ Pratt, Zane (July 2015). "Obedience-Based Discipleship". Global Missiology English. 4 (12). Retrieved 1 February 2017. (Vietnamese Version / Tiếng Việt: "Môn Đồ Hóa Dựa Trên Sự Vâng Phục / OBD". christcenteredresourcesasia.wordpress.com. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.)
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