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Church of the Nazarene

The Church of the Nazarene, often referred to as the Nazarene Church is an international evangelical Christian denomination that began in the Wesleyan tradition of the 19th century Holiness movement. Its mission is "to respond to the Great Commission of Christ to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19), or, more succinctly, "to make Christlike disciples in the nations. This frames the global mission of the denomination. Since 2001, the three “core values” of the Church have been identified as “Christian, missional, and holiness.” It 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), and the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

As of 2007, the church had 1,733,772 members in 20,958 churches from around the world. Membership in the United States is 642,523, the largest of any nation (followed by Haiti over 107,000 members, and India with 59,039 total members), although as of 2007 there are presently more total members outside the U.S.A. with 1,077,822 non-US church members. A total of 1,032 new churches were organized, and 170,045 new Nazarenes were reported in 2007 (a net increase of 111,049 church members). Most of that growth took place outside of the U.S.A. (108,553 net increase in church members in 2007). 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); Barbados (1.0% of the population); Haiti (0.99% of the population); and Swaziland (0.96% of the population) members.)

The Church of the Nazarene also supports 56 educational institutions around the world. As is common for an evangelical Christian denomination, the Nazarene church holds revivals and is highly active in missionary work. The Global Headquarters for the Church of the Nazarene is in Kansas City, Missouri, where the Nazarene Publishing House is also located. In 2005, the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene decided to relocate the headquarters complex to Lenexa, Kansas, and name the new facility the Global Ministry Center (GMC). The move will correspond with the denominational centennial celebration in October 2008.

Origin of denominational name

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 NASB translation, Jesus is called the Nazarene in ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; . 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.

The name of the denomination was first recommended by Dr. J.P. Widney, a former president of the University of Southern California and influential figure in the early days of the Church of the Nazarene on the West Coast. He 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" (Smith, Called Unto Holiness, Volume I). The denomination started as a mission that ministered to the homeless and poor, and wanted to keep that attitude of ministering to "lower classes" of society.

History

First founded in 1895 in Los Angeles, California, by Phineas F. Bresee, a Methodist Episcopal Church minister, and Dr. Joseph Pomeroy Widney, a Methodist layman and former President of the University of Southern California, the Church of the Nazarene today is the product of many mergers that occurred between various holiness churches and denominations throughout the course of the early 20th century. 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 , respectively. The latter date marks the "official" founding date. The newly-merged Church of the Nazarene began with 10,034 members, 228 congregations, 11 districts, and 19 missionaries, according to historical records.

The First General Assembly brought together the East and the West: the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America, a denomination formed in 1896 through the merger of two older bodies that existed principally from Nova Scotia to Iowa and the northeastern United States, and the primarily-West Coast Church of the Nazarene. The name of the united body adopted at the First General Assembly was Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene.

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 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.

The Holiness Church of Christ in the South, like the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America in the east, was also the result of an earlier merger between two older denominations. Between the First and Second General Assemblies, there also occurred major accessions of members from the Holiness Association of Texas and the merger in September 1908 of the Pennsylvania Conference of the Holiness Christian Church.

The term "Pentecostal" in the church's original name soon proved to be 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 Nashville General Assembly in 1919, the name was shortened to avoid any confusion in the public mind about the church's place on the theological spectrum.

Other independent bodies joined at later dates, including the Pentecostal Church of Scotland and Pentecostal Mission, both in 1915. At this point, the Church of the Nazarene now embraced 7 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 accretions and merges. In the 1920s, there were major accessions from the Laymen's Holiness Association located in the Dakotas. In the 1950s, there were mergers with the International Holiness Mission and the Calvary Holiness Church, both located primarily in the United Kingdom, the Hephzibah Faith Missionary Association in Iowa, the Gospel Workers Church of Canada, and an indigenous Church of the Nazarene in Nigeria.

International growth

Even before the merger of October 1908, the Church of the Nazarene had a vision to be a global denomination. By then, 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. Current missionary work is both evangelistic and compassionate in nature. As of 2007, the church is located in 151 "world areas" (approximately equivalent to nations). In 2007, there were 774 General Board-funded missionaries (active, retired, regional, Mission Corps volunteers, and "tentmakers") for the Church of the Nazarene. These missionaries originate from 26 world areas. In 2006, 534 Mission Corps (formerly Nazarenes in Volunteer Service) volunteers, including 22 "tentmakers," ministered in 66 world areas.

