Church of the Nazarene

Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
Nazarene Seal.png
Seal of the Church of the Nazarene
Classification Protestant
Orientation Evangelical
Polity Mixed. Elements of Congregationalist,
Presbyterian,
and Episcopal polities.
Associations Christian Holiness Partnership;
National Association of Evangelicals;
World Methodist Council;
Geographical areas Global
Founder Include: Phineas F. Bresee,
Hiram F. Reynolds,
William Howard Hoople,
Mary Lee Cagle,
Robert Lee Harris,
J.B. Chapman,
and C.W. Ruth.
Origin October 13, 1908
Pilot Point, TX, USA
Merge of 15 Holiness denominations 1907–1988
Separations Pentecost-Pilgrim Church (1917);
Bible Missionary Church (1955);
Holiness Church of the Nazarene (1958);
Church of the Bible Covenant (1967).
Congregations 26,353 (2010)
Members 2,059,261 (2010)

The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world.[1][2] At the end of 2010, the Church of the Nazarene had 2,059,261 members in 26,353 churches in 156 different "world areas".[3] The organization of a small congregation in Antwerp, Belgium in 2011,[4] has increased Nazarene presence to 157 world areas.[5] Most members of the Church of the Nazarene are found in the United States and Canada (663,375),[3] Haiti (116,000),[6] Bangladesh (65,000),[7] and India (59,039).[8] The denomination has the highest per capita population in the nations of Cape Verde, Samoa, Barbados, Haiti and Swaziland.[9]

The mission is "to respond to the Great Commission of Christ to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19)".[10] In December 2006, this was expressed more succinctly as "to make Christlike disciples in the nations".[11] This frames the global mission of the denomination. In 2009 the General Assembly indicated in its revision of Article XI of the Manual the means for accomplishing its mission: "making disciples through evangelism, education, showing compassion, working for justice, and bearing witness to the kingdom of God."[12] Since 2001, the three “core values” of the Church have been identified as “Christian, missional, and holiness.”[13]

The Church of the Nazarene supports 54 undergraduate and graduate educational institutions in 35 countries on six continents around the world.[14][3] Since September 15, 2008, the headquarters of the denomination is the Global Ministry Center (GMC) located at 17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, Kansas.[15] The Nazarene Publishing House has been located in Kansas City, Missouri since 1912.

Contents

Memberships and affiliations

The Church of the Nazarene is currently a member of the Christian Holiness Partnership, the National Association of Evangelicals, the World Methodist Council, Mission Exchange (formerly the Evangelical Fellowship of Missions Agencies), the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability,[16] the Wesleyan Holiness Consortium,[17] and the Wesleyan Holiness Study Project.[18]

Statistics

At the end of September 2010, the Church of the Nazarene had 2,059,261 members (a net increase of 113,719 members or 5.85 percent gain from the previous year).[19] In the previous year there were 173,204 new members of the Church of the Nazarene,[19] the highest number in the denomination's history.[20] Membership in the United States and Canada in 2010 was 663,375 (an increase of 3,862 in the past year),[20] the largest of any nation (32.2% of the total church membership).[20] The largest number of Nazarenes in other nations are Haiti with about 116,000 members,[21] Bangladesh (65,000),[7] and India with 59,039 members.[8] There are more total members outside the U.S.A. and Canada with 1,395,886 church members in non-USA and Canada regions.[20] In 2010, 173,204 new Nazarenes was reported,a record gain.[20] Most of that growth took place outside of the U.S.A. and Canada (108,149 net increase in church members in 2009). The denomination has the highest percentage presence in the nations of Cape Verde (where its members constitute 2.5% of the population); Samoa (1.88% of the population); Haiti (1.28% of the population); Barbados (1.0% of the population); and Swaziland (0.96% of the population).[9] In 2000 there was the highest percentage of Nazarene presence in the USA, with 2.25 members for every 1,000 US people (0.25%).[22] According to the [Board of General Superintendents in December 2009, "an average of 455 people came to Christ and joined the Church of the Nazarene every day last year".[23]

In 2010 there was 18,527 organized churches (a 7.22% increase from the previous year),[19] and 7,826 church-type missions for a total of 26,353 local churches around the world (a net increase of 2,068 from the previous year).[20] In 2010 a total of 1,327 new churches was organized, a record gain.[20]

During 2010, an average of 1,380,770 people attended worship services in the Church of the Nazarene around the world each week.[24]

During 2010, the total amount of money paid for all purposes by Nazarenes was US$898.313 million (a decrease of US$40.659 million).[19] Worldwide per capita giving was US$436.23 (a decrease of $46.40 from the previous year).[19]

History

Phineas Bresee sought to return to John Wesley's original goals of preaching the good news of the gospel to the poor and underprivileged.

The Church of the Nazarene is the product of a series of mergers that occurred between various holiness churches, associations and denominations throughout the 20th century.[25] The most prominent of these mergers took place at the First and Second General Assemblies, held at Chicago, Illinois, and Pilot Point, Texas in 1907 and 1908,[26] respectively. The primary architect of these early mergers was C.W. Ruth.[27]

First General Assembly

The First General Assembly held in Chicago, Illinois from 10–17 October 1907 brought together the Eastern and the Western streams. The Western group was the Church of the Nazarene founded in October 1895 in Los Angeles, California by Dr. Phineas F. Bresee, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Dr Joseph Pomeroy Widney, a Methodist physician, and the second president of the University of Southern California. The Eastern group was the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America, a denomination formed on 13 April 1897 through the merger of two older bodies: The Central Evangelical Holiness Association (organised 13–14 March 1890) and led by Fred A. Hillery and C. Howard Davis; and three churches organised by William Howard Hoople since January 1894, and formed into the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America. On 12 November 1896, these two groups met in Brooklyn, agreed upon a plan of union, which included retaining the name and Manual of Hoople's group.[28] Prominent leaders included Hiram F. Reynolds, Davis, and Hoople.[29] At the time of its merger with the Church of the Nazarene in 1907, the APCA existed principally from Nova Scotia to Iowa and the northeastern United States. The name of the united body adopted at the First General Assembly was Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, and Bresee and Reynolds were elected the first general superintendents.

Interim accessions

In April 1908 Bresee accepted Edgar P. Ellyson, president of the Holiness University of Texas of Peniel, Texas, his wife, Mary Emily Ellyson (1869–1943), and many leaders and members of the Holiness Association of Texas into the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, with Emily Ellyson elected pastor of the new congregation at Peniel.[30] In September 1908 the Pennsylvania Conference of the Holiness Christian Church under the leadership of Horace G. Trumbauer merged with the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene.[31]

Second General Assembly

At the Second General Assembly held at Pilot Point, Texas, the Holiness Church of Christ, located in the southern United States, merged with the Pentecostal Nazarenes. The Holiness Church of Christ itself was the merger of the New Testament Church of Christ founded in July 1894 at Milan, Tennessee by R.L. Harris, but soon led by his widow Mary Lee Cagle,[32] and a group (also called the Holiness Church of Christ), that resulted in November 1904 at Rising Star, Texas from the prior merger of The Holiness Church' (founded in 1888 in Texas) and the Independent Holiness Church (formed at Van Alstyne, Texas in 1901, and led by Charles B. Jernigan and J.B. Chapman).[33] The merger of the Holiness Church of Christ in the south and the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene took place on Tuesday, October 13, 1908, at 10:40 a.m., "amid great shouts of joy and holy enthusiasm."[34] The newly merged Church of the Nazarene began with 10,034 members, 228 congregations, 11 districts, and 19 missionaries, according to historical records.[35] The latter date marks the "official" founding date. Bresee, Reynolds and Ellyson were elected general superintendents.

Later accessions

Other independent bodies joined at later dates, including the Pentecostal Church of Scotland (founded in 1909 by Rev. George Sharpe) and the Pentecostal Mission (founded in 1898 by J.O. McClurkan), both in 1915. At this point, the Church of the Nazarene now embraced seven previous denominations and significant parts of two other groups. In time, the Church of the Nazarene and the Wesleyan Church would emerge as the two major denominations to gather in the smaller bodies of the 19th century Wesleyan-holiness movement. In subsequent decades, there were new accessions and mergers. In the 1922, more than one thousand members and most of the workers led by Joseph G. Morrison, from the Laymen's Holiness Association (founded in 1917) located in the Dakotas, joined the Church of the Nazarene. In the 1950s, there were mergers with the Hephzibah Faith Missionary Association (founded in 1893 in Tabor, Iowa) in 1950; the International Holiness Mission (founded in London in 1907 by David Thomas) merged on 29 October 1952; the Calvary Holiness Church (founded in Britain 1934 by Maynard James and Jack Ford), united on June 11, 1955; and the Gospel Workers Church of Canada (founded in Ontario in 1918) became part of the Church of the Nazarene on 7 September 1958. On April 3, 1988, an indigenous Church of the Nazarene in Nigeria, established in the 1940s, merged with the denomination.[36]

The 2009 General Assembly authorized a committee with "the responsibility to approach "like-minded churches in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition in order to pursue closer relations, with a goal of exploring the possibility of a merger or a collaborative relationship."[12]

Separations

Throughout its history, there have been several groups that separated from the Church of the Nazarene to form new denominations. Among the new denominations formed by those seceding or being expelled from the Church of the Nazarene are: the People's Mission Church (1912), which had become part of the Church of the Nazarene in 1911, but subsequently became part of the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1925; the Pentecost Pilgrim Church (1917), which merged with the International Holiness Union to form the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1922; the Bible Missionary Church (1955), which subsequently split to create the Wesleyan Holiness Association of Churches (1959), and the Nazarene Baptist Church (1960) (later Nazarene Bible Church in 1967); the Holiness Church of the Nazarene (1961) in the Philippines; the Church of the Bible Covenant (1967); the Crusaders Churches of the United States of America (1972); and the Fellowship of Charismatic Nazarenes (1977).[37]

International growth

World Ministry headquarters designed by 360 Architects in Lenexa which opened in 2008
Former International Headquarters of the Church of the Nazarene, Kansas City

Even before the merger of October 1908, the parental bodies of the Church of the Nazarene had a vision to be an international denomination. International expansion began in India in 1898 by missionaries sponsored by the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America.[38] By 1908, there were churches in Canada and organized work in India, Swaziland, Cape Verde, and Japan, soon followed by work in central Africa, Mexico, and China. The 1915 mergers added congregations in the British Isles and work in Cuba, Central America, and South America. There were congregations in Syria and Palestine by 1922. General Superintendent Reynolds advocated "a mission to the world," and support for world evangelization became a distinguishing characteristic of Nazarene life. Taking advantage of new technologies, the church began producing the Showers of Blessing radio program in the 1940s, followed by the Spanish broadcast La Hora Nazarena and later by broadcasts in other languages. From the 1940s through the 1980s, indigenous holiness churches in other countries continued to join the church.

