An editor from Christian Times recently had an extended conversation with a rural pastor (born in the 1980s) about his thoughts regarding the current situation of China’s rural church. They talked about the problems and potential, particularly as they relate to the need for training. What follows is a translation of the article. Due to the length of the article, we will publish it in two parts. This is part one.
Theological training for Chinese believers is needed; several types of training are available. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of training?
Why are many Chinese believers who go overseas for seminary training not returning to China to serve?.
For many international organizations working in China, the transition to local leadership can be a challenging one. In particular, it is not always easy to achieve high levels of spiritual formation when many local leaders are either first generation believers or fairly recent converts.
A ChinaSource "3 Questions" interview based on the "Walking with Leaders" podcast series.
How can a cult be identified? This article alerts the reader to characteristics that can serve as warnings for the possible need to make a further examination of a church or group. It discusses specific issues related to authority and exclusivity, control and submission, secrecy and darkness, and abnormal changes in goals and conduct.
With a plethora of Christian leader development programs on offer in China, it is difficult to know which are appropriate, not to mention which will ultimately prove effective.
In their desire to create authentic, pastoral training materials, early on this team of foreigners resolved to work toward putting their national staff in posts of increasing influence and authority while they stepped into self-restricted roles of coaching, and eventually, cheering from the stands. The author describes this work which is still in process.
Partnership Field Guide: A Step-by-step Process for Building Ministry Partnerships, visionSynergy, 60 pages. This document was prepared by visionSynergy for the participants of The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization held in Cape Town, South Africa, October 2010 and can be found at: http://goo.gl/KkS6n
Reviewed by Mak Hon Chiu
When interacting with church leaders in China, questions about the church inevitably emerge. At some point, issues concerning church structure will be brought up. How they respond will deeply affect the long term growth of the church. It is both exciting and agonizing to observe.
Christians need to be good stewards of their identity and their time. They also need to value "being" over "doing."
In the decades since China's opening to the outside world, literally hundreds of organizations, educational institutions and churches have responded to the perceived need for training leaders to shepherd China's rapidly growing church. A discussion of what role Christians from outside China should play in responding to the need as the church grows and develops.