Discipleship Is Not Finishing a Course
Small groups and discipleship have been two central parts of EFCCA’s recent pastoral transformation, but they are not separate ministries.
Pastor Dong puts it directly: “Discipleship is not studying material, and it is not attending a class.” Curricula and courses can be tools, but they are not discipleship itself. Genuine discipleship takes place through relationships, accompaniment, service, failure, confession and transformed lives. A person not only receives help, but gradually becomes able to help and develop others.
Small groups are therefore not the destination of discipleship, but the environment in which it happens. In principle, every church member belongs to a group. Even when someone cannot attend regularly for a period, the group still knows that the person belongs and accepts responsibility for their care.
Removing the Mask Makes Honest Relationships Possible
Pastor Dong regards “facing oneself honestly and removing the mask” as an important part of discipleship. If people maintain a positive image at church but will not allow others to see their weaknesses and difficulties, relationships cannot deepen easily and lives are less open to being brought into the light and changed.
Honesty is not easy. It asks people to face what they would prefer not to touch and to allow trusted companions to see their incompleteness. Pastor Dong nevertheless believes the person’s life is ultimately the beneficiary.
Leaders must model this first. If a pastor is not honest, it is difficult to ask the congregation to be honest. Within appropriate boundaries, Pastor Dong therefore keeps his life and family transparent and encourages a church culture of openness without pretence.
Ministry Is Not the Purpose, but a Setting for Forming Life
EFCCA has many ministry teams not only to complete more work, but also to give more people opportunities to participate, try and grow.
Through service, people discover gifts and expose limitations; they experience success and may also fail; they learn responsibility and how to work with people who are different. A family group can therefore be a discipleship group, and a ministry team can also become a setting for discipleship.
“Ministry is not the purpose; it is a means. The main goal is not simply to get things done, but to form people.”
When someone says, “The church should do this,” Pastor Dong sometimes replies, “Great—then you can lead it.” Taking real responsibility helps people discover whether they genuinely have the relevant gifts and allows their ability to grow through practice.
He is willing to “take a risk in faith”, give people opportunities and accept that co-workers may fail. One or two failures do not mean a person lacks value. If repeated attempts show a ministry is not a good fit, the team can adjust the person’s role together. Team members should not blame one another for a single failure.
From a Flat Structure to Shared Pastoral Care
As the church grew, the senior pastor could no longer work directly with every small-group leader, ministry leader and individual need. EFCCA therefore began developing a two-level structure for pastoral care and governance.
On the pastoral side, more than twenty small groups are organised into six zones. Each zone contains about three to six groups, and a zone leader supports the group leaders. On the governance side, approximately 38 ministry teams are organised into six departments, with a ministry supervisor supporting the team leaders.
The change is not only intended to improve efficiency. It also gives more members opportunities to receive leadership, serve and grow. The senior pastor invests more time in core leaders, pastors and potential next-generation leaders, who then continue caring for and developing others.
Four Generations Walking Together: Everyone Is Led and Leads Others
In recent years the church has promoted “four generations walking together”. Every leader should have a “Paul” who leads them, a “Timothy” whom they are developing, and a peer companion who offers mutual support. In time, the person being developed also develops the next generation.
This idea expands succession from the question of replacing the senior pastor to relationships at every level of the church. Mature leaders do not simply complete every task to the highest standard themselves; they allow the next generation to take increasing responsibility, even when younger people use different methods.
While preparing a bilingual, cross-cultural service, the core team has been made up mainly of young people. Pastor Dong deliberately does not attend every meeting, allowing them to plan, organise and lead. A pastoral team maintains communication and provides support for significant decisions and matters of principle.
He describes the principle in this way:
“Let go, but do not leave them alone; support them from behind instead of checking every step for them.”
Collective Leadership Protects against the Misuse of Power
Pastor Dong warns against turning the authority of God’s Word into the pastor’s personal, unquestionable power. Because a preacher proclaims God’s Word, the congregation may sometimes transfer its reverence for Scripture into admiration of the pastor as an individual.
EFCCA therefore emphasises team ministry and collective leadership. Elected elders and the senior pastor form the church session. Even when the senior pastor first proposes a significant appointment, major ministry or church-planting direction, basic agreement within the session is required before it moves forward.
When there is clear opposition, Pastor Dong prefers to continue praying and waiting. Some directions have waited several years before being implemented. He also does not want co-workers to submit merely because “the pastor has said so”, but to seek God’s will together.
Differences of opinion do not necessarily destroy unity. The real danger comes when people avoid the person involved and allow comments to circulate through the community. Pastor Dong encourages members who disagree with a leader to communicate directly. Leaders must also listen and understand the reasons for opposition instead of automatically treating opponents as wrong.
He hopes every pastoral conversation will help a person regain strength:
“Come in discouraged; leave excited.”