|
|
||||||
|
|
Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Neec. Subdividing a Local Church For practical purposes a local church may be subdivided into districts, yet it remains one church with one administration. A local church can be subdivided into districts based on number or on need, but its administration cannot be divided. A few people in a district cannot decide what that district should do or how they should do it; they cannot take things into their own hand and work independently. The administration of the church is based on its locality. The business affairs, the shepherding, the care, and the perfecting of the saints in a church can be conducted in the districts, but first they must be discussed in fellowship with the church as a whole. The responsible ones in a district have to pay attention to one thing more than the elders: They have to learn to ask before they do anything. This is similar to what the deacons have to do. This applies not only to the care of the meetings, to the management of business affairs, but to the heading up of the work as well. (Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 62, 289-290) The more people there are in a local church, the harder it is to shepherd, fellowship, and visit the saints. The elders must bear the responsibility for shepherding, caring, and leading. But in a place with as many brothers and sisters as Shanghai, how can the elders cover things thoroughly? We have considered how we should take care of the need, and the result is the following arrangements: We have now divided the church into fifteen districts. Each district has a few responsible ones. These ones are not elders; they are merely learners learning to be deacons. Every district has its own leading brothers and leading sisters. There are also some helpers. Whoever is responsible for a district will make the arrangements for visitation and leadership in that district. (Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 55, 9) According to the Bible, a church should be local. The boundary of the locality is determined by the boundary of its civic administrative unit. The Bible shows us local churches, but it does not have churches on a street or churches in a district. The justification for starting a church is not based on its number of members. A local church may cover a large geographical area and may have a large number of people, but it is still one church. Of course, it is hard for a church that is large geographically or numerically to take care of the needs of every brother and sister. The church in Jerusalem began with three thousand and then five thousand saved ones. When Paul returned to Jerusalem to meet James, there were tens of thousands of believers in that city (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 21:20). It is not an easy thing for a church of this size to carry out something or to meet the needs of every brother and sister. Therefore, there is the need to subdivide such a church into districts to facilitate the work and to reach and visit the saints easily. The districts are not the church, but they are almost like mini local churches; they fulfill many of the functions of a church. They have their own meetings, they cover many practical affairs, and they exercise care over all the brothers and sisters…. Working under the Elders like Deacons A local church can be subdivided into districts based on number or on need, but its administration cannot be divided. A few people in a district cannot decide what that district should do or how they should do it; they cannot take things into their own hand and work independently. The administration of the church is based on its locality. The business affairs, the shepherding, the care, and the perfecting of the saints in a church can be conducted in the districts, but first they must be discussed in fellowship with the church as a whole. The responsible ones in a district have to pay attention to one thing more than the elders: They have to learn to ask before they do anything. This is similar to what the deacons have to do. This applies not only to the care of the meetings, to the management of business affairs, but to the heading up of the work as well. The responsible ones in a district are almost like elders, and yet they are not exactly the same as the elders of a local church. For this reason the responsible brothers in a district have to learn to refer matters to the elders. (Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 62, 287-290) | ||||