The first three articles addressed crisis and temptation, biblical models and model definition, and the internal structures of governance, leadership, teaching, and economics. This final article turns to implementation: how this model has a natural driving force under persecution but will not emerge spontaneously in free environments — requiring the combined effort of vision, structure, and culture. Four transition and planting paths are offered: church planting, gradual transition, crisis-driven, and from scratch. The article closes with an encouragement to persecuted churches — dandelion seeds scattered by the wind find a way forward, not a way of retreat.
Speaker: Pastor Bond · Scripture: 徒8:1-4
Pastor Bond · March 2026 · Compiled with Claude's assistance
📖 Seed-Soil Church · Four-Part Series
The first three articles addressed crisis and temptation, biblical models and model definition, and the internal structures of governance, leadership, teaching, and economics. This article asks how the model actually takes root in practice. ← Previous: Governance, Leadership, Teaching, and Economic Structure
This model has a natural driving force under persecution — external pressure compels the church into this form. In a free environment, however, it will not happen on its own. Believers can simply attend a Sunday service, hear a sermon, and leave without entering into close relationships. The seed-group church model will not spontaneously become the choice of most congregations. This is precisely why, in free and prosperous societies, churches tend toward the large, institutional congregation model — and then encounter serious developmental barriers in the modern world.
We are not trying to convince every church to restructure. Rather, we are exploring a truthful solution for those communities of faith who are deeply dissatisfied with the pastoral realities of the institutional church in modern society and cannot find a way forward. Promoting this model in a free environment likely requires several forces working together: vision-driven leadership (pastors and core co-workers who have a deep understanding of the nature of discipleship, and a holy discontent with the status quo), structural design (eliminating the large Sunday gathering and redirecting resources toward seed groups), and cultural formation (cultivating a discipleship culture over the long term, making "life shaping life" the core value rather than "come and hear a good sermon").
This model will not become the choice of most churches. But for those who are deeply dissatisfied with the status quo and cannot find a way forward — and for churches under the pressure of persecution — the following four paths offer open directions for exploration. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, suits different contexts, and can be combined with the others.
Scenario: An existing church (or soil church) intentionally sends out a core team of co-workers to build a new faith community from the very beginning according to the seed-group model. Biblical example: Acts 13:1-3, where the Antioch church sent out Paul and Barnabas — notice that they did not send their weakest members but the best leaders in the church. Strengths: The new church has the prayer, training, and financial support of a mother church behind it, and is connected to a soil church from day one, avoiding the isolation of starting from nothing. If the mother church already operates according to the seed-soil model, church planting is a natural extension of that model — not an "extra ministry" but the organic process of seed bearing fruit and taking root. Challenges: This requires the mother church to have a genuine sending culture and a spirit of sacrifice, willing to release its best people — which runs directly against the temptation to "grow bigger and stronger." Sending means becoming smaller, not larger.
Scenario: The pastor and core co-workers of an existing institutional congregation share the seed-group vision and hope to transition gradually without causing a split. Possible steps: A cultural preparation phase (through systematic teaching, help the congregation understand the nature of discipleship, the necessity of deep relationships, and the early church model — do not rush structural change; change minds first); a pilot phase (while retaining Sunday worship, establish one or two genuine seed groups — small churches with independent pastoral functions and the ability to celebrate communion — so the congregation can see the fruit); a recentering phase (gradually shift the center of gravity from the large gathering to the seed groups, reducing Sunday worship from weekly to fortnightly to monthly); a new normal (the large gathering becomes a joint assembly held once every one to three months, daily life is fully carried by the seed groups, and the original congregation naturally becomes a soil church). Strengths: The gentlest approach, least likely to cause member loss or division, and gives people time to adapt. Challenges: The greatest risk is the "patch trap" — groups ultimately remain an appendage of the large Sunday gathering rather than becoming independent churches. Gradual transition requires immense patience and an unwavering vision; without these, compromise is all too easy. Moreover, the tendency in Chinese church culture toward "not offending anyone" and "maintaining harmony" may cause a gradual transition to stall permanently at the first step.
Scenario: The church faces a situation that forces change — loss of a meeting space, a pastor's departure, financial hardship, sharp membership decline, or even political persecution — and is compelled to rethink how it operates. Biblical example: Acts 8:1-4, when a great persecution broke out against the Jerusalem church and the disciples were scattered: "They therefore who were scattered abroad went around preaching the word." The persecution scattered the "dandelion seeds" to places far and wide. Historical examples: Rural house churches in China in the 1980s, urban house churches in China in the 1990s, and the underground church in Iran today. Strengths: Crisis provides both urgency and legitimacy for change — "we have no choice but to change" is a more powerful driver than "we ought to change." Crisis often strips away "free riders" who depended on ritual and habit, leaving behind truly committed disciples — precisely the best candidates for forming seed groups. Challenges: Transition in the midst of crisis can easily be reactive, rushed, and poorly thought through. If leaders have not already built a theological framework and a practical vision, crisis may lead to chaotic disintegration rather than ordered restructuring. For this reason, even in peaceful times, churches should study and reflect on this model — not in order to implement it immediately, but so that when crisis comes they have a plan ready to activate.
