People and harmony! That’s the key

Chicago Living Water Gospel Church splits and unites to spread stories

Photo provided/Living Water Gospel Church

▲Based on peace and considering the kingdom, Living Water continues to preach the gospel of "peace with God and peace with others."

From the beginning of thirty-five families, it has grown to more than 700 people. Living Water Gospel Church (hereinafter referred to as Living Water) started as a gospel church, merged with another church, and then left the church and became independent. Some churches once went through a difficult adjustment period when they merged. What challenges did Living Water face during this process of separation and merger? There are also divisions in the church that cause harm to members. So how can Living Water increase the number of people and spiritual lives and spread good news on the premise of peace? In the future, how do brothers and sisters of Living Water need to prepare to continue to expand the kingdom of God?

Expand the place of the tabernacle

Naperville, IL, located in the western suburbs of the greater Chicago area, was voted the second best city to live in the United States by Money Magazine in 2006. Since the late 1990s, the number of Chinese has increased rapidly, attracted by the career opportunities provided by the nearby corporate sector.

The Chinese Christian Mandarin Church is located in Willowbrook, IL, a suburb of Chicago, and was established in the 1970s. When Pastor Zhong Shungui was hired as pastor in 2000, he learned that the elders and brothers and sisters planned to set up a gospel church in Ruibai City, less than 20 miles away from the church. He believes that this is not only a necessary path for church growth, but also to expand the kingdom of God and bring the gospel into emerging communities.

▲The Chinese Christian Mandarin Church located in the suburbs of Chicago has been established for more than 40 years. As the Chinese population moved westward in the late 1990s, plans began to set up a gospel hall.

He first promoted the "Five Years and Five Modernizations" movement in the Chinese Christian Mandarin Church - to make worship more active, to systematize education, to implement care, to make fellowship groups more comprehensive, and to make missions more comprehensive. At the same time, he called a group of members to go to Ruibai City. Initiate the expansion of the tabernacle. First, thirty-five brothers and sisters were sent to set up a gospel hall, rent the Lincoln Middle School gymnasium, and start Sunday worship and group meetings. This is the predecessor of living water.

Brother Zou Fasen, who is currently serving as an advisory committee member of Living Water, recalled that at that time, the Chinese Christian Mandarin Church realized the trend of the Chinese population moving westward and tried to open a Bible study class. Soon, one Bible study class multiplied into two. He saw that this was a door opened by God, so he gladly accepted the assignment and became one of the first co-workers to participate in the gospel church service.

As the Gospel Hall continued to grow, it attracted members of the neighboring Living Water Church. In 2002, it accepted the invitation of the Gospel Hall and the two churches merged. After the merger, the real estate and properties donated by Living Water Church not only became an ideal venue for youth Friday gatherings and activities in time, but also became a base for future church construction.

▲In 2002, Living Water Church was invited to merge with the Gospel Church, and donated real estate and property to become a venue for youth gatherings and activities, laying the foundation for future church construction.

The Gospel Church, originally planted by the Chinese Christian Mandarin Church, was officially separated from the main church in 2008, with independent financial and administrative management, and was named Living Water Gospel Church. The new church was completed in 2009. The current number of Sunday gatherings is: about 460 adults and about 270 teenagers and children.

Waiting for the time to come

At the beginning of the church planting, Pastor Zhong Shungui must take turns preaching in both churches. The donations from the Gospel Hall will also be attributed to the church, and the finance and administration will be the same as the church. The consensus at that time was that once the total number of people gathering on both sides exceeded 500, a site would be found at the halfway point to build a church. During the Gospel Hall period, the living water grew rapidly. Within two years, the number of people attending the church exceeded that of the church.

Discussions began around 2005 to merge and build a church. After Zou Fasen actively searched for a period of time, he discovered that many times the land properties that seemed suitable should be purchased smoothly, but in the end the transaction could not be completed due to various reasons.

At the same time, this church also has different views on the merger and construction of churches. Thirty-year-old members have watched the church being built brick by brick and are reluctant to part with the place where they have been meeting for many years. Some older brothers and sisters are accustomed to going to the church to worship and are not suitable to drive to further places to attend services.

On the other hand, the Gospel Hall has rented the secondary school site for many years and really needs a permanent site of its own that can meet the growth needs. If the church members are unwilling to move, will they be united or divided? How to take the next step? It is a considerable challenge for pastors and members on both sides.

If there had been a vote at that time and the number of people in the gospel church was greater than that of the church, the merger would definitely have been approved. Indeed, many people suggested that the church should be implemented in accordance with the regulations. However, do our brothers and sisters have to give up their wishes and accept the decision of the majority? If we want to respect the authority and opinions of this church and continue to meet separately, how can we ignore the needs of hundreds of believers in the Gospel Hall?

