台灣鄉村教會的處境化宣教：以路上教會宣教事工為例

Contextual Mission in Rural Churches in Taiwan: A Case Study Based on Ministries of Lo-Siong Church

陳澤胤(T. E. Tang)

《神學與教會》 40卷1期 (2015/01) Pp. 152-191

https://doi.org/10.6888/TC.201501_40(1).0006

並列摘要

According to Authorities statistics, Close to half of the churches in PCT (the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan) are medium-sized or small-sized churches where fewer than 100 church members. Most of these churches are based in rural areas and many are located in declining villages struggling with outward migration. These factors have resulted in sharp declines in church attendance to the point where churches are faced with closure. Besides, Ministries is difficult in rural areas of Taiwan because local folk religion is deeply ingrained in people's hearts and the Christianity seen as foreign religion is rejected. In these predicaments, the rural missions are full of the challenges. Losiong Church is merely a case in point. However, the contemporary perspective of ＂God's mission＂ offered churches many good viewpoints of missiology. in addition, the deeply introspection on ＂contextual theology＂ made some breakthroughs of ministries. If local churches could develop their own missionary opinion based on their distinct circumstances and with God's guidance, they would be more effective in the development of their local communities and would be identified by local residents. Moreover, there would be more possibility of inter-religious dialogue and community ministries. In this report, based on my experience as pastor of a rural church for the past 5 years, I will chronicle and reflect on important ministry themes, and explore and examine important themes pertaining to contextual missiology. My hope is that these efforts can be used as references for rural mission worker in the future. I also hope that people will see God's personal guidance and wonderful will as they read through these pages chronicling the thought processes of community ministries in Losiong Church. Furthermore, I expect to using this report as a basis for developing a concrete model on missionary Theology in the future. The church is a living organism and mission ministries are dynamic. Though many ministries may advance rapidly, they also face challenges that require us to make constant adjustments. Hence, though this report may reveal some effective ministries, it also shows plenty of instances where there is room for improvement and soul-searching. Certainly, I am looking forward to some suggestions and feedback from fellow coworkers.