M15 opens with focus on Nazarene history, theological identity

by | 11 Feb 2015

Kansas City, Missouri

Nazarenes from across the USA/Canada Region gathered Monday in Kansas City, Missouri, for Mission 2015, the region's mid-quadrennial conference and the denomination's largest gathering between general assemblies.

The event began with several pre-conference sessions, including "Worship, Preaching, and the Mission of God" and workshops sponsored by the Organic Church Network. Attendees spent the afternoon in the Exhibit Hall, which featured booths from the USA/Canada Region, Global Mission, various Nazarene higher education institutions, and other groups.

Each of the conference's five plenary sessions focus on one of the region's strategic priorities. The opening session on Monday evening with Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene Senior Pastor Scott Daniels explored theological identity.

During a dramatic presentation tracing the Church of the Nazarene's roots back to the early Church, General Superintendent Phineas F. Bresee dreamed of where the denomination would be in 100 years.

"More and more we must we realize that it is not of man but of God ... Without the hand of the Almighty, where might our church go?"

College Church of the Nazarene Worship Pastor Paulo Barros led worship, beginning with "Holiness Unto the Lord." Other service elements included Communion and a prayer offered by George Reader, age 108, the oldest living ordained elder in the denomination.

"Help the Church of the Nazarene to be a spiritual dynamo in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ," Reader prayed.

Daniels' message centered around a story about livestock practices in Australia. Instead of building fences to keep the sheep in place, farmers discovered that the animals would stay near deep wells.

"Our theology isn't about building fences to keep people in or out; it's about digging deep wells," Daniels said.

Daniels identified four "deep wells" for the Church of the Nazarene: We are convinced that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; Sin does not get the last word, Resurrection gets the last word; We are a people learning the crucified form of life; and We are witness to the resurrection of the Lord.

Daniels concluded with a charge to hold to these tenets.

"May we always be a church that focuses on the deep wells that draw us to new creation life in Jesus," Daniels prayed.