Zhong Shungui knew very well that whether he left early or late, he might achieve the same goal. It's just that the timing of this step has far-reaching consequences. Once the decision is made hastily, it will harm the harmony among the members. He believes that whether there is division or unity, peace must be the premise, because only when believers love each other can the church be blessed and become a good witness in the community.

Even if the gospel church has developed to the point where it is necessary to purchase land to build a church, he is still willing to use three years as a buffer period due to the rapid growth. Through prayer and teaching, not only can the church members understand the needs of the Gospel Hall, but also the brothers and sisters of the Gospel Hall can take into account the thirty-year long history and human relations of the church, and determine and respect each other's different visions.

At a time when the future was uncertain, Living Water also encountered crises. Brother Zou Fasen still remembers that in 2003, Lincoln Middle School, where the Sunday meetings were held, issued an ultimatum, asking Living Water to move and not renew the lease. At that time, the number of people in the Gospel Hall exceeded 300. If we used other schools as a meeting point, we would need to borrow the gymnasium and all classrooms. All the schools we inquired refused. As a co-worker, he ran into trouble everywhere after running around asking questions, and it seemed that he would have nowhere to meet. When I contacted the school district for advice, I found out that the school was unilaterally unwilling to lend it out. Since the school buildings and equipment belong to the school district, the school district has the right to decide whether to lease them or not. As the school district superintendent was a devout Christian, Zou Fasen contacted him and obtained his support: "Let the Chinese church stay here!"

Such support makes living water wait with peace of mind. When the members of the Chinese Christian Mandarin Church and Living Water Gospel Church were mentally and spiritually prepared, they finally received the church's blessing in 2008, and Living Water became an independent church, with Zhong Shungui continuing to pastor it.

▲Living Water rented the middle school gymnasium during the gospel hall period. Before Sunday worship, brothers and sisters were required to arrive early to set up the venue and devote themselves to serving without complaining.

Maintain mutual respect

The Chinese have a long-standing concept of "encouraging union but not separation". Zhong Shungui believes that since the visions are different, it is better to separate peacefully than to live under the same roof and make noise. Even so, I'm afraid there are still believers who can't bear it. In order to avoid leaving a shadow of division in the emotions and faith of the church members, Zhong Shungui first assisted the church in hiring a pastor. After the new pastor took office, there was a time when the two churches exchanged podiums once a month. The relationship between the church and the sub-church was no longer that of a sister church, but that of a sister church.

He also often uses the theme of unity to teach brothers and sisters to let go of past prejudices. The Chinese Christian Mandarin Church and the members of Living Water after independence still maintain a good friendship and have frequent contacts. They also attend every wedding and funeral occasion to pay their respects.

After Living Water became independent, the first big test was to build a church. There are many members who are enthusiastic in serving, including many senior intellectuals and professionals, who are eager to offer their opinions and help the church build a temple. Of course these opinions are good, but they are just because they are eager to be good, or they speak in a tough tone, or they insist on relative truth as absolute truth. Sometimes, after several communications, there is still a stalemate.

Zhong Shungui emphasized three principles: respect for duties and callings, respect for professionalism, and respect for the majority. He does this personally and teaches his brothers and sisters: respect the opinions of the church building committee, do not insist on his own preferences, and do not participate in decisions that are not within his duties and professional scope.

Although the teachings and practical examples are in place, there are still co-workers who choose to leave the church after their opinions are not accepted. Although Zhong Shungui felt sorry for them, he did not force them to stay and wished them continued growth and service in the new church.

▲The church is rich in resources, and many of its ministries are large-scale and impressive. For example, Living Water's youth and children's ministries are all run by full-time staff, attracting many people to join the church.

Training new forces

There is a term "the two hundred mark" in church growth science, which means that when the number of church gatherings reaches two hundred, it is a development level. It is easy for the number of people to stagnate and it is difficult to break through. Zhong Shungui saw this when he took over the pastorate of the Chinese Christian Mandarin Church in 2000. In addition to implementing the "Five Years and Five Modernizations" to inject vitality into the church, we also hope to use gospel church planting to stimulate brothers and sisters' aspirations to expand the kingdom of God.

Just sending thirty-five families to church planting at once, and all of them are young and middle-aged co-workers who love the Lord devoutly and are enthusiastic about serving. This is a huge loss of blood for any church. And for our Chinese Christian Mandarin Church, does it pose a crisis of shortage of manpower and resources?

Who knows that what seems like a crisis is an opportunity to discover talents. At this critical moment, many brothers and sisters in our church began to join the ranks of serving. Old co-workers who had served for many years broke through their habits and seized the opportunity to train a group of new people with new visions.

