Disclaimer: I don’t profess to be an expert on this area, it’s just reading some articles recently and my experience being in these 3 countries recently ‘inspired’ me to write this piece. Please feel free to comment. Thanks.
Introduction
Being a Christian in Singapore and also due to my sociological leanings, I am rather interested in issues particular to the local church (specifically the Methodist denomination), such as theological education, the state of discipleship and also, due to my years being in a youth ministry, church and its involvement and engagement with youths. Youths refer to those from the age of about 13 to 25 (in terms of education, from secondary school to university).
From 2007-2011, I have been to Japan 4 times as exposure trips to find out about different church/Christian ministries in different parts of the country, from helping in summer camps for children to reaching out to university students in campuses. Through interactions with some missionaries and Japanese Christians as well as reading about local issues pertaining to the church, I managed to gain some insights about the current state of the church. Of course, they are by no means, exhaustive.
During my recent and first trip to Hainan, China, I had the opportunity to speak to a local pastor at length at a church located in Qiong Hai city. She gave a lowdown on the history of the church, changes in the near future and challenges that they were facing. I was quite glad that we could talk about such issues despite my rather limited proper usage of Mandarin.
As such, I have managed to identify some common trends and observations with regards to the state of the church across the 3 countries.
1. Leadership succession in church
One of the problems, I think, that churches across these 3 countries are experiencing, which are on one level, similar but on another, subject to local practices and cultural norms is the issue of leadership succession in church. For example, in Singapore, in the most recent issue of the Methodist Message newsletter, one of the challenges indicated is that of the large-scale retirement of pastors under its Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC) in the next quadrennium (2013-2016). There would be 10 pastors retiring, with more to follow in subsequent years.
Similarly in Japan, many older pastors are hitting the retirement age but there are not enough younger pastors or church workers to fill up the void when they retire from service in the church. As cited in the booklet “Operation Japan” published by the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association (JEMC), the consequence of low seminary enrollment and retirements means that there will be a major of shortage of pastors by 2010. Specific to Japan’s societal and cultural context, the hierarchical nature of organizations, yes, even churches have made it difficult for younger Christians to venture into new or different areas of ministry for fear of opposition or disagreement with older church leaders and pastors.
My conversation with the pastor in Hainan, though brief and not representative of the entire situation of the church in China, provided a hint of the commonalities of what the churches in Singapore and Japan are going through as well. The pastor told me few, or almost none of the younger generation are interested in serving in the church as a calling. Further, she mentioned that being educated in seminaries and bible schools makes it difficult to properly engage the rapidly increasing numbers of young intellectuals in universities. She went on to say that even the children of pastors see no point in continuing their parents’ work and decide to chose alternative careers.
In summary, broadly speaking, the churches in all 3 countries are already or about to hit a crisis of leadership succession, largely due to the lack of younger Christians stepping up to take up roles of pastors or church workers. Perhaps it’s an indication of how churches are struggling to engage the youth meaningfully in general while also due to different socioeconomic milieus within each country.
2. The problem with youth?
The reluctance of younger Christians wanting to serve or be involved in full-time church ministry is the main reason why there is this succession void within the churches. What attributes to this ‘reluctance’? Let me suggest some possibilities specific to each country’s context:
Singapore
Academic success is seen as the key to future (economic) success, such as having a well-paid job, being able to buy a car and a nice condominium, go for exotic holidays and the like. In other words, a cushy ‘middle-class’ job is like the desire of many if not all Singaporeans. Perhaps for many, i might add, Christians, as well, the current and tangible worldly and financial success is too alluring compared to the promised “riches in heaven”. So the mantra is: “if I can be a lawyer, banker or whatever which earns a lot of money, why should I be a pastor or church worker?” Further, perhaps youths are being more educated as well as sophisticated these days being connected to social media 24/7, exposed to all kinds of information and ideologies, being a ‘church person’ is not cool, many of them want to ‘find themselves’, do whatever they like. Youth ministries in Singapore churches present an enormous opportunity but challenge for the church leadership: “if we are too strict, the youths will think we are too ‘old fashioned’ and outdated but if we are too ‘relaxed’, the youths might lose sight of the gospel and become no different from social gatherings”.
Japan
My observations of churches which I have visited in Japan thus far usually comprise of congregations with the very young and the very senior folks, with almost none or few youths or adults present. Youths and working adults are usually studying and/or working in bigger cities with very little time for anything else. A retired Singaporean missionary who worked in Japan for three decades once shared that the 2 most important age/people groups for the church to reach out to are the very young and very old. While there’s some work being in done in university campus ministries among students in bigger cities, what happens after that? One evangelical university professor declared that the state of youth is an indication of the ineffectiveness of the Church’s message.
China
I must say that my knowledge of China’s context is even lesser than that of the earlier two countries that I have mentioned. Perhaps it might not be as bleak vis-a-vis Singapore and Japan, but with increasing affluence and a growing middle class, it might eventually become no different from the case of Singapore. It really remains to be seen how churches in China are going to deal with the unprecedented cataclysmic pace of societal and economic change that is sweeping through the country now.
3. Discipleship and meaningful engagement
Perhaps the over-emphasis on growth of numbers and ‘outreach’ of churches in Singapore have led to the decline of the ‘quality’ of Christians. Sure, many Christians have been told to do in all sorts of ways, to ‘outreach’ to their family and friends and yes, many have supposedly done it. But the real work really starts after that, to take time to disciple and ground new believers in the faith intentionally and systematically. The truth is that many churches fail to do that effectively and therefore it is no surprise that many younger Christians have a weak foundation in biblical literacy and knowledge. The consequence of that, coupled with the lack of churches’ meaningful engagement with youths and related issues, can be said to be the reasons why youths see no point and relevance in considering serving in full-time ministry or think that just attending church is good enough.
In the case of Japan, the application of biblical truth on a daily basis is a great challenge for believers who are continually being pressured to conform to the homogeneous culture. Many baptized Japanese fall away within the first five years. One of the strategies adopted by the Kanto House Church Network (KHCN) is to bring the churches to the Japanese people, rather than inviting them to a ‘formal’ church setting which might be apprehensive for them through the creation of regular meetings in either a convenient location near a train station or even someone’s place. Though spearheaded by foreign missionaries, the idea is to eventually allow the Japanese themselves become lay-leaders and coordinators of the house church networks.
While it is too difficult for me to say how the church situation in China will be like in time to come, a common challenge for the churches in the 3 countries in question is to continue to uphold the relevance of the Gospel in this modern day and age, particularly among the youths and younger Christians as well as to be able to interact with and disciple them meaningfully and effectively.
A verse from the book of Matthew comes to mind:
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth to an old garment, for the patch will pull away the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:16-17
References:
Methodist Message, January 2012. Volume 114, No. 1. The Methodist Church in Singapore.
Wright, Don. (ed). (2007). Operation Japan Prayer Guide, 3rd Edition. Japan Evangelical Missionary Association: Tokyo.