In the General Assembly of 1972, held at Miami Beach, steps were taken to move the church in structure, as well as name, toward an international fellowship, with the proposal that mission area districts must be represented on all legislative bodies of the church. In 1976, concrete steps were taken to make possible a regional church with the creation of intercontinental zones. In 1980, these zones became six church regions. 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.” By the 2001 General Assembly, held in Indianapolis, 42 percent of delegates present and voting were not native English speakers. Today 62 percent of Nazarenes and 80 percent of the church's 429 districts are outside the United States. Since the Church of the Nazarene's general meeting in 2005, the quadrennial General Assembly, is based on representation from districts from 151 world areas, it is probably one of the most racially and linguistically diverse general meeting of any religious body that originated on American soil.

Influential figures

Founders and architects of the denominational mergers included Phineas F. Bresee, Joseph Pomeroy Widney, Fred Hillery, Hiram Reynolds, Ernest E. Angell, Mary Lee Cagle, C.B. Jerrigan, C. W. Ruth, Reuben "Bud" Robinson, and J.O. McClurkan. Some of the denomination's earlier theologians of note include H. Orton Wiley, A. M. Hills, Stephen S. White, and J.B. Chapman, Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, and J. Kenneth Grider. Some of its contemporary theologians include H. Ray Dunning, Rob L. Staples, Michael Lodahl, Thomas Jay Oord, Samuel Powell, Tom A. Noble, and Steve McCormick. The church's earlier Biblical scholars of note include Olive Winchester, Ralph H. Earle, William Greathouse. Its contemporary Biblical scholars of note include A.R.G. Deasley, George Lyons, and Richard P. Thompson. Notable church historians include the late Timothy L. Smith, Paul M. Bassett, Harold Raser, Floyd Cunningham and Stan Ingersol.

Doctrine and beliefs

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, sanctification by grace through faith, 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. Nazarene doctrines and beliefs are published in a book called Manual: Church of the Nazarene published quadrennially at the General Assembly, the premiere convention and gathering of Nazarenes, at which leaders are elected, and amendments and suggestions are updated into the Manual. The Manual is published in print, and is available online at the Nazarene Church's website.

Nazarenes have established 16 "Articles of Faith" as a guiding principal for living Christianity. The "Articles" include the following: one eternal self-existent God manifest in a three-fold 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.

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 days, 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).

Historical and contemporary issues

The Church of the Nazarene has maintained a stance supporting total abstinence from alcohol and any other intoxicant, including cigarettes. 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.

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.

The Church of the Nazarene believes that every man or woman should be treated with dignity, grace, and holy love, whatever their sexual orientation (gender of person attracted to). However, the Nazarene Church continues to hold the position that the homosexual lifestyle is sinful and is contrary to the Scriptures. The Church of the Nazarene further reemphasizes the call to Nazarenes around the globe to recommit themselves to a life of holiness, characterized by holy love and expressed through the most rigorous and consistent lifestyle of sexual purity. The Nazarene Church stands firmly on the belief that the biblical concept of marriage, always between one man and one woman in a committed, lifelong relationship, is the only relationship within which the gift of sexual intimacy is properly expressed.

Worship and rituals

Nazarene churches typically have worship services three times a week: Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. In recent years, the Sunday and Wednesday evening services in many Nazarene churches have changed from worship services to discipleship training or other types of activities. Worship services typically contain singing of hymns or contemporary "praise choruses," prayer, special music, reading of Scripture, sermon, and offering. If the sermon is evangelistic in nature, a service may end with an "altar call."

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, though may be seen less today than they once were. An "evangelist" comes to preach the revival services. The Church of the Nazarene has been known to credential 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.

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. Nazarenes permit believer's baptism and infant baptism alike, although in recent times infant baptism has given way to more frequent infant "dedication" ceremonies, thus reserving baptism until after the time when the child makes a conscious decision to follow Christ. Every Nazarene church is required to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at least four times a year. Some congregations offer Communion at least once a month. The Nazarene Manual also includes rituals for the reception of new church members, weddings, funerals, the installation of new officers, and church dedications.

Polity and leadership

The Church of the Nazarene combines episcopal and congregational polities to form a "representative" government. 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 denominational'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."

