Meet the new generation of Hong Kong’s part-time pastors serving God … and beverages

Lewis Li Ching starts a Sunday by delivering a sermon at a Hong Kong church. He later shares his knowledge at a coffee class organised by an events company he runs before heading to a fair to sell teas and other goods. The 49-year-old is part of an emerging group of “slash pastors” – faith leaders who split their time between their religious duties and jobs in the private sector. Some religious leaders have resisted the trend, but others expect it to become more common as time goes by. “If I spent three years in the seminary and another two years serving in a church, I would become out of touch for five or six years, and I wouldn’t even be able to catch up with what other people say,” the part-time preacher said. Li, who graduated from a theological school in 2019, said he enjoyed serving his 150-strong congregation, but felt it was his calling to reach out to people outside the church and his commercial work helped him fulfil that goal. He said young working adults were the most likely to lose their Christian faith, attributing the trend to other pastors’ lack of experience with the everyday struggles of their congregations. Li said he believed he could reach more people through his work as the founder of a fair trade company and as an executive director for an event management company. “Inside the church, people see me as their pastor, while people outside view me as one of them,” he said. “This allows me to act as an agent in between.” Warm wood, tree-like columns – new Union Church connected to nature and past Reverend James Chan, Li’s supervisor, said their non-denominational church in Mong Kok was examining how to adapt to the post-Covid era. Some leaders in the community had expressed their belief that a spiritual calling should not be limited to a single role within the church, he added. As part of this recognition, the church made the unprecedented decision to offer Li a part-time contract as a preacher to allow him to continue his work in the private sector. Chan said, although slash pastors were not widely accepted at the moment, he thought they would become more common as a new generation of preachers tried to avoid being tied to a single church. Churches were also struggling to hire full-time preachers due to a drop in donations after waves of Hongkongers had left for other countries, he added. Hong Kong church leaders call for culture of forgiveness in Christmas messages Reverend Tim Lam Chun, president of the city’s Methodist Church, said he expected part-time pastors would gain more visibility in non-denominational churches because the institutions could offer them more flexibility. But he predicted slash pastors might struggle to fulfil the duties required of clergy working for denominational churches. Lam said he respected how the new generation of pastors served their faith and felt that preachers should strive to offer their best services to God. Derek Lam Shun-hin is also part of the new wave of part-time preachers, beginning his studies at Chinese University’s Divinity School of Chung Chi College eight years ago on his path to becoming a multi-vocational pastor. The 30-year-old worked as an editor for a digital marketing company and as a catering consultant before he graduated from divinity school last summer and took up the role of pastor at two small independent churches. Hong Kong gets its first metaverse churches with avatars and virtual preachers Lam also sells alcohol in a pub in Sheung Wan twice a month and offers pastoral care to those who have rejected traditional church settings. The slash pastor said he was impressed with the turnout for a Halloween event last year, with many coming in fancy dress to visit the bar rather than visit the city’s popular entertainment district of Lan Kwai Fong. “They didn’t go to Lan Kwai Fong [nearby], but joined the pastor bar’s event … this shows that society needs pastors,” Lam said. Dr Kung Lap-yan, an adjunct associate professor at Chinese University’s divinity school, said the emergence of slash pastors reflected a post-materialistic era where the younger generation placed more emphasis on purpose and values. “This slash work caters to their desire to avoid dedicating their entire lives to a single pursuit and being defined by only one occupation,” he added. But Kung said other generations might accuse slash pastors of not serving God wholeheartedly, without realising that the digital era allowed people to take on several roles at the same time. Daniel Ku, 35, said he had encountered such misunderstandings in his past job as a full-time pastor at a Baptist church. He added he had maintained a good relationship with the minister-in-charge until he diversified into running a board game ministry about three years ago. He said his superior had raised concerns about the amount of time he dedicated to the church. “The church thought that I was allocating my working hours to other endeavours that did not directly benefit the church,” Ku said.