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The history of the Church of the Nazarenehas been divided into seven overlapping periods by the staff of theNazarene archives in Lenexa, Kansas: (1) Parent Denominations(1887-1907); (2) Consolidation (1896-1915); (3) Search for SolidFoundations (1911-1928); (4) Persistence Amid Adversity(1928-1945); (5) Mid-Century Crusade for Souls (1945-1960); (6)Toward the Post-War Evangelical Mainstream (1960-1980); and (7)Internationalization (since 1980).^[1]

History

The Church of the Nazarene is the product of a series of mergersthat occurred between various holiness churches, associations anddenominations throughout the 20th century.^[2] Themost prominent of these mergers took place at the First and SecondGeneral Assemblies, held at Chicago, Illinois, and PilotPoint, Texas in 1907 and1908 ^[3],respectively. The primary architect of these early mergers was C.W.Ruth.^[4]

FirstGeneral Assembly

The First General Assembly held in Chicago, Illinoisfrom 10-17 October 1907 brought together the Eastern and theWestern streams. The Western group was the Church of theNazarene founded in October 1895 in Los Angeles, California by Dr. Phineas F.Bresee, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church,and Dr Joseph PomeroyWidney, a Methodist physician, and the second president of theUniversity of Southern California. The Eastern group was theAssociation of Pentecostal Churches of America, adenomination formed on 13 April 1897 through the merger of twoolder bodies: The Central Evangelical HolinessAssociation (organised 13-14 March 1890) and led by Fred A. Hilleryand C. Howard Davis; and three churches organised by WilliamHoward Hoople since January 1894, and formed into theAssociation of Pentecostal Churches of America. On12 November 1896, these two groups met in Brooklyn, agreed upon aplan of union, which included retaining the name and Manual ofHoople's group.^[5]Prominent leaders included Hiram F. Reynolds, Davis, andHoople.^[6] At thetime of its merger with the Church of the Nazarene in 1907, theAPCA existed principally from Nova Scotia to Iowa and the northeastern United States. The name of the unitedbody adopted at the First General Assembly was PentecostalChurch of the Nazarene, and Bresee and Reynolds wereelected the first generalsuperintendents.

Interimaccessions

In April 1908 Bresee accepted Edgar P. Ellyson,president of the Holiness University of Texas of Peniel, Texas, his wife, Mary Emily Ellyson(1869-1943), and many leaders and members of the HolinessAssociation of Texas into the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene,with Emily Ellyson elected pastor of the new congregation atPeniel.^[7] InSeptember 1908 the Pennsylvania Conference of the HolinessChristian Church under the leadership of Horace G. Trumbauer mergedwith the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene.^[8]

SecondGeneral Assembly

At the Second General Assembly held at Pilot Point,Texas, the Holiness Church of Christ, located in the southernUnited States, merged with the Pentecostal Nazarenes. The HolinessChurch of Christ itself was the merger of the New Testament Churchof Christ founded in July 1894 at Milan, Tennessee by R.L. Harris, butsoon led by his widow Mary Lee Cagle,^[9] and agroup (also called the Holiness Church of Christ), that resulted inNovember 1904 at Rising Star, Texas from the prior merger ofThe Holiness Church' (founded in 1888 in Texas) and theIndependent Holiness Church (formed at Van Alstyne,Texas in 1901, and led by Charles B. Jernigan and J.B.Chapman).^[10] Themerger of the Holiness Church of Christ in the south and thePentecostal Church of the Nazarene took place on Tuesday, October13, 1908, at 10:40 a.m., 'amid great shouts of joy and holyenthusiasm.'^[11] Thenewly-merged Church of the Nazarene began with 10,034 members, 228congregations, 11 districts, and 19 missionaries, according tohistorical records.^[12] Thelatter date marks the 'official' founding date. Bresee, Reynoldsand Ellyson were elected general superintendents.