At the time of the 50th anniversary of the denomination in October 1958, a total of 19.8% of all Nazarenes lived outside the continental United States.[39] In 1981 the figure was 28.3%.[40] In late 1991 there were one million members of the denomination globally, with 43% living outside the USA.[41] By 2000 the church's membership was just under 1.4 million, with the church's membership outside the USA doubling in the previous decade, and now comprising 53% of total global church membership.[41] In June 2009, 64 percent of Nazarene members and 80 percent of the church's 429 districts are outside the United States.[42] Almost 25% Nazarenes are from Africa,[3] and more than 20% Nazarenes speak Spanish as their first language.[43]

In 2011, the church is located in 157 "world areas" (approximately equivalent to nations).[44][45] At the 2009 annual meeting of the General Board, it was decided that the denomination would enter the following new nations: Guinea-Conakry (Africa Region), Niger (Africa Region); Moldova (Eurasia Region), and Norway (Eurasia Region).[46] Each week Nazarenes worship in more than 212 languages or tribal languages, with literature produced in 90 of these.[47] The Church of the Nazarene reaches out to persons around the globe through the Internet, radio broadcasts in 33 languages, and video and printed materials in 95 languages.[47] In 2008, there were 794 General Board-funded missionaries (active, retired, regional, Mission Corps volunteers, and "tentmakers") for the Church of the Nazarene.[47] These missionaries originate from 26 world areas. In 2008, 508 Mission Corps (formerly Nazarenes in Volunteer Service) volunteers, including 23 "tentmakers," ministered in 51 world areas.[48]

Internationalization

Developments (1907–1932)

Prayer House of Nazarene Christian Community in Novi Sad, Serbia, built in 1922–1924

The primary architect of Nazarene mission philosophy and practice was Hiram F. Reynolds, who had served as the foreign missionary superintendent in the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America (APCA) from its earliest years, and held a similar role in the Church of the Nazarene (under various titles) from 1907 until 1922.[49] Influenced by the indigenous church mission theories of Anglican Henry Venn (1796–1873) and American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions secretary Rufus Anderson (1796–1880), from the beginning of the global expansion of the Church of the Nazarene (including its antecedent groups), there was a commitment to the development of indigenous churches and districts within the framework of a unitary global denomination under the authority of the Manual.[50] As early as 3 March 1914, Nazarene mission policy developed for the work in Japan by Reynolds encouraged the creation of "self-supporting and self-governing churches":

When a Mission Church reaches a place where it can become entirely self supporting it shall be organized by the District Missionary Superintendent (SIC) Into a self supporting body according to the manual of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene adapted to the needs peculiar to the country, and shall be governed by the same. The church shall be granted a pastor whose duties and privileges (SIC) shall conform to the manual; and at this time all missionary control shall be relinquished except such superintendency as provided for in the manual.[51]

Under the policy, foreign districts would be granted the same rights as US districts, with control passing from missionaries to local leaders.[52] However, in 1919, all reference to the missionaries relinquishing control was removed, and the following substituted: "The pastor and delegates from the self-supporting church to the District Assembly must be able to enter into the deliberations of the Assembly in the English language until such time as a self-supporting district may be formed."[53]

Developments (1922–1964)

Gailey indicates, that by 1932 these policy statements had been broadened to full "three-self" language, with the instruction to missionaries to cultivate among local Christians "...self support, self leadership and responsibility for the propagation of the gospel in that field."[54] The "language was unchanged for the next twenty years, and has remained essentially intact until the present time."[55] By the 1930s, Nazarene missions leaders "did not aim toward the development of autonomous national churches, but a federation of districts. They did not plan for indefinite missionary control. Without a great deal of thought about where this would lead, without consciously copying any other denomination's model of church government, and without much theological reflection, the Church of the Nazarene became an international body."[56] The first non-missionary district superintendents were George Sharpe (born in Scotland in 1865; died 1948) in Britain (November 1915) and Vicente G. Santin (1870–1948), appointed district superintendent in Mexico in 1919.[57] In January 1936 the General Board divided the declared the Japan District into two, and the Western or Kwansai district became the first regular district in the denomination, "with all the rights and privileges of any of the North American and British Isles districts subject to the Manual and the General Assembly,"[58] however the effects of World War II on the church in Japan saw it revert to a missionary-led district.

Developments (1964–1980)

According to one denominational historian, W.T. Purkiser, the process of "internationalizing" the church began at the General Assembly in Portland, Oregon in 1964 with an eight-year study of the church's total missionary program."[59] Soon after that General Assembly, E.S. Phillips was elected Executive Secretary for World Missions, who encouraged the self-study. In this period, a think tank comprising R. Franklin Cook, a former missionary to India and member of the World Mission department since 1961; missiologist Paul Orjala, pioneer missionary to Haiti; and Honorato Reza, long-time representative for the Hispanic church, was formed to advise Phillips.[60] They were responsible for developing the denomination's first "National Church Policy" that was adopted in 1966, and indicated explicitly for the first time the steps towards achieving "regular" district status.[61] At the General Assembly of 1972, held at Miami Beach, Florida, Phillips, influenced by the recommendations of the preceding self-study, recommended in his report that "The administrative bodies of the church must be internationalized....That portion of the church that lives overseas...must be given full voice in the councils of the church."[62] Phillips advocated contextualization of the gospel and internationalization of denominational programs and structures.[63] It was only in 1972 that the General Secretary began to include overseas membership in reporting totals, as prior to this time it had been difficult to collect the needed data.[64]

In 1973 Phillips died, and was succeeded by former missionary to Germany Jerald Johnson (born 1916). In 1974 the Guatemala Northeast district achieved regular status, the first since Japan achieved this milestone in 1936[65] Also in 1974 the Nazarene Young Peoples Society (now Nazarene Youth International) in its desire to be more inclusive, held its first International Institute (now Nazarene World Youth Conference) on the campus of European Nazarene Bible College in Büsingen, Germany. At the 1976 General Assembly held in Dallas, Texas, a Commission on Internationalization was created to recommend "means by which the next stage of internationalization might be implemented."[63] In 1976, concrete steps were taken to make possible an international church with the creation of three intercontinental zones outside the USA and Canada: Intercontinental Zone I (Europe, the Middle East and Africa); Intercontinental Zone II (the Orient and South Pacific); and Intercontinental Zone III (Central and South America).[66] In 1977 the General Board had eight members (18%) from outside the USA among its 44 members.[67] In 1978 the first international district superintendents' conference was held in Kansas City, Missouri, with 52 leaders from 35 nations represented.[63]

At the 1980 General Assembly, held in Kansas City, the denomination formally committed itself to the process of internationalization, a deliberate policy of being one church of congregations and districts worldwide, rather than splitting into national churches like earlier Protestant denominations. The principle was set forth of “one church, one doctrine, one polity, and one policy.”[13] At that time, the entire denomination was divided into fifteen geographical regions, with eight in the USA based around its regional college; one in Canada; and the three Intercontinental Zones subdivided into six regions: Africa; Asia; Europe and Middle East; Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean; South America; and the South Pacific.[68] The General Board now included members from outside the USA, Canada and the other parts of the British Commonwealth. In 1980 the General Board had fourteen (27%) out of its 51 members residing outside the United States and Canada.[67]

Developments after 1980

After the election of Jerald Johnson as a general superintendent in June 1980, the General Board elected L. Guy Nees as his replacement.[69] During his six years of leadership, Nees appointed directors for each of the six missions regions, who supervised the establishment of administrative offices in each region.[70] The 2nd Commission on Internationalization recommended that regional directors should be born in the region. The 1985 General Assembly allowed "cultural adaptations of local, district, and regional church government procedures", approved the creation of regional advisory councils and conferences, and national administrative boards.[71] In 1989 the 3rd Commission recommended that the Church of the Nazarene should be a "denomination of districts (not nations)", and that districts and regions should follow geographical rather than racial or ethnic lines. The 1989 General Assembly stated three principles for internationalization: "(1) shared mission; (2) national identity; and (3) indigenization"; prohibited districts being constituted on the basis of ethnicity; explicitly rejected the idea of a commonwealth or federation of the denomination, in favour of it being a "global family"; and created a Commission on the International Church.[72]

In 1999 incoming professor of missions at Nazarene Theological Seminary Mario Zani indicated that the biblical concept of koinonia, the fellowship "that transcended any differences, assignments, or titles", should be the basis of the development of the Church of the Nazarene. Zani critiqued the idea of internationalization as being too predetermined and focused on strategies and administrative policies, whereas he advocated the denominational goal should be globalization, which he defined as "that process by which we become sensitized and responsive to the multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and multi-national world of which we are a part."[73] Zani concluded that though the Church of the Nazarene was "international from its conception, it was not truly global."[74]

By the 2001 General Assembly, held in Indianapolis, 42 percent of delegates present and voting were not native English speakers. In 2011 68 percent of Nazarene members and 82 percent of the church's 439 districts are outside the United States. However, General Secretary David Wilson reported that at the 2009 General Assembly that 562 delegates present and registered were from the USA and Canada (55 percent) and 461 delegates were from other world regions (45 percent).[12] As many elected delegates from outside the United States could not attend the General Assembly due to US immigration policies, financial or other reasons, the General Assembly authorised the creation of "a committee to address the concern that a high percentage (as many as 40 percent in some world regions) of non-North American/non-United States delegates are unable to attend a General Assembly".[12] Since the Church of the Nazarene's quadrennial General Assembly is based on representation from districts from 156 world areas, the 2009 General Assembly was probably one of the most racially and linguistically diverse general meetings of any religious body that originated on American soil. At the 2009 General Assembly the delegates voted to create a global Manual that would be streamlined in comparison to recent Manuals, consist of the Foreword, and Parts I, II, and III of the current Manual, and would also include parts of the Manual that are global in scope, retaining the universally appropriate polity and principles." The General Assembly authorised the different regions to adapt the Manual to fit specific cultural contexts and would function as a "regional Manual policy handbook."[12]

For the quadrennium starting July 2009, the General Board currently has 44 members representing the church's then 15 regions, and an additional four members were elected to represent Education (2), Nazarene Youth International, and Nazarene Missions International. Of the 48 members elected, 27 (56%) are from outside the USA, and 21 are US citizens. Five are women.[75]

Denominational name

The current name of the denomination is inherited from the one of its primary antecedent groups, the Los Angeles, California based Church of the Nazarene founded in October 1895 by Dr. Phineas F. Bresee and Dr. Joseph Pomeroy Widney. The name of the denomination comes from the biblical description of Jesus Christ, who had been raised in the village of Nazareth (and was regarded consequently as "a Nazarene"). In the New American Standard Bible translation, Jesus is called the Nazarene in Matthew 2:23; Mark 10:47; Mark 14:67; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:19; John 18:5; John 18:7; John 19:19; Acts 2:22; Acts 3:6; Acts 4:10; Acts 6:14; Acts 22:8. Consequently, the denominational name focuses on Jesus who was "The Nazarene". Additionally, the followers of Jesus were initially called "Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5), a term perhaps used by Jesus himself.

