Tag: Leadership Training
Church Staff Salary—How Much Is Enough?
Chinese Christians have traditionally expected their pastors to live frugally and to receive little to no compensation for their pastoral duties. It was expected that those in the ministry would endure much suffering as a result of their call to ministry. As a result, some pastors and ministry staff live on quite meager means and many are bi-vocational in order to make ends meet.
As China modernizes, many congregations, particularly urban churches, recognize a need to better financially care for their pastors, as well as to invest in the well-being of the congregation as a whole. Congregations are starting to see the health of a church improve when the entire body is spiritually and financially committed to compensating their ministry staff. So, how much should a pastor in China make?
Being a Faithful Steward in an Increasingly Wealthy China
In this podcast Dr. Scott Rodin talks about efforts to develop faithful stewards among believers in China through the Faith and Generosity in China Initiative. After elaborating on the concept of the faithful steward, Scott looks at the uniqueness of China today as relates to the growing need for biblical stewardship teaching. He then closes with an introduction to several new resources being made available in China in the coming months.
A Conversation with a Rural Preacher (Part 1)
About the Need for Innovative Training
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.
Thoughts on Theological Education for Chinese Believers
Theological training for Chinese believers is needed; several types of training are available. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of training?
Are China’s Best Being Lost to the West?
Why are many Chinese believers who go overseas for seminary training not returning to China to serve?.
3 Observations from Teaching Biblical Interpretation
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.
3 Questions: Mentoring Chinese Leaders
A ChinaSource "3 Questions" interview based on the "Walking with Leaders" podcast series.
Supporting Article
Discerning a Cult
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.
Essentials for Effective Leadership Development
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.
Supporting Article
Chinese Creating Pastoral Training Tools for China’s Churches: A Case Study
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.