A senior pastor serving in a city church in East China shared two insights regarding service: involving the staff during visitation ministry and leading by personal example.
Pastor Gao often visits believers' homes but always takes at least one staff worker along.
He stated that this allowed church workers to practically learn how to care for Christians. In their church, several staff workers are young and inexperienced. To expedite their growth, the senior pastor decided to adopt a mentorship approach of "experienced guiding the inexperienced." This model aligns with the historical Chinese "mentorship" to train newcomers.
The pastor noted the unique nature of training pastoral workers, who frequently engage with people. The purpose of the visit is fulfilled if the pastor goes alone, but young ones can observe and accumulate experience for future visits if they follow him to do visitation ministry.
Furthermore, pastors can demonstrate their significant accomplishments to others instead of working in isolation.
"Some people not only refrain from serving but also enjoy gossiping. Pastors are particularly targeted by such gossip," he said. "Gossipers might say they don't know what pastors do all day and claim pastors take money without working hard enough." These issues clearly distressed him. "To stop those who gossip, it is the best method to encourage them to engage in activities. Sometimes, letting them see our service can shut the mouths of those who criticize," he added.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