Dr Joseph Pomeroy Widney

In 1895 the name of the denomination was first recommended by Dr. Joseph Pomeroy Widney, a former president of the University of Southern California and an influential figure in the early days of the Church of the Nazarene on the West Coast, where with Bresee, he was elected as a general superintendent for life. Widney explained that the name had come to him one morning after spending the whole night in prayer. He said that the word "Nazarene" symbolized "the toiling, lowly mission of Christ. It was the name that Christ used of Himself, the name which was used in derision of Him by His enemies, the name which above all others linked Him to the great toiling, struggling, sorrowing heart of the world. It is Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth to whom the world in its misery and despair turns, that it may have hope"[76] The denomination started as a church that ministered to the homeless and poor, and wanted to keep that attitude of ministering to "lower classes" of society.

At the First General Assembly that united Bresee's denomination with the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America in October 1907, the denominational name that emerged was the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, reflecting the ancestry of both denominational tributaries. At the subsequent General Assembly (held in October 1908 at Pilot Point, Texas), which saw the merger with the Holiness Church of Christ, which was subsequently regarded as the natal date of the denomination, the 1907 decision was upheld.

The term "Pentecostal" in the church's original name soon proved to be increasingly problematic. In the Wesleyan-holiness movement, the word was used widely as a synonym simply for "holiness." But the rise of 20th century Pentecostalism, especially after 1906, gave new meanings and associations to the term—meanings that the Pentecostal Nazarenes rejected. At the fifth General Assembly held in Nashville in 1919, in response to resolutions from thirty-five district assemblies, the General Assembly voted to remove the word "Pentecostal" from the church name, leaving it simply "Church of the Nazarene."[77]

Doctrine and beliefs

The official doctrines of the Church of the Nazarene called Manual: Church of the Nazarene published quadrennially after the General Assembly, the primary convention and gathering of Nazarenes, at which leaders are elected, and amendments and suggestions are incorporated into the Manual. The Manual is published in print, and is available online at the Nazarene Church's website.[78] Nazarenes have established 16 "Articles of Faith" as a guiding principle for living Christianity. The "Articles" include the following: one eternal self-existent God manifest in a threefold nature; the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit; the authority of the Bible; Original and Personal Sin; the work of atonement; prevenient grace; the need for repentance; justification, regeneration, and adoption; entire sanctification; the church; baptism by immersion, sprinkling, or pouring; the Lord's Supper for all believers; divine healing; the return of Jesus Christ; and the resurrection of the dead.[79]

While there is no official theology text authorised by the denomination, there are several that have been widely used in the pre-ordination training course for ministers. The most influential theologians within the Church of the Nazarene have been Edgar P. Ellyson, author of Theological Compend (1908); A.M. Hills, author of Fundamental Christian Theology (1931); H. Orton Wiley, author of the three-volume Christian Theology (1940–1943); Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, author of A Theology of Love (1972) and Foundations of Wesleyan-Arminian Theology (1972); Richard S. Taylor; H. Ray Dunning, author of Grace, Faith & Holiness (1988), author ; and J. Kenneth Grider, author of A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology (1994). In the early years of the denomination, books by John Miley and William Burt Pope were used. Contemporary Nazarene theologians include Michael Lodahl, Thomas A. Noble, Thomas Oord, Samuel M. Powell, Bryan Stone, and Rob Staples.

Arminianism

The Church of the Nazarene stands in the Arminian tradition of free grace for all and human freedom to choose to partake of that saving grace. The Nazarene Church distinguishes itself from many other Protestant churches because of its belief that God's Holy Spirit empowers Christians to be constantly obedient to Him—similar to the belief of other churches in the Evangelical Holiness movement. The Nazarene Church does not believe that a Christian is helpless to sin every day. Rather, the Nazarene Church does teach that sin should be the rare exception in the life of a sanctified Christian. Also, there exists the belief in entire sanctification, the idea that a person can have a relationship of entire devotion to God in which they are no longer under the influence of original sin. This means that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, people can be changed so as to be able to live a holy life for the glory of God. The concept of entire sanctification stems from John Wesley's concept of spiritual perfection. This is interpreted on a variety of different levels; as with any denomination, certain believers interpret the theology more rigidly and others less so.

Both the doctrines of entire sanctification and prevenient grace are usually interpreted in less rigid fashion by most church members, viewing spiritual perfection as something to strive toward, being already sanctified and forgiven for their sins under the sacrifice of Christ. Hence, thinking in a circular and very Greek fashion, one would be perfect, since one would be forgiven; however, since Christ was also human, and one is still entirely alive and living in the world, then one would still need to continue striving to live the best, or most "perfect" life possible, because Christ was God and man. And so, the dilemma continues in theological interpretation.

In recent years, Nazarene theologians have increasingly understood the movement's distinctive theological doctrine, entire sanctification, as best understood in terms of love. Love is the core notion of the various understandings of holiness and sanctification found in the Bible. Christians are called to love when in relation to God and others (Oord and Lodahl, 2005).

Distinctive Wesleyan emphases

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The spiritual vision of early Nazarenes was derived from the doctrinal core of John Wesley's preaching and the holiness movement of the 19th century. The affirmations of the church include justification by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ, sanctification by grace through faith united with good works, entire sanctification as an inheritance available to every Christian, and the witness of the Spirit to God's work in human lives. The holiness movement arose in the 1830s to promote these doctrines, especially Entire Sanctification, but splintered by 1900. The Church of the Nazarene remains committed to Christian holiness. The key emphasis of Wesley's theology relates to how Divine grace operates within the individual. Wesley defined the Way of Salvation as the operation of grace in at least three parts: Prevenient Grace, Justifying Grace, and Sanctifying Grace.

Prevenient grace, or the grace that "goes before" us, is given to all people. It is that power which enables us to love and motivates us to seek a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.[80] This grace is the present work of God to turn us from our sin-corrupted human will to the loving will of the Father. In this work, God desires that we might sense both our sinfulness before God and God’s offer of salvation. Prevenient grace allows those tainted by sin to nevertheless make a truly free choice to accept or reject God's salvation in Christ.[80]

Justifying Grace or Accepting Grace[80] is that grace, offered by God to all people, that we receive by faith and trust in Christ, through which God pardons the believer of sin. It is in justifying grace we are received by God, in spite of our sin. In this reception, we are forgiven through the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The justifying grace cancels our guilt and empowers us to resist the power of sin and to fully love God and neighbor. Today, justifying grace is also known as conversion, "accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior," or being "born again".[80][81] John Wesley originally called this experience the New Birth.[82] This experience can occur in different ways; it can be one transforming moment, such as an altar call experience,[83] or it may involve a series of decisions across a period of time.[84]

Sanctifying Grace is that grace of God which sustains the believers in the journey toward Christian Perfection: a genuine love of God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and a genuine love of our neighbors as ourselves. Sanctifying grace enables us to respond to God by leading a Spirit-filled and Christ-like life aimed toward love.

Wesleyan theology maintains that salvation is the act of God's grace entirely, from invitation, to pardon, to growth in holiness. Furthermore, God's prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace interact dynamically in the lives of Christians from birth to death.

For Wesley, good works were the fruit of one's salvation, not the way in which that salvation was earned. Faith and good works go hand in hand in Methodist theology: a living tree naturally and inevitably bears fruit. Wesleyan theology rejects the doctrine of eternal security, believing that salvation can be rejected.[85] Wesley emphasized that believers must continue to grow in their relationship with Christ, through the process of Sanctification.

A key outgrowth of this theology is the commitment of Nazarenes not only to the Evangelical Gospel of repentance and a personal relationship with God, but also to compassionate ministry to the poor.

Historical and contemporary issues

The Church of the Nazarene also takes a stance on a wide array of current moral and social issues, which is published in the Manual and online. These issues have included stances regarding human sexuality, theatrical arts, movies, social dancing, AIDS/HIV, and organ donation.[86] On some matters, such as human sexuality, the church remains relatively conservative, while its stance on scientific discovery might be considered comparatively liberal.

Consistent with the position of classical Nazarene theologian H. Orton Wiley, several contemporary Nazarene theologians, including Thomas Jay Oord, Michael Lodahl, and Samuel M. Powell, have endeavored to reconcile the general theory of evolution with theology. There are an increasing number of Nazarene scientists who support theistic evolution, among them Karl Giberson, Darrel R. Falk, and Richard G. Colling, whose 2004 book, Random Designer, has been controversial within the denomination since 2007. At the most recent General Assembly held in Orlando, Florida in July 2009, there was extended debate on a resolution to adopt a more fundamentalist view of the doctrine of Creation based on a more literal view of the Bible, however this resolution was defeated.

Throughout its history, the Church of the Nazarene has maintained a stance supporting total abstinence from alcohol and any other intoxicant, including cigarettes. Primary Nazarene founder Bresee was active in the Prohibition cause. Although this continues to be debated, the position remains in the church. While the church does not consider alcohol itself to be the cause of sin, it recognizes that intoxication and the like, are a 'danger' to many people, both physically and spiritually. Historically, the Nazarene Church was founded in order to help the poor. Alcohol, gambling, the like, and their addictions were cited as things that kept people poor. So in order to help the poor, as well as everyone, Nazarenes have traditionally abstained from those things. Also, a person who is meant to serve an example to others should avoid the use of them, in order not to cause others to stray from their 'walk with God,' as that is considered a sin for both parties.

Concerned Nazarenes criticism

Alarmed by what they perceived to be the increasing influence of "emerging church philosophy that had crept into the Nazarene denomination", after August 2008 a group of church members formed an organization called "Concerned Nazarenes".[87] They believe that "The emergent ideology is a perversion of the Word of God and the doctrine of the Church of the Nazarene."[88] The group circulated a petition to members of the denomination, which was presented by 500 members to the Board of General Superintendents in January 2009, with the desire that "Our fervent hope and prayer is that the General Superintendents will respond by purging our denomination of the emergent cancer before it is too late."[88][89] Prior to the most recent General Assembly held in July 2009, the Concerned Nazarenes advocated revising the Articles of Faith to affirm biblical inerrancy: "Old and New Testaments are inerrant throughout and the supreme authority on everything the scriptures teach."[88] Further, they are concerned about the teaching of open theism and biological evolution in Nazarene universities; invitations to emergent church leaders Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, and Doug Pagitt to speak at Nazarene institutions; and the use of "experiential works-based techniques for prayer", including prayer labyrinths, prayer stations and retreats to Roman Catholic monasteries. On 15 June 2009 the Concerned Nazarenes issued a press release indicating "Conservatives are pushing the church hierarchy to make a clear statement about Scriptural inerrancy at the Orlando gathering. Representatives from Indiana have put forward a resolution, urging delegates to affirm the Bible as totally free of error."[90] The resolution was defeated by a large majority of delegates voting. During the General Assembly 6,000 copies of a two-hour DVD outlining the perceived dangers of the Emergent Church were distributed to delegates and visitors.[91] Only one person on the DVD was a member of the Church of the Nazarene.

