Disqus - Latest Comments for brucerent

Re: Towards a Missional Church

Grant — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:36:59 -0000

I would consider Bakke university as an example of a school that fits your description: http://www.bgu.edu/index

Re: Emergent-Hyphenated-Nazarenes

Grant — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:52:50 -0000

Just noticed that Brian wrote a piece about Rollins a couple of years ago on this blog. I'm late to the conversation....

Quick question - is resistance to the Emerging church a USA phenomena? I don't come across as much fear-mongering in Canada as I see in the US (from blogs like Concerned Nazarene, Reformed Nazarene, etc). I wonder if the fear factor regarding Emergent is related to the fear factor that conservative US Nazarene's have regarding Obama and socialism, etc... That might be a question for another post... (By the way, socialism isn't so bad. I pay less in total taxes in Canada than I did in just health insurance premiums in the States.)

Re: Emergent-Hyphenated-Nazarenes

Grant — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:16:19 -0000

I'm a Nazarene pastor who has commented here a few times. I read more than I write. The Emergent half of the hyphen doesn't bring me to this site as much as the Nazarene half does. Frankly, if I want to read emergent stuff I go elsewhere. But, I am interested in how Nazarene's are engaging emergent authors, practices, etc.

Like Brian said, the Church of the Nazarene is my on-ramp into the global church (nice image). "Emergent" will be an out of date (maybe already is) tag soon enough, but the lively and important conversation that it has sparked will continue. I hope this blog continues as well, with less apologetic/argument, and more engagement with emergent writers. For example, I'd like to see some posts about how "Emergent Nazarene's" process what guys like Peter Rollins are writing. Not to tear him apart or determine whether he is a heretic or not, but to engage his writings from our on-ramp.

Re: Searching for a Simple Way

Grant — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:26:48 -0000

Brian - I mentioned to you the other day about an article in CT by Richard Foster on spiritual formation that I think captures a vision for holiness that has legs to it that could prepare and propel the church of the nazarene ahead... http://www.christianitytoda...

I think he picks up on what you are asking in this quote from the article:

"The devotional masters write much about training the heart in two opposite directions: contemptus mundi, our being torn loose from all earthly attachments and ambitions, and amor mundi, our being quickened to a divine but painful compassion for the world."

"In the beginning God plucks the world out of our hearts—contemptus mundi. Here we experience a loosening of the chains of attachment to positions of prominence and power. All our longings for social recognition, to have our name in lights, begin to appear puny and trifling. We learn to let go of all control, all managing, all manipulation. We freely and joyfully live without guile. We experience a glorious detachment from this world and all it offers.
And then, just when we have become free from it all, God hurls the world back into our heart—amor mundi—where we and God together carry the world in infinitely tender love. We deepen in our compassion for the bruised, the broken, the dispossessed. We ache and pray and labor for others in a new way, a selfless way, a joy-filled way. Our heart is enlarged toward those on the margins. Indeed, our heart is enlarged toward all people, toward all of Creation."

Re: The Church of the Nazarene Will End in the Next 15 Years

Grant — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:14:06 -0000

Here is where I appreciate the freedom I have experienced in my pastoral ministry to shape what it means to be "Nazarene" in my context. I think the "Christian - Holiness - Missional" core values give pastors a lot of room to define these values in their local context. For example, I spend a lot more time talking about what it means to be "Christian" in my membership classes than what it means to be "Nazarene." My hope is that the folks who join our church will identify themselves primarily as Christians. Christians who agree to partner with our local body of believers for mission in our community that happens to be affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene (rather than folks who identify themselves as Nazarene who happen to be Christian.) Encouraging baptism as a precursor to church membership helps keep this perspective.

I agree that change is coming from the bottom up. And again, this is just my experience, but I don't experience resistance to this change from the "up". Rather, I've always been encouraged by my District leaders and the folks in the "Global Ministry Center" that I know to contextualize ministry in the local context. Perhaps the "power issues" that prompted this post are regional / district specific.

Re: The Church of the Nazarene Will End in the Next 15 Years

Grant — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:30:59 -0000

Thanks for the response. Yeah - church membership is one place where the "power of the denomination" is felt. I wonder how many pastors (like myself) get around some of the stuff we don't care for by de-emphasizing it in our membership classes. I was on staff with Jesse before he was elected GS and I hold closely to his comment to me that the Manual serves the local church, the local church doesn't serve the Manual. That is my "out" for conformity to issues that hinder our missional stance in our particular place of ministry. The Manual (including the Covenant of CC) is a provisional document, open to revision every 4 years, so I personally don't feel overly bound by it. It is a guide and in many cases, a very helpful guide to our church and its members. I do hold tightly to Article IV and keep this in mind when the Manual conflicts with where the Scripture is calling us to be/do in our community.

Re: The Church of the Nazarene Will End in the Next 15 Years

Grant — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:19:41 -0000

I'm a newcomer to this blog, so I hope you don't mind me jumping in. I'm curious what "surrender more of it's power to the local congregation" looks like in your context. I've pastored on two districts in the west (Washington Pacific and Canada Pacific) and I can't say I've ever feel "overpowered" by either the District or General Church. My experience is that local congregations have a lot of freedom/power to determine what a faithful Nazarene community looks like in our context. I've been blessed not to have to face many power-struggles in my churches, but from others, I get the sense that the "surrender of power" issue is more a conflict between pastor and congregation over mission/vision than between pastor/church and denomination. Help me understand what powers are hindering your ability to determine what a faithful Nazarene community is in your context. Thanks.

Re: The Church of the Nazarene Will End in the Next 15 Years

Grant — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:49:24 -0000

Thanks for the reminder to pray for the GS's. I didn't mean to be flippant in my previous remark - it is a tough job - traveling year round, away from family, listening to pastors reports...I appreciate the service they provide the church. But on day-to-day level at the local church, I'm not sure what impact they have on whether a congregation will survive/thrive/die over the next 15 years. It is the future of local churches that will determine the future of the denomination. The factors closer to the ground (financial solvency, leadership development, neighbor care, vision, demographics, ability to adapt to changes, etc) will have a greater impact on the future of the denomination than whether we elect someone outside North America as GS.

Re: The Church of the Nazarene Will End in the Next 15 Years

Grant — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:30:28 -0000

I was a delegate to the last General Assembly and we came very close to electing a GS from South America. He withdrew his name, and would have likely been elected if not. I think he made the right choice. Being a GS isn't a very good gig. He probably realized that he can have a greater kingdom impact as a pastor than as a GS. Not sure why anyone would aspire to administrative heights in the Church of the Nazarene. I'm a Canadian pastor on the West/Left coast. Not too many fundamentalists out here - refreshing. We even have the much maligned-in-the-US "socialists" as members of our congregation - God bless them. I think local Nazarene churches who focus on neighbor care in their communities will do just fine in the next 15 - 100 years. Other than budget allocations, how much does it matter to local church ministry whose sitting in the chairs in the offices of the "Global Ministry Center"? Do you think our brothers and sisters outside of North America are stressing over this? Not the ones I've met.

Peace.