Editor’s note: Traditional Xuzhou house churches display God’s grace to this city — but to better serve the current generation, those older house churches also need to change with the times. Xuzhou pastors say they are trying to transition their traditional churches to become better organized, with stronger teaching and theology. At the same time, Xuzhou pastors want to hold onto their Chinese church inheritance of perseverance and a walking the road of the cross.
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Overly Comfortable Churches
Lin Yukang: The gospel has been around Xuzhou for a long time, so compared to other places, there are a large number of churches. But most churches are traditional house churches. All three of us here are originally from that background.
Now, Brother Xu’s church is still more traditional, while Brother Wang’s church is unique, with a lot of migrants to the city among both leaders and members.
My own church is a bit different. By God’s grace, we have successfully transitioned to a different model. Some churches have tried to transition, but I don’t think they have been very successful – several churches have gone to extremes and become very “Reformed.”
How should you pray? Well, now our church might be too settled and comfortable. I long for us to have a “spirit of battle.””
If you look at where our church is spiritually and our journey over the past two decades or so, we are pretty stable right now.
How should you pray? Well, now our church might be too settled and comfortable. I long for us to have a “spirit of battle” – the kind of spiritual striving we experienced when we were under persecution or when we were in the middle of transitioning to a more organized model. Now, things are stable and things like church governance, congregations, a presbytery, a church school, a diaconate are all in place. But our spiritual temperature has cooled. That grieves us, and is the pastoral challenge we face.
Another issue is that, since I will retire next year, we are in the middle of a leadership transition. A younger group of ministers are being examined, reviewed, and trained to serve as elders. Please pray that this group will inherit the previous generation’s love for the Lord and willingness to suffer and bear the cross, even as they face new challenges and serve this generation. So far things are going well, but they are all still young, mostly in their 30s. Pray the Lord will grant us a smooth hand-off.
Pray for my family, and for my children. Especially pray that the Lord would extend my wife’s life.
House Churches Longing for Structure
Brother Xu: Our church is very traditional. Decades ago, many house churches rose up here in Xuzhou, and God blessed those churches with fruitful ministry. That’s grace. But our house churches lack in doctrine, not to mention structure. Even today, many house churches are still like this.
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A few years ago, I reached out to Pastor Lin asking for help. He counseled us to pursue theological study. Although I shared with the core co-workers at church about how we should make time to study the Bible, time was short and motivation was uneven.
Please pray that this group will inherit the previous generation’s love for the Lord and willingness to suffer and bear the cross, even as they face new challenges and serve this generation.
Around that same time is when God provided courses for us to take. Last year, we brought a two-year discipleship curriculum, basically theological training, into our church. The first cohort was mostly middle-aged people, while the second group has more elderly. All this is part of a much-needed transition we are in the middle of.
The Reformed church here in Xuzhou is a successful case of transitioning [ministry and church organization] – that church was once more traditional, but over two or three decades they have become Reformed. We can see that our church also needs to make adjustments. We are thankful to God that he has provided a way forward.
Please pray for our church to remain fervent and vigilant, that we won’t become lukewarm and stuck in the middle like the church in Laodicea. We want God to rebuild us.
I’ve noticed that it’s hard to draw the rising generation, the post-90s and post-00s [same time frame as young Millenials and Gen Z in America] into church life. Even when we organize gatherings for them, these generations are reluctant to come. Although they grew up in Sunday school, they no longer hunger for God’s Word. Please pray for our young people.
Personally, I work in a state-owned enterprise, and we are having a hard time. I don’t know what’s coming next, but it might be downsizing or transfers. I’m praying that, if the chance for a buyout comes, I will be willing to take it and fully step away from my job [to serve the church].
Please also pray for my child’s schooling. They might go overseas next year to study, but we don’t really know what the environment would be like. Please pray that God will prepare the way.
A Lack of Young Leaders
Wang Qingxi: I’ll add one prayer request that a lot of churches are facing: we need younger workers. I resigned from my job last year to serve full-time, but right now, I’m the only one who is full-time. Others are mainly assisting. To transition our church to a more institutional model, we need pastors, elders, and deacons.
We do have some young people, but they’re not yet mature. And when people who are immature are serving, that can create more problems than it solves. It’s tricky. Please pray that young co-workers will be raised up, and that they will grow toward maturity.
We need younger workers. I resigned from my job last year to serve full-time, but right now, I’m the only one who is full-time…. We do have some young people, but they’re not yet mature. And when people who are immature are serving, that can create more problems than it solves. It’s tricky.
Personally, please pray for my ministry and my studies. I’m serving and studying at the same time, while also caring for family matters. I feel tired, time is tight, and there’s so much work. I’ve had to delegate a lot of church things to others, because I just can’t be everywhere at once. I’m taking seminary classes, shepherding our church, and leading my household. It feels like I’m spending a lot of time, yet nothing is done with excellence. May God have mercy, because we need his grace.
As for family, my wife is still working. If, in the future, I give even more time to church service and am fully ordained, then my wife will also need to keep up. Although she supports my ministry, there are challenges when it comes to her own participation.
Please pray for our child. All pastors’ kids need prayer – may our children carry on the mission and continue serving in the church.
We are also thinking about the church school. We walk by faith, and need prayer for all these things. Financially, we are okay. God’s grace is sufficient for the church, for family, and for life.
Lin Yukang, Brother Xu, and Wang Qingxi are pseudonyms for house church pastors in Xuzhou.
Pray for Wenzhou people to not only look for ideas that are usable, but to consider the Scriptural basis behind their actions.