Nazarene scholars and historians have responded with articles that argue that Biblical inerrancy is not the traditional position the Church of the Nazarene.[92] In 1984 Dr. Kenneth Grider, Nazarene professor, articulated reasons that biblical inerrancy is not a good fit for Wesleyans.[93] Objections raised by the Concerned Nazarenes with regard to Postmodernism are answered in a book edited by Nazarene theologian Tom Oord For The Love of Wisdom and The Wisdom of Love · Thomas Jay Oord entitled, Postmodern and Wesleyan?: Exploring Boundaries and Possibilities,[94] which was published by Beacon Hill Press, an imprint of the Nazarene Publishing House, which endeavors to show how Wesleyan thought can be applied to post modern culture in creative and hopeful ways. The intent of "emerging" and "Nazarene" is to reimagine Wesleyanism in post modern culture something the Concerned Nazarenes view as revisionist and false.[95]

Worship and rituals

First Church of the Nazarene near Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts

For many years Church of the Nazarene congregations had worship services (each lasting about an hour) three times a week: Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. The Sunday evening service was more evangelistically focused with gospel songs sung rather than hymns, testimonies given, and often concluded with an altar call inviting those seeking either salvation or entire sanctification to come forward and kneel at the altar. However, increasingly in recent years, the Sunday and Wednesday evening services in many Nazarene churches have changed from worship services to discipleship training, and many growing churches have utilized weekly small group meetings. Worship services typically contain singing a mix of hymns and contemporary worship songs, prayer, special music, reading of Scripture, sermon, and offering. Services are often focused toward a time of prayer and commitment at the end of the sermon, with people finding spiritual help as they gather for corporate praying.

Worship styles vary widely. Over the last ten years, an increasing number of Nazarene churches have utilized contemporary worship services as their predominant worship style. This may involve the use of a projector to display song and chorus lyrics onto a video screen. More traditional Nazarene churches may have a song leader who directs congregational hymns from the pulpit or platform. In some worship services, particularly the traditional Wednesday night prayer meeting, members are often encouraged to "testify," that is, give an account of some aspect of their spiritual journey. A testimony may describe a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit or speak to a particular event of meaning in a person's recent Christian life. Prayers offered during services are most often communal and led by a single person.

Annual revival meetings have long been a traditional part of Nazarene life, and are still encouraged in the Manual, though may be seen less today than they once were. An evangelist comes to preach the revival services. The Church of the Nazarene licenses and credentials evangelists, many of whom earn their entire living through their ministry of evangelism. Most Nazarene districts also sponsor an annual camp meeting for adults and their families as well as separate camps for both teens and children.

A distinct approach to worship, especially in the early days of the Nazarene church, was the belief that ultimately the Holy Spirit should lead the worship. Services that were considered to be palpably evidenced by leadership of the Holy Spirit were marked by what was called "the Glory." Almost equal to the emphasis on the doctrine of entire sanctification was the emphasis on these unusual worship experiences. Church leaders were careful to avoid emotional techniques to bring about such services. Ritual and the usual order of services were not abandoned but were held loosely. While some of the services were marked by shouting, others were marked by testimony, weeping, and individuals seeking spiritual help.

While Nazarenes believe that the ill should utilize all appropriate medical agencies, Nazarenes also affirm God's will of divine healing and pastors may "lay hands" upon the ill in prayer, either at the hospital or in a worship service. A prayer for divine healing is never understood as excluding medical services and agencies.

Sacraments

The Church of the Nazarene recognizes two sacraments: Christian baptism and the Lord's Supper, or communion.

Every Nazarene church is required to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at least four times a year.[96] In the 2009–2013 Manual pastors are encouraged to increase the frequency of the Lord's Supper[97] Some congregations offer communion at least once a month or even every week.

Nazarenes permit both believer's baptism and infant baptism. When a family in the Church of the Nazarene chooses not to baptize their infants they often participate in an infant dedication. Whether a child is baptized or dedicated is the choice of the parents of the child. This decision is often based on geographic location, local church culture, and their pastor's theological leanings, and if they were baptized or dedicated as a child.

The Nazarene Manual includes rituals for the believer's baptism, infant baptism, infant dedication, reception of new church members, communion, weddings, funerals, the organization of a local church, the installation of new officers, and church dedications[98]

Polity and leadership

The Church of the Nazarene combines episcopal and congregational polities[99] to form a "representative" government.[100] The salient feature of this structure is shared power between people and clergy as well as between the local church and the denomination. At the 1923 General Assembly, the following was stated in relation to the denomination's polity: "Our people have felt they did not want extreme episcopacy in the appointment of pastors, neither did they want extreme congregationalism. In the past, we have tried to find a middle ground, so as to respect the spirit of democracy and at the same time retain a degree of efficiency."[100]

General Assembly

According to the denominational website, "The General Assembly of the church serves as the supreme doctrine-formulating, lawmaking, and elective authority of the Church of the Nazarene, subject to the provisions of the church constitution." Composed of elected representatives from all of the denomination's districts globally, since 1985 the General Assembly has met once every four years. All General Assemblies have been held in the United States. At the most recent General Assembly, held in Orlando, Florida, USA, in June 2009, a total of 1,030 delegates were finally registered, with 982 eligible to vote, and 48 non-voting delegates. The General Assembly elects the members of the Board of General Superintendents and considers legislative proposals from the church's 429 districts. Topics under consideration may range from the method of calling a pastor to bioethics.

Board of General Superintendents

The highest elected office in the Church of the Nazarene is that of General Superintendent. Every four years six ordained elders, who are at least 35 years old and are not over 68 years old, are elected by the General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene for a four-year term. Both ordained females and males are eligible to be elected to the office of General Superintendent. However of the thirty-nine persons who have served in this office, Dr. Nina G. Gunter (born 1940), who served for four years from 2005, is the only female who has been elected. The youngest person elected General Superintendent was Roy T. Williams (1883–1946), who was only 32 when chosen to fill a vacancy caused by the deaths of Phineas F. Bresee (1837–1915) and William C. Wilson (1866–1915), both of whom died within weeks of the 1915 General Assembly. Wilson is the shortest-serving General Superintendent, dying only 33 days after his election at the age of 47. R.T. Williams was the longest-serving general superintendent, who served for just over 30 years from January 1916 to his death in March 1946. Eight of the first eleven General Superintendents died in office, resulting in both the expansion in the number of general superintendents, and an upper age limit of 72. Dr Hiram F. Reynolds (1854–1938), one of the original two General Superintendents elected in October 1907, holds the record as the oldest person to serve in this office, retiring in 1932, at the age of 78.

Collectively these six elders constitute the Board of General Superintendents, which is, according to the denominational website, "charged with the responsibility of administering the worldwide work of the Church of the Nazarene. The Board of General Superintendents also interprets the denomination's book of polity, the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene."[99] All official acts of the Board of General Superintendents are subject to the review of the General Assembly, the supreme legislative body in the denomination. At the 2009 General Assembly, General Superintendents Jerry D. Porter (born 1949), was re-elected to a fourth term; Jesse C. Middendorf (born 1942) was re-elected to a third term; and J. K. Warrick (born 1945) was re-elected to another four-year term. In addition, Eugenio Duarte, from Cape Verde, was elected the 37th general superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene, thus becoming the first person elected to the Board of General Superintendents from Africa; David W. Graves was elected as the 38th general superintendent;[101] and Stan Toler was elected the 39th general superintendent.

General Board

The General Board of the Church of the Nazarene was created by action of the 1923 General Assembly to replace a system of independent general boards that often competed with one another for the church dollar. These independent boards became departments of the General Board.[102] The General Assembly elects representatives from around the world to the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene. The General Board carries out the corporate business of the denomination."[99] At the 2009 General Assembly a new General Board was elected to a four-year term. The General Board currently has 44 members representing the church's then 15 regions, and an additional four members were elected to represent Education (2), Nazarene Youth International, and Nazarene Missions International. Of the 48 members elected, 27 are from outside the USA, and 21 are US citizens. Five are women.[75] Meeting at least annually, the most recent meeting of the General Board was held February 25–28, 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky.[103]

Ministers

The Church of the Nazarene has two orders of ordained ministry: the ordained elder and the ordained deacon. The ordained elder is a person, either male or female, who has been set apart for a ministry of "Word and Sacrament." Their primary assignment is to preach the Word, administer the sacraments, and lead the local church. The ordained deacon is a man or woman who has been set apart for full-time ministry in a role other than "Word and Sacrament." Those eligible to be ordained as deacons include those who are called to a full-time ministry of music, Christian social ministry, or director of Christian education, or another ministry that does not typically involve leading a congregation. The church also has district licensed ministers. Usually these are persons who are on the path toward ordination or who are strongly considering a call to ordained ministry. A licensed minister may, in some cases, be the pastor of a church.

The Church of the Nazarene also recognizes these specialized forms of Christian service and ministry.[104] The Church of the Nazarene has 14,869 ordained elders, 684 ordained deacons and 7,435 licensed ministers. On 24 March 2010 the Bangladesh District set a denominational record with 193 women and men ordained in one service, including 30 women, the most ever in the denomination's history, exceeding the 39 ordained in Peru.[105]

Organization

Local church

The basic unit of organization in the Church of the Nazarene is the local church congregation, which may be either an organized church or church-type mission (often known as "New Starts"). The largest congregation in the denomination as measured by average weekly attendance each Sunday morning (as of February 2009) was the Central De Campinas church on the Paulista Sudeste district in Brazil, which reported 8,216 members and an average weekly Sunday morning worship attendance of 7,237. Last year it received 873 new Nazarenes.[106] The next four largest congregations were the Casa De Oracion Paso Ancho church in Colombia (4,600 members; 7,000 worship); the Americana church in Brazil; Grove City Church of the Nazarene in Grove City, Ohio; and College Church of the Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas.[106]

District

Local congregations are grouped administratively into geographical Districts. At the 2009 General Assembly a resolution was passed defining a district as "an entity made up of interdependent local churches organized to facilitate the mission of each local church through mutual support, and sharing of resources, and collaboration."[107] Each district is led by a District Superintendent, who is usually elected by delegates from each local church in an annual meeting called the District Assembly. In embryonic districts, the District Superintendent may be appointed by the jurisdictional General Superintendent. There are currently 439 Districts worldwide.[108] In 2008 these were 174 are Phase 3 (regular districts); 85 are Phase 2; and 141 are Phase 1. There are also 33 pioneer areas.[109] There are 84 Districts in the USA and Canada. The two Districts with the largest membership in the Church of the Nazarene are the Guatemala North Verapaz District, with 22,012 members, and the Korea National District, with 20,282 members. Districts may also be divided into several Zones, where local churches within a Zone may cooperate for various activities, particularly for youth events.