Living Water has been growing rapidly over the past ten years, and it has inevitably been criticized. Questions have been raised about how many people have been converted to Christ, or whether the increase in numbers comes from other churches. Zhong Shungui said frankly that as the church grows and its resources become richer, many ministries can be run on a larger scale and with more success. For example, Living Water's youth and children's ministries are all run by full-time staff, which naturally attracts people to join. At the same time, the number of people baptized every year exceeds thirty, which shows that the kingdom of God has indeed expanded.

Deacon Shen Mei joined Living Water in 2004 because she benefited from the teachings from the pulpit and Sunday school. She believes that faithfully preaching the word of God is Living Water’s strength and the main reason that attracts believers and seeker friends to stay in Living Water.

Since 2008, Zhong Shungui began to implement the "842 Project" in Living Water - focusing on four themes twice each in eight years. The four themes are the Year of Worship, the Year of Education, the Year of Care, and the Year of Mission. The theme is different each year, and the focus is different when the theme repeats. For example, in the first round of education year, brothers and sisters are encouraged to read good books and listen to theological lectures, and the church website also provides relevant information. The second round of education year focuses on cultivating disciples, forming a small group of two or three people to support each other and follow up.

In addition to personal spiritual growth, Living Water also encourages members to take practical actions to impact the community. For example, in the 2011 Year of Caring, in addition to caring for yourself and your family, you also further care for nature and society. The implementation action is to set up battery recycling in the church to make efforts for environmental protection. In addition, we hold a flea market during the summer, where brothers and sisters donate old clothes from home so that people in the community can buy them at low prices. This not only reuses resources, but is also a good way to establish mutually beneficial relationships with community residents.

Consider the country

According to a 2012 survey, there were seven to eight thousand Chinese within a two- to three-mile radius of Living Water, which shows how vast the gospel field is. Living Water currently has two worship services on Sundays to accommodate the growing number of members. Zhong Shungui has begun to convey the vision of church planting to the brothers and sisters, looking forward to continuing to expand the church of God at the appropriate place and time.

Not only are more and more people coming to the church to learn the Lord’s teachings, but Living Water is also making good use of online preaching and training. For the convenience of local believers, the church website publishes meeting times, locations, contact information and event photos. Living Water also has a global reach, providing sermon recordings and theological lectures to promote God’s message far and wide. The current click rate can reach 20,000 times a day. . Many elders who came to the United States to visit relatives still listen to Zhong Shungui's teachings regularly on the Internet after returning to China. They feel as close to each other as they are close to each other.

▲In view of the increasing number of people attending meetings, the pastor began to convey the church planting vision to the brothers and sisters, looking forward to continuing to expand the church of God at the appropriate place and time.

Mission is also a principle that Living Water adheres to. No matter how heavy the interest burden on church building loans is, the mission budget has never been reduced. Zhong Shungui hopes to find local gospel workers in the mission field and support and train them to build churches.

Just like when all members were mobilized to vote to name the post-independence church, they hoped that the new name would not set ethnic and linguistic boundaries, and that they would become a place where the gospel flows like living water.

Pastor Zhong Shungui recalled that Living Water used the middle school gymnasium for gatherings during the gospel church. Each group took turns setting up the venue every Sunday morning, and the choir also came early to practice. The originally deserted space suddenly became full of vitality and vitality. The brothers and sisters were so committed for eight years.

Sister Shen Mei also said that since the days of the Gospel Hall, many members have devoted themselves to serving for a long time. Even if they arrange chairs and set up speakers, no one complains or is unhappy. After she became a deacon, even though she felt very busy and tired, her heart was still full of joy. She said that what she learned was different from the management and leadership concepts taught in ordinary workplaces, but the attitude of a servant leader based on God’s words and modeled by Jesus. With the living water of church planting vision in mind, the next challenge is to call and cultivate a group of co-workers to devote themselves to serving and work together to expand the house of God.

▲The name Living Water Gospel Church does not set ethnic and language boundaries, and looks forward to becoming a place where the gospel flows.

[Postscript] The growth of the church also means the development of the kingdom of God. From the experience of one church, I hope it can become an encouragement and inspiration to other churches. Indeed, when the Living Water Gospel Church was established, it was conveniently located in an area where the Chinese community flourished. Growing to the point where, in the decision of separating or joining with the mother church, Living Water grasped the key of "humanity" and chose to wait for God's opportunity, so that the brothers and sisters could be mentally and spiritually prepared, and separate peacefully with each other's blessings.

However, it is precisely because this group of committed believers, based on harmony and considering the kingdom, can they continue to preach the gospel of "peace with God and peace with others." We also look forward to the gospel flowing like living water, not just in the greater Chicago area, but also using different channels to expand the kingdom tent to the ends of the earth. (Readers who would like to learn more about Living Water Gospel Church, please visit the church website http://www.lwechurch.org/.)

The author's profile is Lin Minwen, who devotes herself to literary ministry and focuses on writing and editing.