Lateraccessions

Other independent bodies joined at later dates, including thePentecostal Church of Scotland (founded in 1909 byRev. George Sharpe) and the Pentecostal Mission(founded in 1898 by J.O. McClurkan), both in 1915. At this point,the Church of the Nazarene now embraced seven previousdenominations and significant parts of two other groups. In time,the Church of the Nazarene and the Wesleyan Church wouldemerge as the two major denominations to gather in the smallerbodies of the 19th century Wesleyan-holiness movement. Insubsequent decades, there were new accessions and mergers. In the1922, more than one thousand members and most of the workers led byJoseph G.Morrison, from the Laymen's HolinessAssociation (founded in 1917) located in the Dakotas,joined the Church of the Nazarene. In the 1950s, there were mergerswith the Hephzibah Faith Missionary Association(founded in 1893 in Tabor, Iowa) in 1950; theInternational Holiness Mission (founded in London in 1907 by David Thomas)merged on 29 October 1952; the Calvary HolinessChurch (founded in Britain 1934 by Maynard James and JackFord), united on 11 June 1955; and the Gospel WorkersChurch of Canada (founded in Ontario in 1918) became part of the Church ofthe Nazarene on 7 September 1958. On 3 April 1988, an indigenousChurch of the Nazarene in Nigeria, established in the 1940s, merged withthe denomination.^[13]

The 2009 General Assembly authorized a committee with 'theresponsibility to approach 'like-minded churches in theWesleyan-Holiness tradition in order to pursue closer relations,with a goal of exploring the possibility of a merger or acollaborative relationship.'^[14]

Separations

People's Mission(1912)

Throughout its history, there have been several groups thatseparated from the Church of the Nazarene to form newdenominations. One of the first groups to withdraw from thedenomination consisted of seven congregations in Colorado that hadcomprised the People's Mission Church under theleadership of William Lee, which had united with the Church of theNazarene in April 1911.^[15]However, on 6 January 1912, Lee and his preachers wrote to Breseeindicating their desire to withdraw as they had found the'distinctively congregational form of government' in the Church ofthe Nazarene was not suitable for a work so 'pioneer andaggressive' in character as theirs had been.'^[16]Despite efforts to address their concerns, 'only a small band inColorado Springs remained 'loyal to the church.'^[17] In1925 the People's Mission merged with the Pilgrim Holiness Church.^[18]

Pentecost Pilgrim Church(1917)

Seth Cook Rees (1854-1933), a Holiness Quaker evangelist,^[19] whohad in March 1912 become a Nazarene when he became the foundingpastor of the University Church at Pasadena, California, soon thethird largest congregation in the infant denomination, left theChurch of the Nazarene with most of the members of his congregationto form the Pentecost Pilgrim Church (laterPilgrim Church) on 26 May 1917.^[20] Mostof the congregation in San Diego and its pastor, and the presidentof Bresee College in Kansas, united with Ree's denomination. InJanuary 1918 'a small but influential group of Pilgrimsympathizers' in Nampa, Idaho seceded in January, 1918.^[21] In1922 Rees led a group of 457 Pilgrims, which merged with theInternational Holiness Church to form the Pilgrim Holiness Church, withRees elected as one of the three general superintendents in1926.^[22]In 1968 the Pilgrim Holiness Church merged with the WesleyanMethodist Church of North America to form the Wesleyan Church.^[22]The events surrounding the Rees Controversy^[23]resulted in the 1919 General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarenelimiting the authority of individual district and generalsuperintendents in disorganizing individual congregations.^[22]

Bible Missionary Church(1955)