Region

All Districts of the Church of the Nazarene are organized into Regions. From February 28, 2011, there were 14 Regions, with 8 in the United States of America, 1 in Canada, and the other 5 comprising the rest of the world.[20] These 5 non-North American Regions are the Africa (511,373 members in February 2011),[20] in 7,155 churches in 36 countries;[110] Asia-Pacific (109,940 members in more than 1,694 churches in 24 countries);[20] Eurasia (203,873 members in more 5,006 churches in 34 countries); MesoAmerica (which combines the former Caribbean and Mexico & Central America regions) (338,056 members in more than 2,933 churches in 30 countries);[20] and South America (232,644 members in more than 2,786 churches in 10 countries) Regions,[20][111] which are administered through the denomination's department of World Mission, each with a regional Director.[112] Existence of Regions in the United States and Canada is tied to church funds and higher education, as local churches pay budgets on a District level, and as Districts onto the Regional level, and a portion of the local and district budgets is alloted for Nazarene institutions of higher education (see "Higher Education" below). Educational Regions for the Church of the Nazarene were first established in 1918.

Field

Districts in areas administered by the Global Mission are often grouped into "fields", with a field strategy co-ordinator providing strategic leadership. On 31 January 2008, India became the first field in the global Church of the Nazarene to be entirely indigenous with the field strategy co-ordinator, Rev Sunil Dange, and all 15 district superintendents, all ministry coordinators, and all pastors from India.[113]

Higher education

The Manual of the Church of the Nazarene states that "[t]he Church of the Nazarene, from its inception, has been committed to higher education. The church provides the college/university with students, administrative and faculty leadership, and financial and spiritual support... The church college/university, while not a local congregation, is an integral part of the church; it is an expression of the church."[114] In holding to this philosophy, in 2011 the Church of the Nazarene owned and operated 54 educational institutions,[20] comprising 11 liberal arts institutions [115] in Africa, Canada, Korea, Brazil, and the United States, as well as 3 graduate seminaries, 35 undergraduate Bible/theological colleges, 3 nurses' training colleges, 1 junior college, and 1 education college worldwide.[116] In February 2011 the General Board adopted the recommendation of the International Board of Education to combine Swaziland College of Nursing, Swaziland College of Education, and Swaziland College of Theology to establish Southern Africa Nazarene University, which will reduce the number of Nazarene educational institutions to 52 when implemented.[117]

In 2010 there were 49,548 total students in Nazarene higher education schools worldwide (an increase of 3,581 over 2009),[117] in these 54 Nazarene institutions of higher education in 35 countries on six continents, with 30,936 students enrolled in on-campus programs (a decrease of 221 from last year) and 18,612 students enrolled in extension programs (an increase of 3,802 over last year).[117]

At the end of 2010 these educational assets were valued at US$1,041,436,984 (an increase of US$54.9 million over 2009), with liabilities of US$341,009,574, for a net worth of US$$700,427,410.[117][111] During the 2009–2010 academic year, 9,324 degrees were awarded by Nazarene institutions worldwide, an increase of 427 over the previous year.[117] The largest Nazarene educational institution is Korea Nazarene University,[118] with over 5,300 students.

On October 16, 2009 the Global Consortium of Nazarene Graduate Seminaries and Schools of Theology was inaugurated in Manchester, England. It comprised the following eight institutions: Africa Nazarene University (Nairobi, Kenya); Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary (Manila, Philippines); Brazil Nazarene College (Campinas, Brazil); Korea Nazarene University (Cheonan, South Korea); Nazarene Theological College (Brisbane, Australia); Nazarene Theological College-Manchester (United Kingdom); Nazarene Theological Seminary (Kansas City, Missouri); and Seminary of the Americas (San Jose, Costa Rica).[119] Nazarene educational institutions are overseen by the Nazarene International Board of Education (IBOE).[120]

A portion of each local church and district budget is allocated for Nazarene higher education, which subsidizes the cost of each Region or nation's respective institution. Globally the denomination contributed US$$23,904,271 in 2010 (a decrease of US$1,865,713 from 2009) to Nazarene educational institutions.[117][121] Hence, in the United States and Canada,[122] there is one Nazarene liberal arts college per Region.[123] Accompanying that logic of institutional support, there is a gentlemen's agreement between the Nazarene liberal arts colleges in the United States to not actively recruit outside their respective region, requiring that a Nazarene prospective college student must first seek information from any "Off-Region" institution on an individual basis.[124] Bible colleges and seminaries are not associated with a Region in the same way as the liberal arts colleges.

Ministries

There are several key ministries that focus on different aspect of the larger mission statement. The biggest of these are Nazarene Youth International (NYI), Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries, Nazarene Missions International (NMI), and Nazarene Publishing House (NPH).

Nazarene Youth International (NYI)

Nazarene Youth International encompasses membership from young people aged 14–25. NYI membership globally at the end of 2010 was 394,600 (a decrease of 30,971 from 2009) in 13,706 societies worldwide.[125][14]

The NYI-sponsored Third Wave emerging leadership conference is scheduled for January 3–8, 2012, in Bangkok, Thailand, . with approximately 250 participants from 55 countries expected to attend.[125]

Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI)

At the end of 2010, Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI) reported an average global Sunday School weekly attendance of 703,344,[24] and the Global Discipleship Group attendance was 191,912, for a total of 895,256 (an increase of 52,132 from 2009).[24] The Total Global Responsibility List was 1,690,255 in 2009.[14]

Missions

The Church of the Nazarene has been committed to obeying the Great Commission since its inception. According to the 2005–2009 Manual, "Historically, Nazarene global ministry has centered around evangelism, compassionate ministry, and education."[126] In 2010 the denomination had 418 missionaries serving in 156 world areas, including nine creative access areas, and an additional 284 Mission Corps volunteers serving in 49 world areas, for a total of 702 missionaries.[127] In 2010, 92 Youth in Mission participants served in 14 world areas, including 52 participants from outside the USA/Canada Regions.[127] In 2010, 286 books were produced in 59 languages for pastoral training and holiness, and World Mission Broadcast aired 140 radio broadcasts in 72 countries and 36 languages.[127]

Nazarene Missions International (NMI)

Nazarene Missions International (NMI) was founded in 1915 at the fourth General Assembly, as the Nazarene Foreign Missionary Society, with Susan Norris Fitkin elected the first president. Fitkin remained in office until June 1948. NMI is "the church-relations heart of World Mission within each local church",[128] and "the local-church-based global mobilization and promotional arm of the Church of the Nazarene".[129] has 916,470 members.[130] The purpose of NMI is to mobilize churches in mission through praying, discipling, giving, and educating.[131]

Despite the Global Financial Crisis, The total amount raised for the World Evangelism Fund in 2010 was approximately US$45.2 million (a decrease of $1.8 million from the previous year). Mission Specials receipted were an additional US$26.8 million. This combined giving totaled $72 million, which is a decrease of US$6.7 million from 2009.[20] Additionally, $1.2 million was raised in a supplemental WEF Plus Offering in 2010.[20] Despite its membership being less than 33% of the denominational total, the USA regions contributed 97% of WEF funding, and 90% of Approved Specials.[20]

JESUS Film

The Church of the Nazarene is an active participant in the Jesus Film Project, organizing teams to show the Jesus film. In 2008 Global Mission (GM) and JESUS Film Harvest Partners (JFHP) had 351 JESUS Film teams working with missionaries and local leaders, spreading the gospel in 273 languages and in 100 world areas. The cumulative total from 1998 to 2008 is 50,576,397 evangelistic contacts with a reported 8,963,161 decisions made for Christ (17.7 percent of contacts) and 2,944,075 (32.8 percent of decisions) initial discipleship follow-ups. Since 1998, 17,700 new missions were started.[109] In 2008, JFHP had a total of 3,875,777 evangelistic contacts; 728,900 (18.8 percent) of evangelistic contacts indicated a decision for Christ in 2008. Of these decisions there were 319,905 (43.9 percent of decisions) initial discipleship follow-ups. There were also 3,462 new mission churches started in 2008.[109]

In 2010, 68,775 evangelistic contacts were made each week through the use of the JESUS film, with 12,745 people making decisions to accept Jesus as their Savior.[127]

Work and Witness

Since its inception in 1974, Work and Witness, an endeavor that sends teams of volunteers into cross-cultural situations primarily to construct buildings on the mission field, has 196,060 participants who have given 13,246,196 labor hours, which equals 6,564 years of labor. In 2010, there were 537 Work & Witness teams with a total of 8,955 participants.[127] In 2008 teams served in 72 world areas.[109]

Compassionate Ministries

The Church of the Nazarene has 245 full-time compassionate ministries centers and volunteer efforts around the world.[47] Nazarenes have been instrumental in assisting people in every part of the globe who have been affected by war, famine, hurricane, flood, and other natural and human-made disasters. In 2008, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries'[132] Child Development program had 123 Child Development Centers globally that provided more than 11,140 sponsorships in 77 countries, and met the needs of more than 50,000 children through nutritional programs.[133] The church operates 64 medical clinics and hospitals worldwide.[47] In 2010, 11,874 children were fed each week through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries.[134]

Nazarene Publishing House (NPH)

Nazarene Publishing House (NPH), the publishing arm of the Church of the Nazarene, is the largest publisher of Wesleyan-Holiness literature in the world.[135] NPH prints more than 25 million pieces of literature each year.[136] NPH processes more than 250,000 orders each year from more than 11,000 churches.[137]

The Third General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene held in Nashville, Tennessee in 1911 recommended that the infant denomination’s three publishing companies (then located in Rhode Island, Texas, and Los Angeles, California) each founded by a different Nazarene parent body, consolidate into “one central publishing company” and merge their three papers into one strong paper. The newly created Pentecostal Nazarene Publishing House was sited at 2923 Troost Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri, in 1912, with Clarence J. Kinne, a Nazarene ordained minister, as its first manager.[138] The Herald of Holiness, the new weekly paper, edited by B. F. Haynes, appeared for the first time in the spring of 1912. The Other Sheep (later World Mission) magazine began publication in 1913 under founding editor Charles Allen McConnell (born 19 June 1860 in Valparaiso, Indiana; died c.1950), who was NPH manager from 1916 to 1918.[139] Both magazines were published until 1999, when they were discontinued in favor of Holiness Today, a new publication. In the meantime, Spanish, Portuguese, and French editions of Herald of Holiness appeared over the years.[140]

NPH is a separate corporate entity from General Church of the Nazarene, although it is accountable to the church. NPH has a Board of Directors and is also accountable to one of the six General Superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene who has oversight of NPH. NPH publishes a variety of books, music and materials. The primary label under which books are published is Beacon Hill Press. Sunday school curriculum is published under the label Word Action. Youth ministry resources are published under the label Barefoot Ministries. Spanish materials are produced by Casa Nazarena de Publicaciones.

