On August 8, 2013, I was ordained an elder in the Church of the Nazarene. Some would say that it was the culmination of a nine-year journey that began when I received my first district minister's license in 2004. I tend to think of it as the culmination of a 23-year journey, stemming all the way back to when I came home from kindergarten and informed my mother that I was going to be a priest someday. (To know why I used 'priest,' search for Father Dowling Mysteries.)

Today, new opportunities for ministry are opening around the world. Check out this example of an urban coffee house that is serving up more than coffee. Cory Stipp (CS) is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene. He has been in ministry for 15 years holding associate pastor roles in Illinois, Michigan, and Kansas. Holiness Today managing editor Carmen Ringhiser (CR)* recently dialogued with Cory about the coffee shop he runs in Kansas City, Missouri.

Q: As a local church Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI) superintendent, how can I transition our local church from a Sunday School model to a discipleship model that includes spiritual formation, intentional discipleship, and Christian Education?

A: Remember, "Methods are many, principles few; methods change, but principles never do."

Let me offer these definitions:

Q: As a local church Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI) superintendent, how can I transition our local church from a Sunday School model to a discipleship model that includes spiritual formation, intentional discipleship, and Christian Education?

A: Remember, "Methods are many, principles few; methods change, but principles never do."

Let me offer these definitions:

What is Mentoring?
The definition of mentoring depends on the person, the situation, and the goal. Mainly, it is pouring yourself into another life to help that person learn and grow.

Q: What is meant by the phrase the "authority of Scripture?"

A: All Christians believe that the Bible has authority. Because the Bible has authority, every Christian church uses the Bible as a source for belief and as a guide on how to live.

Q: What is meant by the phrase the "authority of Scripture?"

A: All Christians believe that the Bible has authority. Because the Bible has authority, every Christian church uses the Bible as a source for belief and as a guide on how to live.

Im, Yong-Hwa is pastor of Sungmoon ('Holy Gate') Church of the Nazarene in Chonan City, South Korea, where he serves with his wife, Yoon, Byung Ae. One of 11 children, he was born and raised in Yicheon. A former member of the Church of the Nazarene's General Board, he has also served on the board of Korea Nazarene University (KNU). He and his wife have two adult children.
 
How did you come to faith in Jesus Christ?
My parents were not believers. When I was a child, maybe age 13, I started attending Sunday School at the Methodist Church.

In 1995, a hurricane battered the beautiful Caribbean island of Antigua. On Sunday morning following the hurricane, a congregation there, All Saints Church of the Nazarene, gathered for worship.
 
The congregation had to stand that morning. The pews were damaged, the roof was gone, and the wooden floor had buckled. Rosa Lee, the district superintendent and pastor at that time, stood before her congregation and said, "Brothers and sisters, our building is gone, but the Church remains."
 

What good news. The Church remains!
 

In 1995, a hurricane battered the beautiful Caribbean island of Antigua. On Sunday morning following the hurricane, a congregation there, All Saints Church of the Nazarene, gathered for worship.
 
The congregation had to stand that morning. The pews were damaged, the roof was gone, and the wooden floor had buckled. Rosa Lee, the district superintendent and pastor at that time, stood before her congregation and said, "Brothers and sisters, our building is gone, but the Church remains."
 

What good news. The Church remains!