Church for a new era

Those of you following the life of New Oaks Church may find this story encouraging. Here’s Donnie Miller (pastor of the Trinity Family Church in Gardner, KS) telling of a change of direction:

A New Era begins for TFC

There was an energy level among the congregation on Sunday that I haven’t experienced for a long time. People kept telling me, through smiles and hugs, how much they love the changes that have just happened.

These changes have been a long time coming. Last spring, we began a numerical slide that has resulted in our Sunday morning worship attendance being between 2/3 – 1/2 of what it was a year ago at this time. Toward the beginning of that slide, after a very lowly attended Sunday in March, I spent a sleepless night talking with God and wrestling with my fears and hopes. My fear was that if we continued to “do church” as we were at the time, we might not continue to exist. That fear lead to a hope, a hope that TFC could stop focusing on “doing church” and become more intentional about “being the church.” At about 4 AM, I got a pretty clear picture of the changes we could make.

I began sharing those changes with staff, the board and then ministry leaders; everyone was on board with the ideas. Last summer, we polled the congregation to find out approaches were working and to gauge their openness to the potential changes. The surveys revealed an almost unanimous support of the structural changes our leadership was considering.

In August, we took a big first step in introducing Discussion Groups to Sunday AM worship. To say these groups have been a success would be the understatement of the year. Every Sunday, over 90% of the congregation participates in discussion groups. This past Sunday, only ONE person skipped discussion groups and that was because of a family emergency. It was almost hard to hear the other members of my group over the dull roar of the conversations happening all over the commons. The introduction of Discussion Groups, as well as “Ask Anything” Sundays, have all been a part of our effort to take a more dialogical approach to Sunday morning worship.

Responding to Concerned Nazarenes

For my Nazarene friends, here’s an index to some thoughts about the “Concerned Nazarenes” DVD that was distributed at General Assembly.  CN is a fundamentalist group with strong ideas about the emergent church phenomenon and its relationship to the Church of the Nazarene.  Their DVD is reviewed by a fellow named Jeffrey at A Considered Response to the Concerned Nazarenes.  The comments seem thoughtful and respectfull.

Index to the Review of the Concerned Nazarene’s DVD

Given the fact that the review I posted of the Concerned Nazarenes’ DVD was posted in five separate parts, I wanted to provide a post that would give users easy sequential access to the information. Below you will find links to each of the five posts. The entire review was written by Ryan Scott and provides helpful information and what seem to me to be valid critiques and concerns without resorting to personal attacks or diatribes.

1. Introduction and Chapter 1 of the DVD
2. Chapter 2 and 3 of the DVD
3. Chapter 4 of the DVD
4. Chapter 5 of the DVD
5. General Critiques and Final Conclusions

What’cha think?

When atheists come to church (sermon of July 5)

C Vonaesch - Femme Touchant Jesus

Last week, Jesus, pushing through a crowd, was secretly touched by a woman who’ d been bleeding for 12 years; her bleeding stopped.  She who’d been untouchable by the rules of the day touched him; she was then well, and he became untouchable.  She gets well. He takes on her “uncleanness.”

And then he touched a 12 year old girl who had recently died. He was now “unclean” twice-over (touching a dead body made him so a second time), but the girl was alive.   She gets life. He takes on her “uncleanness.”

Magnificent.

And the next thing that happens is that Jesus, the now-famous, compassionate, but scandalously irreligious traveling teacher, goes home to Nazareth. And while he’s been amazing everyone, at Nazareth, Jesus is amazed.

What could possibly amaze Jesus?

Homosexuality: a theologically conservative—and inclusive—view

It’s almost a truism that Christian conservatives see homosexuality as evil.

But consider this courageous 1999 paper of the late Dr. J. Kenneth Grider, long regarded as a voice of conservatism among theologians of the Church of the Nazarene* (and of Wesleyans generally).  You just might be surprised.

I’ve reproduced the first two pages to give you the feel of it, followed by a link to the entire 45-page .pdf. And I’ll guess that there are some insights here you haven’t heard before.

He begins with a question of compassion . . .

Click below for the paper in its entirety. Intriguing reading!

Wesleyans and Homosexuality by J. Kenneth Grider

Care to share your thoughts?

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*I should probably note the obvious: Dr. Grider spoke (as do I!) for himself and not for the Church of the Nazarene, the WTS, ONU, or NTS.

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• A caution light on “Bible vs. homosexuality” arguments (masbury.wordpress.com)

Nazarenes elect non-North American General Superintendent

The denomination of which I am a member (the Church of the Nazarene) has officially aspired to international leadership since shortly after its beginnings in 1908. But, like so many organizations that were first mostly North American, coming to a point where we of the USA and Canada would allow others to lead us has taken a long, long time.

Finally, the men and women of the 23rd Quadrennial Assembly, meeting in Orlando, have taken a step toward making internationalization believable.

Bravo and amen to them.

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Dr. Eugenio Duarte

On the 7th ballot, receiving 783 out of 959 valid ballots cast, the 2009 General Assembly Church of the Nazarene has elected the first General Superintendent outside of USA and Canada.

Dr. Eugenio Duarte currently serves as the regional director of the Africa Region. Born and raised in the Cape Verde Islands, he has served as pastor and district superintendent, before being appointed to regional and field leadership roles.

He and his wife Maria Teresa have three grown children, and live in Johannesburg, South Africa where the regional office is located.

This historic moment in the Church of the Nazarene was greeted by thunderous applause from the delegates and the gallery. Many of the African delegates responded with joyful singing, flag-waving, and surrounding Dr. Duarte with hugs. After several moments of cheering, clapping, singing (and even lifting Dr. Duarte into the air), he was escorted to the platform, declared elected, and invited to speak.