Music and drama resources are published under the label Lillenas Publishing, which was founded in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1925 by Nazarene minister and composer Haldor Lillenas (born 19 November 1885 at Stord Island, Norway; died 18 August 1959 at Aspen, Colorado),[141] and subsequently purchased by NPH[142] in 1930.[143]

Notable Nazarenes

The following are notable people those who have past or current affiliation or membership in the Church of the Nazarene:

Current Nazarenes

Former Nazarenes

  • American investment banker and philanthropist Abram Fitkin, (died 1933), husband of NMI founder, Susan Norris Fitkin, was a member of the John Wesley Church of the Nazarene, Brooklyn;
  • American nuclear scientist Robert W. Faid (1929 — 26 May 2008) was a member of the First Church of the Nazarene, Greenville, South Carolina;
  • Convicted murderer Caril Ann Fugate (born July 31, 1943), the then girlfriend of spree killer Charles Starkweather, the youngest female in United States history to be tried for first-degree murder, while imprisoned at the Nebraska Center for Women in York, Nebraska (1958–1976), "worked in a Nazarene church nursery, taught Bible classes on Sunday, and occasionally delivered sermons".[156] In 1971 Fugate became a member of the York Church of the Nazarene,[157] After her release from prison, Fugate relocated to St. Johns, Michigan, where she served as a volunteer at a Nazarene church in the area;[158]
  • Southern Gospel singer and songwriter Bill Gaither (born March 28, 1936), winner of five Grammy Awards and 28 Dove Awards, and a 1982 inductee to the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, grew up in a Nazarene family, and became a member of the denomination at his home church in Alexandria, Indiana.[159] Currently he attends the Park Place Church of God in Anderson, Indiana;[160]
  • Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks (born 9 July 1956) attended the Church of the Nazarene while living with an aunt as a teenager;[161]
  • American politician Gary Hart (born Gary Warren Hartpence, November 28, 1936), who served as a United States Senator (1974–1980) and was a two-time candidate for President of the United States (1984, 1988), was raised as a member of the Church of the Nazarene; married Oletha Ludwig, the daughter of the General Secretary of the denomination; and also graduated from Southern Nazarene University;[162]
  • Tunney Hunsaker (1 September 1932 – 27 April 2005) , former police chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia, the first opponent of Muhammad Ali in a professional boxing bout in 1960, was a member of the Church of the Nazarene in Oak Hill, West Virginia;
  • Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean (born October 17, 1972), is the son of the late Rev. Gesner Jean (born ca. 1940; died 3 September 2001), a Nazarene pastor, and was raised in the denomination, including the Good Shepherd Church of the Nazarene in Newark, New Jersey, and briefly attended Eastern Nazarene College;[163]
  • Prolific Christian author R. T. Kendall (born 13 July 1935), who pastored the Westminster Chapel for 25 years (1977–2002), was born into a Nazarene family in Ashland, Kentucky, named for general superintendent Roy T. Williams, graduated from Trevecca Nazarene University (1970), and commenced his ministry in the denomination before his Calvinistic convictions necessitated his resignation. In 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree by Trevecca Nazarene University;[164]
  • American artist Thomas Kinkade (born January 19, 1958) was a member of the Church of the Nazarene;[165]
  • Norwegian Gospel Hall of Fame inductee Haldor Lillenas (19 November 1885 – 18 August 1959), was an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, author, song evangelist, poet, music publisher and prolific hymnwriter, who is estimated to have composed over 4,000 hymns;[166]
  • Grammy Award-winning American rock singer-songwriter John Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), was raised in the Church of the Nazarene in Seymour, Indiana;[167]
  • Actress Debbie Reynolds (born 1 April 1932), was raised within the Church of the Nazarene, attending three times a week for sixteen years;[168]
  • American Bob Pierce (1914–1978), the founder of international Christian relief and development organizations World Vision in 1950, and Samaritan's Purse (1970), was an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene;[169]
  • Canadian Charles Templeton (7 October 1915 – 7 June 2001), the co-founder of Youth for Christ, was an evangelist in the Church of the Nazarene, and founder of the Avenue Road Church of the Nazarene in Toronto, Canada, before becoming an agnostic, Ontario Liberal Party politician, newspaper editor, inventor, broadcaster and author;[170]
  • Southern Gospel pioneer and music publisher James David Vaughan (1864–1941), the founder of the Vaughan Conservatory of Music (1911) and the James D. Vaughan Publishing Company (1902), who was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1997, became a member of the Church of the Nazarene in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee (now known as Vaughn Memorial Church of the Nazarene) in the 1920s, and brought the singing Speers Family into the denomination.[171]

Notable church historians include Timothy L. Smith, Stan Ingersol, Floyd T. Cunningham, Paul M. Bassett, and Randall J. Stephens. Biblical scholars of note include Olive Winchester, Ralph Earle, and William Greathouse.