A significant defection from the Church of the Nazarene was theorganization of the Bible Missionary Union (BMU)in November 1955 with 126 members,^[24] aftera five-week Holiness campaign conducted by Nazarene evangelistGlenn Griffith in Caldwell, Idaho in September.^[25]Griffith, a former district superintendent believed thedenomination had grown 'cold, anemic and formal',^[26] andhad been guilty of compromising with the secular society byrefusing to ban the use of television by church members at the 1952General Assembly.^[27] Afterthe 1956 General Assembly failed to ban television, others left thedenomination,^[28]including Rev. William Tidwell;^[29] Rev.Spencer Johnson;^[30] Rev.W.L. King (12 October 1923 - 30 May 2009),^[31] whohad started the 'Voice of the Nazarene' radio program andperiodical; and Elbert Dodd, superintendent of the Louisianadistrict, 26 ministers and seven hundred members of this district,resulting in the closure of fourteen churches. In 1956 members ofthe BMU and other disaffected Nazarenes met in Colorado for thefirst General Conference of the BMU, which was re-named theBible MissionaryChurch (BMC).^[32] TheBMC was more conservative and narrower than the Church of theNazarene, by only allowing premillenialism;believer's baptism; and ordination by any ordained minister, ratherthan by a general superintendent.^[33] Therewere significant losses for the Church of the Nazarene, as by theend of 1956 'ministers and congregations from twenty states andthree foreign missionary fields had associated themselves with thenew movement.'^[34]According to Purkiser, 'the districts most affected by thesecession were Louisiana, Colorado, Idaho-Oregon, Indianapolis,Southwest Indiana, Southwest Oklahoma, East Tennessee, and SouthCarolina. While other factors may have been involved, three of theaffected districts registered membership losses during the crucialtwo years: Louisiana, 825; Southwest Oklahoma, 366; and EastTennessee, 193.'^[35]Differences within the Bible Missionary Church resulted in Griffithleaving to form the Wesleyan Holiness Association ofChurches near Muncie, Indiana on 4 August 1959 overthe issue of divorce,^[36] andKing forming the Nazarene Baptist Church in1960,^[37] whichwas re-named the Nazarene Bible Church by 1967, and affiliated withhis Voice of the Nazarene Association ofChurches.^[38] By1967 the BMC had churches in 34 US states, Canada, Mexico, PapuaNew Guinea, and five other nations, and about 3,000 members in theUSA.^[39]

HolinessChurch of the Nazarene (1961-1968)

In 1958 Rev. Joseph Staten Pitts (born 14 June 1907 in Birmingham,Alabama; died 19 April 2006 in Marion, Indiana),^[40] aformer US Army chaplain who had been awarded the Philippine LiberationMedal,^[41] andthe pioneer Nazarene missionary to the Philippines, and MarcianoEncarnacion, a Filipino layman, who had begun the Church of theNazarene in the Philippines at Cabanatuan in May1946,^[42] andmost of the pastors and members left the Church of the Nazareneover concerns the denomination was too accommodating to the world(especially in relation to allowing women to 'bob' their hair),^[43] anddesires for more autonomy for local leaders.^[44] In1957 Pitts was recalled from the Philippines by the General Boardof the Church of the Nazarene, and after a meeting with the Boardof General Superintendents on 31 August 1957,^[45] hismissionary contract was terminated. In 1961 Pitts returned to thePhilippines as an independent missionary, funded largely by theFirst Church of the Nazarene in Lake Charles, Louisiana,^[46] wherehis brother, Paul Ernest Pitts (born 6 May 1904 in Haleyville,Alabama; died November 1969 in Lake Charles, Louisiana), a formersuperintendent of the Alabama District (1938-1942), was thepastor.^[47]Joseph Pitts was subsequently dropped from the roll of elders ofthe Church of the Nazarene,^[48] andin December 1961 Pitts incorporated the Holiness Church ofthe Nazarene, with himself as chairman and Encarnacion asvice-chairman.^[49] Afterhis retirement from the Philippines in 1968, Pitts turned hisdenomination over to the Church of the Bible Covenant.^[50]

Church of the BibleCovenant (1967)

