Not Enough Leaders

Posted on 22 July 2010.

"Many of our practical needs... are not satisfied at official churches," said 38-year-old Jacob Sun, who now attends a house church.

He explained that often thousands of people attend the Three Self churches and sometimes you can "barely hear anything". "The congregation could hardly be considered intimate at that size," he concluded (China Daily).

According to one estimate, there is just one ordained minister per 6,000 people in the Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) churches. Rev Gao Ying, vice president of China's leading official seminary, says that around 800 people apply to the Nanjing seminary each year, but at present they only have 220 students. She explains that there simply aren't enough teachers to train all those who want to come. "It's an overwhelming task," she comments. "The pace of increase in numbers of Christians is much faster than the development of our theological education. We are very much lagging behind." (Reform)

China's house churches also struggle with a lack of trained leaders. "Both the rural and urban house churches suffer from a leadership crisis," according to Asian Report. "For the rural, the earlier generation of never-say-die founders and leaders are ageing. Their underground Bible schools are producing very young workers. There is a big gap. For the urban, the leaders are mostly in their 40s or 50s. A large number of urban church pastors are still bi-vocational. They are stretched by all sorts of demands... Younger leaders are bombarded by the speed and scope of urbanisation, westernisation and materialism. Few are devoting [themselves] to full-time ministry."

"This is a kairos moment for China," the writer in Asian Report believes. "It is so easy for people to come to Christ. Discipleship is essential."

Pray about this lack of leaders in both the official TSPM churches and the house churches. Pray for doors to open to enable more Christians to be trained as leaders.

Pray that the Lord would anoint and enable all those who are currently involved in training current and future leaders in China's church.

Pray for current church leaders who are struggling to cope with the demands of large congregations.

Pray for young believers who lack adequate discipleship because of the shortage of suitable disciplers to help them grow in their faith.