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Dec, 01, 2009 0
Statistics are part of the Church of the Nazarene. The groups that united at Pilot Point had kept meticulous records for years. At each annual assembly, leaders carefully preserved membership data, finances, and even lay leader addresses.
Church leaders studied this information to gauge the spread…
Dec, 01, 2009 0
Family stories are wonderful ways of transmitting family history and heritage across generations. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be a Hebrew child listening to the ancient tales of the great heroes of Israel? Every evening when the sun sank low and the evening stars began their…
Dec, 01, 2009 0
Every Christian has heard of baptism. Some Christian communities are firmly established on the mode of administering Christian baptism. I remember when I was a young pastor, some of my parishioners believed baptism could only be administered by immersion, while others preferred sprinkling. Some…
Dec, 01, 2009 0
I once heard a Catholic priest tell a joke about a scene in Heaven. Jesus walks up to a Protestant and a Catholic and says to them, “I am glad to see you two getting along so well.” Then Jesus turns to the Protestant and says, “I would like to introduce you to my mother. I don’t think you two have…
Dec, 01, 2009 0
The Church of the Nazarene's approaching centennial is a good time to consider the role of congregational archives. A congregational archive has a distinct purpose: to preserve essential records and additional documents necessary for telling the congregation's story.
The first thing needed to…
Dec, 01, 2009 0
In the contemporary world, the phrase “you are not your own” sounds almost offensive to many people from the post-modern culture. Advertisements keep telling us that we are the owners of our lives, we have to choose the best for ourselves first, and that nobody is allowed to tell us what to do with…
Dec, 01, 2009 0
Every four years, Nazarenes in Canada and the U.S. have the opportunity to gather for a mid-quadrennial conference on mission and evangelism. This February, thousands will journey to Kansas City for Mission 2007 or M7. The theme is, "Into faith…out to the world."
As we think about this theme, it…
Dec, 01, 2009 0
A few months ago I awoke to a typically rainy and gray Pacific Northwest November morning. The flapping butterflies in my stomach took up so much room that I could not fit in any breakfast. I had not felt so nervous about standing in front of a congregation since 2001 when I preached my first…
Dec, 01, 2009 0
A few months ago I awoke to a typically rainy and gray Pacific Northwest November morning. The flapping butterflies in my stomach took up so much room that I could not fit in any breakfast. I had not felt so nervous about standing in front of a congregation since 2001 when I preached my first…
Dec, 01, 2009 0
Shortly after I completed my bachelor's degree and got married, I began work toward a master's degree. Several promotions, two children, and more than a decade later, I finally reached that long-awaited target. Then I realized I needed a doctorate to accomplish my goal of teaching in a university…