THE GENERAL BOARD OF THE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE
The General Board of the Church of the Nazarene meets in session together once a year.
The board consists of members representing all six regions of the Church of the Nazarene.
They are elected by the General Assembly. According to the Manual, the General Board has “primary authority with regard to non-ecclesiastical policies and plans” in the Church of the Nazarene. The Manual declares that the General Board “shall have power to direct the business and administrative affairs of all entities legally related to The Church of the Nazarene, Inc. These departments and entities, shall give due consideration to the advice and recommendations of the General Board”
(Manual paragraph 335)
Included among all “departments and entities” are every office in the Global Ministry Center of the Church of the Nazarene.
Some of the important things the General Board does:
- Annually reviews and approves the salaries of all GMC employees, including the General Superintendents.
- Elects department directors and executives.
- Determines and approves the amount to be allotted from the World Evangelism Fund to each department of the general church.
- Receives and reviews an annual report submitted by every department of the church, including a financial report.
- Accepts responsibility for the faithful performance of the duties of the General Secretary and the General Treasurer.
- Establishes “funding the mission” goals for the World Evangelism Fund for local churches.
- Takes responsibility any financial item adopted by the General Assembly.
The General Board was established in 1923 by the sixth General Assembly, held in the auditorium of First Church of the Nazarene in Kansas City.
On the fifth day of the assembly – Monday, September 24th – Nazarene evangelist L. Milton Williams presented a resolution.
The title of the resolution was, “A Resolution to Conserve Economy and Increase Our Efficiency.”
The purpose of the resolution was to correlate the various administrative boards of the denomination “into one General Board.”
The resolution was adopted, and from that day until now, a single administrative board has overseen the corporate business of the Church of the Nazarene.
In one of the earliest pieces of General Board correspondence, General Superintendent Hiram F. Reynolds sent a letter on December 5, 1923, on behalf of the General Board to all Nazarene pastors. Reynolds penned these words:
“The General Board, elected by the General Assembly, is now in session here in Kansas City. It promises to be one of the most important meetings ever held to consider the general interests of the church. We believe the result of this meeting will determine, in large measure, our future policy; and so we realize the tremendous responsibility resting upon the Board as a whole, as well as upon each individual member. It is a time when we need the prayers of the entire church. The Board will probably continue in session until the latter part of next week. May we urge you to have your people pray especially that wisdom may be given which will result in a policy that will mean continued success and victory in the great work to which God has called us.”