The Church of the Bible Covenant was organizedon March 10, 1967 at the John T. Hatfield Campground near Cleveland,Indiana by Nazarene ministers Remiss R. Rehfeldt (born 28February 1915; died 8 March 1992),^[51]district superintendent of the Indiana district, who had been theExecutive Secretary of the Foreign Missionary Department from1948-1960, along with Marvin Powers, nephew of generalsuperintendent HardyPowers.^[52]Rehfeldt and Powers were both elected general presidingofficers.^[53] Atits peak in 1984 the CBC had 165 churches (including 75 outside theUSA), however congenital disagreements about remarriage afterdivorce, and personal adornment, and ultimately the inability ofchoose a general presiding officer, resulted in its dissolutionfrom 1985 to 1988.^[54]

Bible Missionary Church Directory

CrusadersChurches of the United States of America (1972)

After the Church of the Nazarene decided at the 1972 GeneralAssembly in Miami, Florida to allow those who hadremarried after divorce to be church members, Rev. E.O. Jack Jones,who had spoken against the resolution at the General Assembly andsubsequently surrendered his ministerial credentials, and hissupporters established the Crusaders Churches of the United Statesof America later in 1972, with its headquarters in Urbana,Indiana, and Faith in the Future as its officialperiodical.^[55]

Fellowship ofCharismatic Nazarenes (1977)

'One of the most divisive issues in the Church of the Nazarenein the 1960s and 1970s was speaking in tongues.'^[56] TheChurch of the Nazarene's historic prohibition on glossolalia waschallenged increasingly by Nazarenes influenced by the Charismatic Movement thatoriginated in the USA in the 1960s. At the 1972 General Assemblyeach delegate received a packet of materials advocating acharismatic revival in the denomination and for an acceptance oftongues-speaking members.^[57] WhenCharismatic Nazarenes failed to have the denomination relax itsposition at both the 1972 and 1976 General Assemblies, and in lightof 'strongly worded' statements by the Board of GeneralSuperintendents in 1976,^[58] theFellowship of Charismatic Nazarenes was formed in Kansas City in1977, with Warren Black (born 27 November 1927 in Bethany,Oklahoma), a former accountant at the Nazarene Publishing House,who had been 'ousted from his Church of the Nazarene pulpit',^[59]chosen to be its inaugural leader.^[60] Blackindicated in a 1977 interview that he knew of fifty Nazareneministers 'who had been put out because of receiving the gift ofthe Holy Spirit. The church takes a very intolerant position aboutit'.^[61] In1985, the Wesleyan Holiness Charismatic Fellowship was formed withWilbur L. Jackson, a former Nazarene pastor from Cincinatti, Ohio its initial leader. Bothgroups work co-operatively.^[62]

International growth

Even before the merger of October 1908, the parental bodies ofthe Church of the Nazarene had a vision to be a internationaldenomination. International expansion began in India in 1898 bymissionaries sponsored by the Association of Pentecostal Churchesof America.^[63] By1908, there were churches in Canada and organized work in India, Swaziland, Cape Verde, and Japan, soon followed by work in central Africa, Mexico, and China. The 1915 mergers added congregations inthe British Isles and work in Cuba, Central America, and South America.There were congregations in Syria and Palestine by 1922. General SuperintendentReynolds advocated 'a mission to the world,' and support for worldevangelization became a distinguishing characteristic of Nazarenelife. Taking advantage of new technologies, the church beganproducing the Showers of Blessing radio program in the1940s, followed by the Spanish broadcast La Hora Nazarenaand later by broadcasts in other languages. From the 1940s throughthe 1980s, indigenous holiness churches in other countriescontinued to join the church.

At the time of the 50th anniversary of the denomination inOctober 1958, a total of 19.8% of all Nazarenes lived outside thecontinental United States.^[64] In1981 the figure was 28.3%.^[65] Inlate 1991 there were one million members of the denominationglobally, with 43% living outside the USA.^[66] By2000 the church's membership was just under 1.4 million, with thechurch's membership outside the USA doubling in the previousdecade, and now comprising 53% of total global churchmembership.^[67] InJune 2009, 64 percent of Nazarene members and 80 percent of thechurch's 429 districts are outside the United States.^[68] Morethan 20% Nazarenes are from Africa, and more than 20% Nazarenesspeak Spanish as their first language.^[69]

