A Way Forward for the Church of the Nazarene (Part 1)

In my previous articles I offered some cautions for the denomination that I love and have served all my pastoral ministry. I broke the article up into "Part 1" and "Part 2". These cautions are in light of an obvious trend of the mainline denominations suffering a crisis of orthodoxy and division that have sent them spiraling into rapid decline and ineffectiveness.

Everyone sees this very thing playing out around us in other denominations and, I believe, has begun to play out in the Church of the Nazarene (CotN). I write, not only as a watchman on the wall, but an active participant in the ministry and life of the denomination. I intend to serve the Church of the Nazarene as long as the Lord gives me strength. But what is the way forward? Here is what I humbly propose...

1. Human Sexuality

We need to discuss the real issue. Let's stop discussing whether disobedience is acceptable practice. Instead, we need to pray and seek the face of God and begin to talk about how to reach those who are bound up in sexual sin with the Good News of the Gospel. We need individuals who will unashamedly pursue the lost with holy love and point everyone to Christ for transformation and victory. 

We need our academic institutions to help us articulate the call to holy sexuality. I am thankful for Dr Caleb Friedeman's recent response to the LGBTQIA+ Affirming book recently published. The Holiness Partnership shares a link to his response that is excellent. You can find the article here. We do not need a culturally palatable innocuous position without potency or any calls to repentance and transformation. We need a holy call of God that still believes in the transformational work of Christ, victory through Jesus, the cleansing of the Holy Spirit that brings freedom, and the Lordship of the Father in each life! We need them to be defenders of truth who equip those men and women called of God, to impact the world (and their local community) with the Good News that God loves us too much to leave us the same! This is real holy love.

We need pastors who will unashamedly and boldly proclaim from the pulpits of our local churches that Jesus has come to set captives free from their sexual immorality. That there is victory for those who come to the cross of Calvary. The message that the joy God gives is greater than anything this world has to offer (including sexual desires) must be brought to the forefront.

As a cultural issue, these particular sins are not showing signs of leaving anytime soon. Let us love those bound up in the LGBTQIA+ community with the love of God. We are not afraid of their sin but are interceding for them because the full salvation available through the atonement is greater and better! 

2. Church Discipline.

Those false teachers promoting the acceptance of sinful behavior in the church are also distracting the church from its mission. The missional question of how to reach people bound by certain sins is a very different question than that of whether or not their actions are sinful. And it is prohibitive of ministry fruitfulness (as well as faithfulness) to continue to be distracted by those who simply want to legitimize certain kinds of obvious sin.

Manual paragraph 606 states in part: "The perpetuity and effectiveness of the Church of the Nazarene depend largely upon the spiritual qualifications, the character, and the manner of life of its members of the clergy. Members of the clergy aspire to a high calling and function as anointed individuals in whom is placed the church’s trust. They accept their calling knowing that they will be held to high personal standards by those to whom they minister." This section of the Manual details the process for church discipline of an elder. 

What happens if the district or district superintendent fail to act? This was the problem of the United Methodist Church. Well, we have a Manual provision for that scenario as well. It is found in Manual paragraph 200.2. The last part of the section states:

"When in the opinion of a general superintendent in jurisdiction, a district is in crisis—financial, morale, or otherwise—and this crisis seriously affects the stability and future of the district, a district may be declared in crisis with the approval of the Board of General Superintendents. The general superintendent in jurisdiction, with approval of the Board of General Superintendents may take one or more of the following actions:

1. Remove the district superintendent;

2. Appoint an interim board for the management of the district in lieu of all existing boards, until the next regularly scheduled district assembly; and

3. Initiate such special interventions as may be necessary to restore the district’s health and mission effectiveness."

Understandably this is a "nuclear" option for extreme cases. I am not aware of it being done in the USA or Canada, but it has been done in other regions of the world. Before a declaration of sorts would be made, a serious conversation between the General Superintendent (GS) in jurisdiction and the District Superintendent (DS) would need to be had. Maybe the awareness that the jurisdictional GS was considering this action would be enough for the DS to take action on his or her district.

We must stand firmly against clergy and leaders who compromise morally or theologically. May it not be said of the CotN as it was said of the church at Thyatira in Revelation 2:20 "But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols."

Our denomination will thrive as we remove the cancer that is false teaching. It is not loving in any way to allow teachers and preachers to propagate teachings that will prevent other people from inheriting eternal life. We need not follow the destructive disunity of the United Methodist Church if we learn to gracefully discipline those who reject the essentials of our beliefs. 

3. Unity Apart from Truth.

Unity is such an important concept in the life of the church. The body of Christ must work together. The family of God necessitates relationships of love as evidence to the world. Were it not for the unity that the disciples shared at Pentecost, they might not have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit! 