Scenario: One or a few vision-carrying disciples begin directly in a new city, community, or even country, building from the start according to the seed-group model. Biblical example: Acts 11:19-21, where ordinary believers scattered by persecution came to Antioch and spontaneously began sharing the gospel with Gentiles, establishing a faith community. They were not sent apostles; they had no organizational support, no budget, not even a soil church behind them — only the gospel and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Strengths: No historical baggage. From day one, the community can be built with seed-group DNA — open relationships, home gatherings, breaking of bread in fellowship, and a multiplying impulse. This is the purest path. Challenges: Leaders may lack training and experience, and can easily drift doctrinally or feel overwhelmed pastorally. The Antioch experience teaches us that a spontaneously formed seed church should connect as soon as possible with a mature soil church (Jerusalem sent Barnabas). It is worth noting that systematic Bible-equipping tools like Bible Treasure (百宝书) can substantially ease the teaching challenge of starting from scratch. Even when a leader temporarily lacks the capacity to teach systematic theology, group members can still build a solid foundation through such tools on their own, while the leader focuses on the pastoral care and life accompaniment that he or she does best.
The four paths are not mutually exclusive — in practice they often interweave. A church undergoing a gradual transition may simultaneously send out a team to plant a church. A seed church that started from scratch may, as it matures, become a soil church that supports new planting. A crisis may accelerate a gradual transition that had been moving slowly. The key point is this: do not wait for perfect conditions before beginning. The Antioch church was not built under ideal circumstances — it began with ordinary believers scattered by persecution. Paul's missionary team did not set out only when everything was in place; they were sent out under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, through fasting and prayer (Acts 13:2-3). A seed does not need to wait for perfect soil before it falls. Wherever the seed lands, that is where it takes root and grows.
The following questions await further development: (1) The specific content of "common agreement" — how detailed does the shared confession of faith between seed groups need to be? Should it reach only to the core creeds (the level of the Apostles' Creed), or does it need to address various aspects of church practice as well? (2) Differences in applicability between urban and rural contexts — how should this model be adapted across different city sizes and cultural settings? (3) Concrete application cases in specific churches — what does localized practice look like in different types of Chinese-speaking church contexts?
Finally, we want to say a few words especially to churches in the midst of persecution — whether to house churches on the Chinese mainland today or to Christian communities facing pressure anywhere in the world.
Many brothers and sisters feel deep anguish under persecution, because the "normal church" they picture in their minds is the institutional congregation seen overseas: its own building, a well-developed organizational structure, a full-time pastoral team. They assume that is the direction a church should grow toward, and that persecution has blocked the road. But in truth, the institutional congregation was not the most vital model of the early church. It is a product of the institutionalization and systematization that followed Constantine. By contrast, the Jerusalem church of Acts 1–7 grew larger and larger and seemed to be on a path toward "success" — but when the great persecution came in chapter 8, the disciples were scattered. In twos and threes they spread out like dandelion seeds into Judea, Samaria, and even the Gentile world, carrying the gospel through countless small seed churches (Acts 8:1-4), including the founding of the church at Antioch (Acts 11:19-21). When God permits great persecution to come, he is often breaking open a dandelion — what appears to be the destruction of a large and strong church is in fact the releasing of seeds to be carried by the wind to places far beyond.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in persecution need not despair at the church being "broken apart." This may be exactly how God is leading the church toward a form more fitting to his heart — from one conspicuous great tree to seeds scattered across the ground. This road is not a retreat. It is the way forward.
This article is compiled from multiple rounds of in-depth discussion held in March 2026. It is an exploratory framework document, not a blueprint to be copied wholesale. It is our hope that these reflections will offer some inspiration to co-workers shepherding churches in different circumstances, and we look forward to further discussion, correction, and addition.
📖 Seed-Soil Church · Four-Part Series
💬 After reading this article, if you have any thoughts or questions, you are welcome to ask Pastor Bond:
- "In a free environment, how do you move a church toward the seed-soil model?"
- "Our church wants to transition — how do we choose among the four paths?"
- "Persecution has 'broken apart' our church — why is this a way forward rather than a retreat?"