Harmony, the power of church growth
Oral narration/Compiled by Pastor Su Wenlong/Lin Minwen
Photo provided/Living Water Gospel Church
▲Living Water Gospel Church works together with God on the basis of harmony, and I believe it will be an encouragement to churches and believers, bringing endless blessings.
For about three years starting in 2010, I traveled to and from Chicago many times to develop the Chicago branch of True Way Theological Seminary, and had close contact with churches in the area. Pastor Zhong Shungui of Living Water Gospel Church was also one of the advisory committee members at that time. In addition, in the past, I had a teacher-student relationship with Rev. Zhong at China Theological Seminary and Zhengdao Theological Seminary, and I paid much attention to and understood the history of Living Water and Rev. Zhong’s leadership.
Read the previous article "Renhe!" "That's the Key", once again thinking about the process of establishment and development of Living Water, I was deeply inspired. There are very few positive examples of such easy separation and good integration. I believe that both pastors and believers can be inspired by it to expand the kingdom of God with the intention and approach to glorify God and benefit people.
System and relationship go hand in hand
Since the church is a group of people, it needs management. However, church management is different from general business management. It needs to be guided by the Holy Spirit and go hand in hand with the system and interpersonal relationships.
Many large churches started as small churches. When the church is small and the number of people is small, it is easy to build physical relationships and members feel like a family. This is the characteristic of the Chinese church and the strength of Living Water. At this time, the church pastor needs to set up a management charter and operating system that members agree with, so as to avoid disputes and conflicts as the number of members increases.
Of course, differences of opinion are inevitable. It depends on the attitude and method used to face and deal with them. There is a saying: "If co-workers are in harmony, the church will develop; if co-workers are in disagreement, spiritual life will develop." Pastors and believer leaders must be so open-minded and realize that different opinions actually express new ideas and are not provocations or fault-finding. , may become the key to breaking through the current situation. When I was pastoring a church in the past, my principle was to encourage active speaking during meetings. Once a conclusion was reached, there would be only one voice with the same voice to the outside world. This is team spirit.
If a member decides to leave the church, the pastor can bless him or maintain contact without affecting the pastoral relationship.
In my book "Church Administration" (Huashen, 2005), when it comes to dealing with differences and conflicts, the pastor must sometimes exercise spiritual authority instead of holding the flock hostage. More importantly, he must lead by example and exert spiritual authority. Influence. After all, “exalting people in the church will lead to divisions, and accommodating people will easily allow sin to corrode them. These are all the results of people being the main body, and the end result will be conflicts in the church. Children of God can only stand on the position of the Body and let Christ be the leader. Only then can the church show the testimony of the unity of the body” (pp. 143-144).
Facilitators and impediments to growth
I have also listed the facilitators and impediments to church growth in "Church Administration". Some churches only focus on the increase in numbers but ignore the spiritual growth of believers. There are also some preachers who are satisfied with the current situation, thinking that the number of people remains constant and everyone can get along well. Little do they know that evangelism is the purpose of the church’s existence and it is the responsibility of Christians. True church growth is quantitative increase, qualitative improvement, and institutional coordination. From what Pastor Zhong Shungui shared with the members, we were pleased to see that Living Water takes care of these three aspects.
The article mentions the Chinese concept of "encouraging union but not separation". In fact, it is not always good for churches to merge, nor is it necessarily bad for churches to separate. There should be no problem if churches of the same denomination merge, although their beliefs, concepts, charters, etc. are similar. Just because individuals have brought in their past practices and are unwilling to accept other people's opinions, the church has become divided and divided into factions.
Looking back at the example of Living Water, the country has been considered from the beginning of its development. The leading pastor had the idea of church planting in the process. When the number of members reached a certain number, he took the lead in training co-workers and passing on the vision of the branch church. When the time comes, plant new churches through blessing missions. The Taifu Church is another example worthy of reference. They have now established a complete church planting system, step by step from the prayer station, gospel station, to the establishment of a deacon committee in the sub-teaching to officially become independent. In this way the church is not divided, but the place of the tabernacle is enlarged in a way that glorifies God.
▲Living Water Gospel Church attaches equal importance to structure and interpersonal relationships, and its pastors have both pastoral care and leadership. The picture shows senior pastor Zhong Shungui and his wife Sharon.
Characteristics of pastors who lead church growth
There is another key to the growth of the church, that is, the characteristics of the pastor, including the following four aspects:
‧ Have a sense of mission and goals
‧ Win the trust of members and exert spiritual influence
‧ Have both pastoral heart and leadership skills
‧ Establish a pastoral staff team
From my personal observation and understanding, Pastor Zhong Shungui possesses these qualities.
When I was teaching a "Church Management" course in Chicago, I led my class to visit Living Water. The special report on "Church Building Route" prepared by Pastor Zhong is very organized. This pastor not only clearly knows the goals of the church, but also plans in detail the methods and systems to achieve the goals. Therefore, in the process of leading the church to develop from the gospel church period, he grasps the opportunity to wait and move forward.
Right Way Theological Seminary has students from Living Water Gospel Church. According to their sharing, organizing teams is Pastor Chung’s strength. Whether they are full-time staff or believer volunteers, they are happy to cooperate with him. His leadership qualities and pastoral heart lead Living Water to utilize its greatest resource—people and people. There are even believers who are moved and encouraged by the example of pastors, and are willing to dedicate themselves to serving God full time.
In the development process of any church, it is true that it will encounter many challenges; the experience of many churches splitting up and joining together often tests the faith of members. Living Water Gospel Church in Chicago pays equal attention to the structure and interpersonal relationships. Only when the pastor has both pastoral heart and leadership ability can he know the appropriate time of separation and integration, and work together with God on the basis of harmony. The good story written by Living Water and the Chinese Christian Mandarin Church of their peaceful separation, as well as the development plan with the kingdom in mind, will surely be an encouragement to all churches and believers, and will bring endless blessings.
Further reading
"Church Administration", written by Su Wenlong, Taipei, Huashen, 2005.
"Pastoral Heart and Leadership", written by Su Wenlong, Pennsylvania, Messenger, 2011.
Pastor Su Wenlong's Profile Pastor Su Wenlong was the senior pastor of the Christian Church of St. Calcutta and Hepingfu Church, and the dean of Universal Abundance Theological Seminary. He is currently the professor of practical theology at Zhengdao Evangelical Theological Seminary and the director of the Doctoral Department of Pastoral Care. He is the author of books such as "The Art of Church Building", "Wonderful Christian Families", and "The Art of Pastoral Service". He is often invited to host gatherings and lectures throughout Europe and the United States.