We must be careful how we talk about unity and specifically about what things are essential. Style preferences for worship in song is not an essential issue. Homosexual practice is clearly a soteriological issue. The attitude that we can have unity with those who advocate for sinful practices is absurd and harmful, especially for those conscientious seekers of unity. We must be unified about those things that clearly prevent people from inheriting eternal life.

If those causing division in the denomination are dealt with appropriately, it will lend itself, long-term, to a greater unity. Unity in Christ is something we constantly work toward as it does not come easily. Encouraging scholars in the church to promote our articles of faith, covenant of Christian conduct, and position of social issues through their writing, teaching, and ministry would be a great step toward adding to the spirit of unity in Christ that we so desperately need.

Unity is possible as we focus on our mission and unapologetically advocate for holiness of heart, head, and hands. God poured out His Spirit in the upper room when they were all together seeking the promises of God.  

4. Leaning into the Episcopacy. 

If there is a trend toward giving more authority to the superintendency, then what is the way forward?

Take district assembly seriously. Vote. Take the time you need to do due diligence on how you vote and what reports you are approving. Stand up and discuss issues on the floor of the assembly. Don't get in a rush to "leave" assembly so that you quench the Holy Spirit. Read the reports from the committees. Ask questions. Get to know the people who have their names on the ballots. Assembly has historically been a place of robust debate for holiness people. We believe that the best discernment happens when we come together prayerfully to seek the will of God. Do not be afraid of such things again.

At General Assembly do not vote to extend more authority to the superintendency on any level. This is not a slam on the Board of General Superitendents (BGS) or District Superitendents or any others in episcopal authority. They have more than enough responsibilities without having to oversee more committees as a result of referrals to the BGS from the General Assembly floor. The General Assembly gathers every quadrennial to make decisions; not approve decisions made by the BGS. 

The more authority that is transitioned away from the local church, the local church pastor, the district assembly and the general assembly; the weaker the denomination becomes. We fail to nurture strong local church pastors or lay holiness leadership when we shift authority up the hierarchy. The ability of individuals in the local church to lead is blunted. A healthy denomination is made up of healthy local churches and the individuals that make up that local body, not a complex bureaucracy or a few autocratic episcopal leaders.

The founders of the Church of the Nazarene intentionally moved away from an episcopacy that had all authority and sought to bridge the gap between a congregational and episcopal form of government. This is where a healthy polity lies. Over the years there have been very few times when authority has been given to the local church. That trend can change.

If we refuse to continue to shift authority and responsibility onto a small number of leaders, it will encourage laity, local church pastors, missionaries, and other leadership to develop. The Church of the Nazarene will flourish as we allow leadership to develop naturally by discontinuing the transfer of authority to the episcopacy. 

5. Institutionalism.

This is a difficult one to plot the course forward as it is actually beneficial for us to love the denomination and its institutions! I remember advocating for churches to keep "Church of the Nazarene" in their names as a public witness of their international fellowship with the denomination. 

While I love the Church of the Nazarene, we must remember that the denomination is no more than a wineskin for the use of the Holy Spirit. Every institution, if it exists long enough, can become preoccupied with its own existence. 

What we must begin to focus on again is the mission. We are a Great Commission people. Our purpose, clearly stated by our historic founders and first-generation Nazarenes, was to spread the message of Scriptural Holiness. This was our divine calling. If we fail to do these things, we fail to realize our purpose.

While the church in the United States (and other Western nations) struggles with declining worship attendance, our temptation would be to act on behalf of our institutional survival. We cannot allow panic to drive us to act for the survival of our institutions. We must set our attention back on seeking the presence of Jesus in our midst and fulfilling the Great Commission.

A church preoccupied with its own existence is destined for failure. A church on mission is vibrant and alive. Let's be less concerned about our pensions and more concerned about the harvest. Let's nurture an urgency in our midst for prayerful intercessors, passionate soul-winners, and powerful witnesses of God's gift of salvation. Let's hear testimonies of radical transformation. Let's hear testimonies of God's keeping grace. Let's hear testimonies of deliverance and victory. Let's hear testimonies of overcoming through the Holy Spirit! 

Let's be all out for souls! "Men and movements backslide in heart before they deteriorate very far in practice. What, then, is the great need in the Church of the Nazarene? Is it the enactment of more legislation? No, we have a workable system. Is it for more organization? No, we have ample machinery for much more work than we are doing. Is it for better talent, improved art in service, or better standards of ethical practice? Even these things we would allow to rest for the moment in order that we may lay our emphasis on the one indispensable point—a passion for the souls of men." J.B. Chapman

See the other articles in this series:

Cautions for the Church of the Nazarene (Part 1)

Cautions for the Church of the Nazarene (Part 2)

A Way Forward for the Church of the Nazarene (Part 2)

Other articles you might be interested in:

Why I Love the Church of the Nazarene

The Disunity of the United Methodist Church

General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene 2023 Resolutions

What Sanctification is Worth (by A.M. Hills)