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Pentecostalism", in Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, eds. William H. Swatos and Peter Kivisto (Rowman Altamira, 1998):358.
  2. ^ The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture: Church of the Nazarene
  3. ^ a b c d Eugénio R. Duarte, "ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS TO THE 88TH GENERAL BOARD CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE February 2011", NCN News (February 27, 2011), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10010038
  4. ^ Joelle Friesen, "Church Planters Launch Church of the Nazarene in Belgium", NCN News (October 5, 2011) Church Planters Launch Church of the Nazarene in Belgium.
  5. ^ Gina Grate Pottenger, "New York Economy is Down, but Mission Passion is Up", Engage Magazine (August 18, 2011), New York Economy is Down, but Mission Passion is Up.
  6. ^ "Open Letter and Video from General Superintendent J. K. Warrick on Haiti", NCN Global News Summary (16 January 2010), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000023&id=10008858
  7. ^ a b Gina Grate Pottenger, "Bangladesh: It Started with a Letter", Engage 12 (21 April 2010), http://engagemagazine.com/Magazine-Content/Articles/April-2010/Bangladesh--It-started-with-a-letter.aspx
  8. ^ a b India Stats
  9. ^ a b Membership Stats
  10. ^ Manual p. 7
  11. ^ About the Church's Mission. After a unanimous decision of the Board of General Superintendents in December of 2006 to express the Church's mission more concisely. Archived 16 January 2010 at WebCite
  12. ^ a b c d e "Legislative Actions and G.S. Ballots", Nazarene News (29 June 2009), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10007296
  13. ^ a b http://www.nazarenepastor.org/clergyeducation/portals/0/Naz%20History%20Polity/NHPFacGu.pdf
  14. ^ a b c "Highlights of the 87th Session of the General Board", Holiness Today (May/June 2010):26.
  15. ^ 1 About the GMC
  16. ^ The Church of the Nazarene Accredited by National Financial Accountability Organization
  17. ^ http://holinessandunity.org/fs/?id=791[dead link]
  18. ^ David Neff, "Holiness Without the Legalism: Ten Denominations Cooperate to Revive their Historic Emphasis", Christianity Today (27 March 2006), http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/marchweb-only/113-12.0.html . Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  19. ^ a b c d e "2010 General Secretary/GMC Operations Officer Report", GMC News (March 9, 2011), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000012&id=10010052
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Eugénio R. Duarte, "ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS TO THE 88TH GENERAL BOARD CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE February 2011", NCN News (February 27, 2011), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10010038
  21. ^ On November 4, 2009 church membership in Haiti was reported as 116,000 members. See "Open Letter and Video from General Superintendent J. K. Warrick on Haiti", NCN Global News Summary (16 January 2010), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000023&id=10008858
  22. ^ Finke and Starke, 177.
  23. ^ "General Secretary Releases 2009 Stats", Nazarene News (17 December 2009), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10008750 . Retrieved 19 December 2009.
  24. ^ a b c "2010 Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International Report", GMC News (March 10, 2011), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000012&id=10010082
  25. ^ Bryan Merrill, "The Rise of the Church of the Nazarene" (1992), http: //www.nazarene.org/files/docs/schematic.pdf
  26. ^ List of Church of the Nazarene conventions
  27. ^ "Historical Statement", Manual of the Church of the Nazarene 2005–2009 (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 2005):21.
  28. ^ Watchword, 62.
  29. ^ "Historical Statement", Manual of the Church of the Nazarene 2005–2009 (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 2005):19.
  30. ^ Watchword, 157.
  31. ^ Manual 2005–2009, 22.
  32. ^ Manual, 19.
  33. ^ Manual, 19–20.
  34. ^ Historical Reflections of God at Work[dead link]
  35. ^ Early Church of the Nazarene Stats
  36. ^ Manual, 22–24.
  37. ^ For a more detailed discussion of these separations, see History of the Church of the Nazarene.
  38. ^ Manual Church of the Nazarene 2005–2009:24.
  39. ^ Purkiser, Called 2, 224, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2601-2700/HDM2623.PDF
  40. ^ Called 2:224.
  41. ^ a b Watchword, 511.
  42. ^ "Middendorf Delivers 'A Future of Hope' Quadrennial Address", http://www.nazarene.org/ministries/superintendents/news/middendorf_address/display.aspx, http://www.nazarenemedialibrary.org/MediaView.aspx?mediaId=9ab0e0e0-0888-44fa-8007-03edf0075c04
  43. ^ Watchword, 512.
  44. ^ World Areas. For a map illustrating both the world areas and regions of the Church of the Nazarene, see [1]
  45. ^ Joelle Friesen, "Church Planters Launch Church of the Nazarene in Belgium", NCN News (October 5, 2011) Church Planters Launch Church of the Nazarene in Belgium.
  46. ^ NMI Prayer Mobilization Line for February 24, 2009‏.
  47. ^ a b c d e Church of the Nazarene – About Nazarenes Archived 16 January 2010 at WebCite
  48. ^ Louie E. Bustle; http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10006888
  49. ^ Watchword, 245.
  50. ^ Charles R. Gailey, "Internationalization in the Church of the Nazarene", Paper presented to the Association of Nazarene Social Researchers (c.1987):2–3, http://www.nazarene.org/files/docs/Internationalization%20in%20the%20Church%20of%20the%20Nazarene.pdf; Watchword, 249.
  51. ^ "The Policy of the General Missionary Board of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene to Govern the Work in Japan", 3 March 1914, quoted in Gailey, 2.
  52. ^ Gailey, 2.
  53. ^ "Policy of the General Missionary Board of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene to Govern Its Work in the Foreign Fields", quoted in Gailey, 3.
  54. ^ "Policy of the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene To Govern Its Work In Foreign Fields", Kansas City, Missouri, 1932 (Nazarene Archives):14, quoted in Gailey, 3.
  55. ^ Gailey, 3.
  56. ^ Watchword, 257–258.
  57. ^ Watchword, 181, 184, 253.
  58. ^ Watchword, 257.
  59. ^ Purkiser, Called 2:234.
  60. ^ Gailey, 4.
  61. ^ Gailey, 4–5
  62. ^ Watchword, 525–526.
  63. ^ a b c Watchword, 526.
  64. ^ Purkiser, Called 2: 317.
  65. ^ Watchword, 513.
  66. ^ Watchword, 525; however Purkiser indicates it was in 1972, see Purkiser, Called 2:224.
  67. ^ a b Purkiser, Called 2:226–227.
  68. ^ Purkiser, Called 2: 225.
  69. ^ Watchword, 516–517.
  70. ^ Watchword, 517.
  71. ^ Watchword, 528.
  72. ^ Watchword, 529.
  73. ^ Mario Zani, quoted in Watchword, 531.
  74. ^ Watchword, 531.
  75. ^ a b "General Board Members: 2009–2013", Nazarene News (9 July 2009); http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10007318; "General Board Vacancy Filled", Nazarene News (13 August 2009), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000023&id=10007416
  76. ^ Smith, Called Unto Holiness, Volume I.
  77. ^ Redford, 14, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/0101-0200/HDM0145.PDF
  78. ^ Church of the Nazarene Online Archived 16 January 2010 at WebCite
  79. ^ Manual 2005–2009 page 30-38
  80. ^ a b c d "God's Preparing, Accepting, and Sustaining Grace". The United Methodist Church GBGM. http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/wesley/walk.stm. Retrieved 2007–08–02. 
  81. ^ "Statement of Belief". Cambridge Christ United Methodist Church. http://www.cambridgechristumc.com/statementofbelief.htm. Retrieved 2007–08–02. 
  82. ^ "The New Birth by John Wesley (Sermon 45)". The United Methodist Church GBGM. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/45/. Retrieved 2007–08–02. 
  83. ^ "Altar Call". The United Methodist Church. http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=258&GID=349&GMOD=VWD&GCAT=A. Retrieved 2007–08–02. 
  84. ^ "Quotes by various Methodist Bishops and Leaders of the Past". The Independent Methodist Arminian Resource Center. http://www.imarc.cc/buletins/methodistq.html. Retrieved 2007–08–02. 
  85. ^ Weber, Max; Kalberg, Stephen. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-57958-338-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=h_OvkrxWzFUC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=salvation+can+be+lost+methodist&source=web&ots=JAi_Dw5UE-&sig=PvKcDnmSU_QuB4tuKTMn54Foh7A&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result. Retrieved 2009–01–04. 
  86. ^ Manual 2001–2005 page 367-373
  87. ^ "Who Are Concerned Nazarenes?", Concerned Nazarenes,
  88. ^ a b c http://www.concernednazarenes.org/page12.php[dead link]
  89. ^ To see the petition, http://www.ericbarger.com/grace.naz.petition12-2008.pdf
  90. ^ http://www.ericbarger.com/naz.pressrelease.6-2009.pdf
  91. ^ Manny Silva, "General Assembly Diary" (Friday, July 3, 2009), http://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/general-assembly-diary/
  92. ^ The Modern Inerrancy Debate. For an overview of the relationship between Nazarenes and Biblical inerrancy, see Stan Ingersol, "Strange Bedfellows: The Nazarenes and Fundamentalism", http://www.nazarene.org/files/docs/Strange%20Bedfellows%20The%20Nazarenes%20and%20Fundamentalism.pdf
  93. ^ http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/wesleyjournal/1984-wtj-19-2.pdf
  94. ^ Amazon.com: Postmodern and Wesleyan?: Exploring the Boundaries and Possibilities (9780834124585): Jay Richard Akkerman, Thomas J. Oord, Brent D. Peterson, Leonard I. Sweet: Bo...
  95. ^ Nazarene Denomination Is Losing its Way? « Reformed Nazarene (contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. Jude 1:3)
  96. ^ Manual, p. 190[dead link]
  97. ^ Manual, p. 190.[dead link]
  98. ^ Manual, p. 238-271.[dead link]
  99. ^ a b c About Archived 16 January 2010 at WebCite
  100. ^ a b History of Nazarene Polity
  101. ^ NCNNews: Bowling rescinds election as GS
  102. ^ "Turning Points in Nazarene History: An Outline of Major Trends", http://www.nazarene.org/ministries/administration/archives/history/turn/display.aspx
  103. ^ "2010 Church of the Nazarene Foundation Report", GMC News (March 9, 2011), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000012&id=10010079
  104. ^ Organization of the clergy in the Church of the Nazarene
  105. ^ Eurasia Communications, "Bangladesh District Ordains 193, Including 30 Women", (31 March 2010), http://www.eurasiaregion.org/index.php/where-worlds-meet/193-bangladesh-district-ordains-193-including-30-women; Gina Grate Pottenger, "Bangladesh: It Started with a Letter", Engage 12 (21 April 2010), http://engagemagazine.com/Magazine-Content/Articles/April-2010/Bangladesh--It-started-with-a-letter.aspx
  106. ^ a b "Top 100 Churches in 2008 Worship Attendance", http://www.nazarene.org/files/docs/Top100World1.pdf
  107. ^ Legislative Actions and G.S. Ballots," Nazarene News (29 June 2009), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10007296
  108. ^ "2010 General Secretary/GMC Operations Officer Report", NCN News (March 9, 2011), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000012&id=10010052
  109. ^ a b c d Louie E. Bustle, "2008 Nazarene World Mission Report" to the General Board, Church of the Nazarene (February 2009); https://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000015&id=10006888 . Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  110. ^ "Africa Region Reaches Half Million in Membership", NCN News (February 8, 2011), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10009948
  111. ^ a b "Highlights of the 87th General Board", Holiness Today (May/June 2010):25.
  112. ^ Nazarene World Mission Archived 16 January 2010 at WebCite
  113. ^ Nazarene Communications Network
  114. ^ 2005–2009 Manual, p. 170
  115. ^ Historical Perspectives on Nazarene Higher Education
  116. ^ Church of the Nazarene – School Weblinks
  117. ^ a b c d e f "2010 International Board of Education Report", GMC News (March 9, 2011), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000012&id=10010080
  118. ^ Korea Nazarene University
  119. ^ "Global Consortium of Nazarene Graduate Seminaries and Schools of Theology", Nazarene News (October 28, 2009), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10007630.
  120. ^ IBOE Archived 16 January 2010 at WebCite
  121. ^ "Highlights of the 87th General Board", Holiness Today (May/June 2010):26.
  122. ^ Nazarene Educational Regions
  123. ^ For a map of the North American educational regions for the Church of the Nazarene, see [2]; The regional colleges are Canada Region for Ambrose University College in Calgary, Alberta, Eastern USA Region for Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) in Quincy, Massachusetts, North Central USA Region for MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) in Olathe, Kansas, East Central USA Region for Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Northwest USA Region for Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) in Nampa, Idaho, Central USA Region for Olivet Nazarene University (ONU) in Bourbonnais, Illinois, Southwest USA Region for Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) in San Diego, California, South Central USA Region for Southern Nazarene University (SNU) in Bethany, Oklahoma, Southeast USA Region for Trevecca Nazarene University (TNU) in Nashville, Tennessee
  124. ^ Guidelines and Handbook for Educational Institutions of the Church of the Nazarene. Church of the Nazarene International Board of Education. 1997. p. 14. http://www.nazarene.org/files/docs/guide.pdf. 
  125. ^ a b "2010 Nazarene Youth International Report", GMC News (March 10, 2011), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000012&id=10010085
  126. ^ Manual 2005–2009:25.
  127. ^ a b c d e "2010 Global Mission Report", GMC News (March 9, 2011), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000012&id=10010053
  128. ^ Daniel Ketchum, "2008 Nazarene Missions International Report" to the General Board, Church of the Nazarene, 21–23 February 2009; http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10006896 . Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  129. ^ NMI: Nazarene Missions International information
  130. ^ Church of the Nazarene – Statistics Archived 16 January 2010 at WebCite
  131. ^ "2010 Nazarene Missions International Report", GMC News (March 10, 2011), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000012&id=10010084
  132. ^ Nazarene Compassionate Ministries
  133. ^ "Child Development and Sponsorship Report", NCM Magazine (spring 2009):12.
  134. ^ "2010 Global Mission report", GMC News (March 9, 2011), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000012&id=10010053
  135. ^ "About the Church of the Nazarene"; http://www.nazarene.org/ministries/administration/visitorcenter/about/display.aspx . Retrieved 18 March 2009. Archived 16 January 2010 at WebCite
  136. ^ . Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  137. ^ . Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  138. ^ Stan, Ingersol, "The Nazarene Presence in Kansas City" (2007); http://m7conference.org/Default.aspx?tabid=151 . Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  139. ^ Dorli Gschwandtner, "Dr. C. A. McConnell"; http://www.snu.edu/c-a-mcconnell[dead link]
  140. ^ Stan Ingersol, "A CENTURY OF ONE AND MANY: A History of One Hundred Years of the Church of the Nazarene"; http://dentonnazarene.org/Article%20-%20History%20of%20the%20Church%20of%20the%20Nazarene.htm . Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  141. ^ Brother Maynard, "HoMY 67: Wonderful Grace of Jesus" (24 August 2008); http://subversiveinfluence.com/2008/08/homy-67-wonderful-grace-of-jesus/ . Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  142. ^ Keith W. Ward, "A Hymn of Grace: Wonderful Grace of Jesus" Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 10:18 (Spring 1997); http://faithalone.org/journal/1997i/Ward.html . Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  143. ^ Stacey Nicholas, "Holiness Churches", in The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, eds. David J. Bodenhamer, Robert Graham Barrows, and David Gordon Vanderstel (Indiana University Press, 1994):699.
  144. ^ "Cape Town Mayor Resigns over Porn", BBC News (13 September 2000), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/923166.stm
  145. ^ Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City
  146. ^ William D. Lindsey and Mark Silk, Religion and Public Life in the Southern Crossroads: Showdown States (Rowman Altamira, 2004):98–99.
  147. ^ Stephen M. Miller, Raising Kids (Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1994):104.
  148. ^ Wade Clark Roof, and Mark Silk, Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Region: Fluid Identities (Rowman Altamira, 2005):75; R.T. Kendall, In Pursuit of His Glory: My 25 Years at Westminster Chapel (Charisma House, May 2004):201.
  149. ^ "Kent Hill meets with new U.S. leadership" (26 January 2009), "Nazarenes in the News: 01.26 – 01.30.2009", http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10006746; "Biography of Kent R. Hill: Acting Administrator", http://www.usaid.gov/about_usaid/bios/bio_khill.html; Steven M. Tipton, Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life (University of Chicago Press, 2008):188, 190.
  150. ^ Crystal Lewis, "i know whom i have believed" (10 February 2009), http://crystallewis.com/blog/?paged=2
  151. ^ Adriana Janovich, "New Challenges Await 'Retiring' Pastor", Yakima Herald-Republic (26 December 2008), http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2008/12/26/new-challenges-await-retiring-pastor; "Crystal Lewis sets concert stop in Laredo", Laredo Morning Times (7 July 2000):2D, http://airwolf.lmtonline.com/quepasa/archive/070700/pasa2.pdf; Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 45 (Abingdon Press, 1977):50; Bil Carpenter, Uncloudy Days: the Gospel Music Encyclopedia (Backbeat Books, 2005):505;
  152. ^ Juan M. Isais, "Out of the Salt Shaker", Christianity Today (16 November 1998), http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1998/november16/8td072.html
  153. ^ Trinity Church Perth http://www.trinitychurchperth.org/Trinity_Nazarene_Website/Welcome.html
  154. ^ "Gospel Music of Elvis Presley", Speer Family and Descendants in America (31 May 2009), http://speerusa.wordpress.com/
  155. ^ http://www.wall.org/~larry/;[dead link]
  156. ^ "After 17 years Behind Bars, Carol Ann Fugate Anticipates Her Freedom", Ludington Daily News (4 August 1975):1; "Carol Fugate Paroled, Spent 18 Years in Prison", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (9 June 1976):2.
  157. ^ "Parole urged for girlfriend of killer in 1958 spree", Eugene Register-Guard (25 August 1973):3.
  158. ^ The Boston Globe (9 September 1990).
  159. ^ William Kostlevy and Gari-Anne Patzwald, eds., Historical Dictionary of the Holiness Movement (Scarecrow Press, 2001):112; Robert H. Lochte, Christian Radio: The Growth of a Mainstream Broadcasting Force (McFarland & Co., 2005):112.
  160. ^ Denomination and style at averyfineline
  161. ^ Richard Corliss and Cathy Booth, "Tom Terrific", Time (21 December 1998):3, http://www.time.com/time/reports/bestof98/the_best_of_1998.cinema2c.html; "The Religious Affiliation of Actor Tom Hanks", http://www.ldsfilm.com/actors/TomHanks.html
  162. ^ Gary Hart, God and Caesar in America: An Essay on Religion and Politics (Fulcrum Publishing, 2005):11–16, 87; Richard Ben Cramer, What it Takes: The Way to the White House (Vintage Books, 1993):328ff.; The CQ Guide to Current American Government 41 (Congressional Quarterly, inc., 1983):2538.
  163. ^ Brian Hiatt, "Wyclef Jean Q&A: How the Ex-Fugee Got His Groove Back", Rolling Stone (29 November 2007), http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17477100/wyclef_jean_qa_how_the_exfugee_got_his_groove_back; "Deaths", Vibe (December 2001):92; "Playa Haitian", Vibe 6:8 (August 1998):74–78;Sara Cardace, "Influences: Wyclef Jean", New York Entertainment (25 November 2007), http://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/features/41264/; Tina L. Balin-Brooks, "Hip-Hop Mega-Star Works toward Change in Haiti", Grassroots Development: Journal of the Inter-American Foundation 27:1 (2006):36; Alyshia Gálvez, Performing Religion in the Americas: Media, Politics and Devotional Practices of the Twenty-first Century (Seagull Books, 2007):137.[dead link]
  164. ^ R.T. Kendall, In Pursuit of His Glory: My 25 Years at Westminster Chapel (Charisma House, May 2004):31, 46, 186, 198; "About RT", http://www.rtkendallministries.com/index.html; R.T. Kendall, "Yesterday's Anointing", Lutheran Renewal (February 2004):1, http://www.lutheranrenewal.org/archives/feb2004/newsletter_1.html (from Kendall, The Anointing: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow); "Trevecca Awards Honorary Doctorate to Former Pastor of London’s Westminster Chapel", NCN News (3 April 2008 ), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10005900
  165. ^ Randall Balmer, The Kinkade Crusade, Christianity Today (4 December 2000), http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/december4/6.48.html
  166. ^ Haldor Lillenas, Down Melody Lane: An Autobiography (Beacon Hill Press, 1953); L. C. Rudolph, Hoosier Faiths: A History of Indiana Churches & Religious Groups (Indiana University Press, 1995):424; William Kostlevy and Gari-Anne Patzwald, eds., Historical Dictionary of the Holiness Movement (Scarecrow Press, 2001):59.
  167. ^ Mellencamp discusses his Nazarene origins, see 8min 35sec to 9min 55secs, "Mellencamp Muses About Mortality, 'Love'" (3 July 2009), http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wnij/.artsmain/article/9/1338/1525536/People/Mellencamp.Muses.About.Mortality..%27Love%27/; Current Biography Yearbook (H. W. Wilson Co., 1988):375; "John Mellencamp Named 2001 Century Award Winner Honoree", Billboard (14 July 2001):105; Andrew M. Greeley, "Ronstadt and Mellencamp: The Search for Roots", Chapter 14 in God In Popular Culture (Thomas More Press, 1989):154, http://www.ronstadt-linda.com/artgod88-1.htm; "John Mellencamp, The Modern Mortal", Interview on National Public Radio (31 March 2009), http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102517146
  168. ^ Arnold Gingrich, Coronet 48 (David A. Smart); Debbie Reynolds and David Patrick Columbia, Debbie: My Life (Pocket Books, 1988):43, 142; David Fisher, Been There, Done That (St. Martin's Press, 2000):87; Dick Sheppard, Elizabeth: The Life and Career of Elizabeth Taylor (W. H. Allen, 1975).
  169. ^ Franklin Graham and Jeanette W. Lockerbie, Bob Pierce: This One Thing I Do (Word Books, 1983):40ff.
  170. ^ Kevin Bradley Kee, "'In Tune with the Times': Charles Templeton and Post-World War II Revivalism", in Revivalists: Marketing the Gospel in English Canada, 1884–1957 (McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP, 2006):143–187, see 143; "CANADA: Evangelist to Editor", Time (3 October 1960), http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894954,00.html#ixzz0aQRR0z5h
  171. ^ Watchword, 288–289.

