T. Scott Daniels was elected the 44th general superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene on 15 June 2023. Daniels was elected on the 33rd ballot during the morning business session of the 30th General Assembly and Conventions in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. He currently serves as the pastor of College Church of the Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, USA.

After being escorted to the stage by General Secretary Gary Hartke, Daniels was greeted by General Superintendent Eugénio Duarte before addressing the assembly.

"I accept this calling from you while admittedly feeling inadequate in my own strength,” Daniels said. “I feel the weight of representing you, the church, especially in the sacred calling of laying hands on and ordaining those who will carry forward the mission that has been handed to us.”

Daniels told of the impact the Church of the Nazarene has had on his family for generations. After his two great-grandmothers had daughters who died in childhood, they found hope in Christ through the Church of the Nazarene.

“The power of Christ's transformation radically changed the trajectory of my family's story,” Daniels said. “The call to leadership in the church has carried on in my life and the life of my sister and brother-in-law and in the lives of many cousins and now has been picked up by a fourth generation, including our children, nieces, and nephews."

The Daniels family is rooted in the tradition of the Church of the Nazarene. Daniels grew up in the home of Nazarene pastor and district superintendent Tharon H. Daniels, who pastored in Florida, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington and led the Northwest Oklahoma District for a decade. 

Scott’s grandfather, Harold, was also a district superintendent, leading the Illinois and Colorado districts, and his great-uncle Bert Daniels led the Washington Pacific District (1963-1976).

Scott attended Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in theology in 1988. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary (1992) and a Doctor of Philosophy in theology and ethics (2000). 

He began his career as a youth pastor at Seattle Aurora Church of the Nazarene (1988-1991) and as a college pastor at both Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene (1992-1996) and Bethany First Church of the Nazarene in Oklahoma. (1996-1998). During his time in Bethany, he served as a professor of theology, ethics, and church history at Southern Nazarene University until 2002.

His first senior pastorate was at Richardson Church of the Nazarene in Texas, USA serving from 2002 to 2006. 

In 2006, he became the lead pastor of Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene where he served until 2015. During his pastorate, he became dean of the School of Theology and Ministry at Azusa Pacific University, where he stayed until 2015.

He returned to the Pacific Northwest in 2015 to pastor College Church of the Nazarene in Nampa, where he currently serves today. He has also served as the pastoral scholar in residence at Northwest Nazarene University since 2018.

Scott closed his acceptance speech with an anecdote about the 1976 General Assembly where his grandfather, Harold Daniels, was almost elected general superintendent before William Greathouse was ultimately chosen. Scott said he carries many of the same concerns about the future of the Church of the Nazarene that Greathouse had. 

“I hope to carry some of his spirit and mantle into this role,” Daniels said. “A passion for theological coherence in our holiness theology and tradition, a love for our institutions of higher learning and their significance in fulfilling our church’s mission, a commitment for making space for the generations that are coming behind us, and a desire to see the local church led by women and men who are equipped as best as possible for this calling that we have been given by God.”