Board of General Superintendents

Six ordained elders are elected by the General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene every four years to serve as the Board of General Superintendents. The general superintendent is the highest elected office in the Church of the Nazarene. According to the denominational website, "This board is 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." The current general superintendents, elected in 2005, are the following: Paul G. Cunningham, James H. Diehl, Nina G. Gunter, Jesse C. Middendorf, Jerry D. Porter and J. K. Warrick. Dr Gunter is the first female general superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene.

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 regular districts globally, the General Assembly meets once every four years. 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. The General Assembly also 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." In recent years, there has been an excess of 1,000 voting delegates. The General Assembly meets usually every four years.

Ministers

The Church of the Nazarene's 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. The Church of the Nazarene has 14,869 ordained elders, 684 ordained deacons and 7,435 licensed ministers.

Organization

The basic unit of organization in the Church of the Nazarene is the local congregation, which may be either an organized church or church-type mission (often known as "New Starts").

Districts

Local congregations are grouped administratively into Districts, each district 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 429 Districts worldwide, with 85 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.

Fields

Districts in areas administered by the Department of World 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.

Regions

Most District Churches of the Nazarene are organized into Regions. In 2006, there were 15 Regions, with 8 in the United States of America, 1 in Canada, and the other 6 comprising the rest of the world. These 6 non-North American Regions are the Africa (364, 698 members in 5, 629 churches in 33 countries), Asia-Pacific (100, 965 members in 1,585 churches in 24 countries), Caribbean (146, 884 members in 1,078 churches in 23 countries), Eurasia (129, 796 members in in 3,363 churches in 32 countries), Mexico & Central America (148,559 members in 1,698 churches in 7 countries), and South America Regions (186,920 members in 3,027 churches in 10 countries), which are administered through the denomination's department of World Mission, each with a regional Director.

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.

Higher education

A portion of the local and district budgets is alloted for Nazarene higher education, and subsidizes the cost of each Region's (see Organization, Region above) respective institution. Hence, in the United States and Canada, there is one Nazarene liberal arts college per Region. 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. Bible colleges and seminaries are not associated with a Region in the same way as the liberal arts colleges.

"The 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. In holding to this philosophy, the Church of the Nazarene owns and operates 11 liberal arts institutions in Africa, Canada, Korea, and the United States, as well as 3 graduate seminaries, 37 undergraduate Bible/theological colleges, 3 nurses' training colleges, 1 junior college, and 1 education college worldwide. Over 40,800 students are enrolled in these 56 Nazarene institutions of higher education. The largest Nazarene university is Korea Nazarene University, with over 5,300 students. Nazarene educational institutions are overseen by the Nazarene International Board of Education (IBOE).

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 Ministries, Nazarene Missions International (NMI), and Nazarene Publishing House (NPH) (which is the world's largest publishing house of holiness literature.)

Nazarene Youth International, like the name implies, encompasses membership from Nazarenes 12-28. The NYI meet regionally every fours year on the alternate quadrennial of the General Assembly. These are called Nazarene Youth Conferences. Delegates of the global NYI also meet at the General Assembly. Selected NYI members also meet at the Third Wave conferences, the next one to be held in 2011.

Missions and "Compassionate Ministries"

Nazarene Missions International (NMI), "the local-church-based global mobilization and promotional arm of the Church of the Nazarene"

has 916,470 members. The total amount raised for World Evangelism Fund in 2007 was approximately US$48.5 million (with nearly $47 million coming from the U.S.A.). In 2006, the Church of the Nazarene sent 1,119 Work & Witness teams, with a total of 20,581 participants. This represents an estimated 506 years of donated labor.

The Church of the Nazarene has 176 Compassionate Ministries Centers in the United States of America and Canada to help care for underprivileged and hurting people. In 2006, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries' Child Development program provided more than 9,348 sponsorships and nutritional assistance in over 79 countries.

When natural disasters hit any world area, NMI falls under the organization of Nazarene Disaster Response.

Notes and references

Encyclopedia of Religion in the South, Samuel S. Hill, editor
Handbook of Denominations, Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, & Craig D. Atwood
Relational Holiness: Responding to the Call of Love. Thomas Jay Oord and Michael Lodahl. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2005.
Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States, Glenmary Research Center
The Manual: Church of the Nazarene, 1995/2005, ISBN 0-8341-1944-7
A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology, J. Kenneth Grider, 1994. ISBN 0-8341-1512-3