Further reading

General

  • Hill, Samuel S., ed. Encyclopedia of Religion in the South.
  • Mead, Frank S., Samuel S. Hill, & Craig D. Atwood. Handbook of Denominations,
  • Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States, Glenmary Research Center

Biographies

  • Bangs, Carl. Phineas F. Bresee: His Life in Methodism, the Holiness Movement, and the Church of the Nazarene. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1995.
  • Laird, Rebecca. Ordained Women in the Church of the Nazarene: The First Generation. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1993.

Comparative and Sociological

  • Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776–2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy, Revised and Expanded Edition. Rutgers University Press; Revised edition, 2005.
  • Newman, William M. and Peter L. Halvorson, eds., Atlas of American Religion: The Denominational Era, 1776–1990. Rowman Altamira, 2000.
  • Tracy, Wesley and Stan Ingersol. Here We Stand: Where Nazarenes Fit in the Religious Marketplace. Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1999.

History

  • Chapman, J.B. A History of the Church of the Nazarene. Kansas City, MO: Nazarene, 1926.
  • Cunningham, Floyd T. Holiness Abroad: Nazarene Missions in Asia. Pietist and Wesleyan Studies, No. 16. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
  • Cunningham, Floyd T., ed. Our Watchword and Song: The Centennial History of the Church of the Nazarene. Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8341-2444-8
  • Parker, J. Fred. Mission to the World: A History of Missions in the Church of the Nazarene Through 1985. Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 1988.
  • Purkiser, Westlake T. Called Unto Holiness: Volume Two: The Story of the Nazarenes: The Second Twentyfive Years, 1933–1958. Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1983.
  • Redford, M.E. The Rise of the Church of the Nazarene. 3rd ed. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1974.http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/0101-0200/HDM0145.PDF
  • Smith, Timothy L. Called Unto Holiness: Volume One: The Story of the Nazarenes: The Formative Years. Nazarene Publishing House, 1962.

Internationalisation

Theology

  • Dunning, H. Ray. Grace, Faith & Holiness: A Wesleyan Systematic Theology. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8341-1219-3
  • Ellyson, Edgar P. Theological Compend. Chicago, Christian Witness Co., 1908.
  • Greathouse, William M. Wholeness in Christ: Toward a Biblical Theology of Holiness. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1998.
  • Grider, J. Kenneth. A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology. Beacon Hill Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0-8341-1512-5
  • Hills, A.M. Fundamental Christian Theology: A Systematic Theology. 2 vols. C.J. Kinne, 1931. Vol. 1: http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2201-2300/HDM2259.PDF Vol. 2: http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2201-2300/HDM2260.PDF
  • Leclerc, Diane. Discovering Christian Holiness: The Heart of Wesleyan-Holiness Theology. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2010.
  • Oord, Thomas Jay and Michael Lodahl. Relational Holiness: Responding to the Call of Love. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2005.
  • Quanstrom, Mark R. A Century of Holiness Theology: The Doctrine of Entire Sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene: 1905 to 2004. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2004.
  • Taylor, Richard S. Exploring Christian Holiness, Volume 3: Theological Formulation. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1985.
  • Wiley, H. Orton. Christian Theology. 3 vols. Kansas City, MO; Beacon Hill Press, 1940, 1941, 1943.
  • Wynkoop, Mildred Bangs. Foundations of Wesleyan-Arminian Theology. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1972.
  • Wynkoop, Mildred Bangs. A Theology of Love. The Dynamic of Wesleyanism. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1972.

See also

External links


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  • Church of the Nazarene —    The Church of the Nazarene, an American based Holiness church, was founded in 1895 by Phineas E Bresee (1838 1915), a former pastor in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1894, Bresee asked church leaders to appoint him to an independent… …   Encyclopedia of Protestantism

  • Church of the Nazarene —   [ tʃəːtʃəv ȓə næzə riːn; englisch »Kirche des Nazareners«], 1895 aus dem amerikanischen Methodismus hervorgegangene, heute in über 120 Ländern vertretene Freikirche mit zentralem Sitz (Gen. Superintendent; Theologisches Seminar) in Kansas City …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Church of the Nazarene — Die Kirche des Nazareners ist eine Freikirche und Heiligungsgemeinde in methodistischer Tradition. Sie wurde 1908 in Pilot Point, Texas, gegründet und hat inzwischen weltweit etwa 1,6 Millionen Mitglieder in über 150 Ländern der Erde.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Church of the Nazarene (disambiguation) — Church of the Nazarene may refer to: Church of the Nazarene, an international Christian denomination with a Wesleyan holiness theology. Georgia District Church of the Nazarene, the Georgia District of the Southeast USA Region of the Church of the …   Wikipedia

  • Church of the Nazarene Foundation — The Church of the Nazarene Foundation (also referred to as the Nazarene Foundation) is the denominational foundation for the Church of the Nazarene. External links Official Website Categories: Church of the NazareneFoundations based in the United …   Wikipedia

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  • Georgia District Church of the Nazarene — The Georgia Nazarene District is the umbrella organization of Church of the Nazarene congregations in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was officially created in 1915. It currently oversees 102 Nazarene Churches and a Nazarene campground located in… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Church of the Nazarene conventions — General Assembly= The General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene (General Assembly, or GA) is the premier convention of the Church of the Nazarene, as it is provided for the supreme legislative body of the Church of the Nazarene. Since 1985,… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Church of the Nazarene schools — This is a list of bible colleges, liberal arts colleges, and seminaries owned and operated by the Church of the Nazarene. They are listed by continent and country. Contents 1 Africa 1.1 Côte d Ivoire 1.2 Kenya 1.3 …   Wikipedia

  • General Superintendent (Church of the Nazarene) — General Superintendent is the highest elected office within the Church of the Nazarene. General Superintendents are elected by the General Assembly of the denomination for a four year term to expire at the end of the next General Assembly. List… …   Wikipedia

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