In 2009, the church is located in 155 'world areas'(approximately equivalent to nations).^[70] Atthe 2009 annual meeting of the General Board, it was decided thatthe denomination would enter the following new nations: Guinea-Conakry (Africa Region), Niger (Africa Region); Moldova (Eurasia Region), andNorway (Eurasia Region).^[71] Eachweek Nazarenes worship in more than 212 languages or triballanguages, with literature produced in 90 of these.^[72]The Church of the Nazarene reaches out to persons around the globethrough the Internet,radio broadcasts in 33 languages, and video and printed materialsin 95 languages.^[72]In 2008, there were 794 General Board-funded missionaries (active,retired, regional, Mission Corps volunteers, and 'tentmakers') forthe Church of the Nazarene.^[72]These missionaries originate from 26 world areas. In 2008, 508Mission Corps (formerly Nazarenes in Volunteer Service) volunteers,including 23 'tentmakers,' ministered in 51 world areas.^[73]

Internationalization

Developments(1907-1932)

The primary architect of Nazarene mission philosophy andpractice was Hiram F. Reynolds, who had served asthe foreign missionary superintendent in the Association ofPentecostal Churches of America (APCA) from its earliest years, andheld a similar role in the Church of the Nazarene (under varioustitles) from 1907 until 1922.^[74]Influenced by the indigenous church missiontheories of Anglican Henry Venn (1796-1873) and AmericanBoard of Commissioners for Foreign Missions secretary Rufus Anderson(1796-1880), from the beginning of the global expansion of theChurch of the Nazarene (including its antecedent groups), there wasa commitment to the development of indigenous churches and districts within theframework of a unitary global denomination under the authority ofthe Manual.^[75] Asearly as 3 March 1914, Nazarene mission policy developed for thework in Japan by Reynolds encouraged the creation of'self-supporting and self-governing churches':

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When a Mission Church reaches a place where it can becomeentirely self supporting it shall be organized by the DistrictMissionary Superintendent (SIC) Into a self supporting bodyaccording to the manual of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazareneadapted to the needs peculiar to the country, and shall be governedby the same. The church shall be granted a pastor whose duties andprivileges (SIC) shall conform to the manual; and at this time allmissionary control shall be relinquished except suchsuperintendency as provided for in the manual.^[76]

Under the policy, foreign districts would be granted the samerights as US districts, with control passing from missionaries tolocal leaders.^[77]However, in 1919, all reference to the missionaries relinquishingcontrol was removed, and the following substituted: 'The pastor anddelegates from the self-supporting church to the District Assemblymust be able to enter into the deliberations of the Assembly in theEnglish language until such time as a self-supporting district maybe formed.'^[78]

Developments(1922-1964)

Gailey indicates, that by 1932 these policy statements had beenbroadened to full 'three-self' language, with the instruction tomissionaries to cultivate among local Christians '..self support,self leadership and responsibility for the propagation of thegospel in that field.'^[79] The'language was unchanged for the next twenty years, and has remainedessentially intact until the present time.'^[80] Bythe 1930s, Nazarene missions leaders 'did not aim toward thedevelopment of autonomous national churches, but a federation ofdistricts. They did not plan for indefinite missionary control.Without a great deal of thought about whee this would lead, withoutconsciously copying any other denomination's model of churchgovernment, and without much theological reflection, the Church ofthe Nazarene became an international body.'^[81] Thefirst non-missionary district superintendents were George Sharpe(born in Scotland in 1865; died 1948) in Britain (November 1915)and Vicente G. Santin (1870-1948), appointed districtsuperintendent in Mexico in 1919.^[82] InJanuary 1936 the General Board divided the declared the JapanDistrict into two, and the Western or Kwansai district became thefirst regular district in the denomination, 'with all the rightsand privileges of any of the North American and British Islesdistricts subject to the Manual and the General Assembly,'^[83]however the effects of World War II on the church in Japan saw itrevert to a missionary-led district.

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Developments(1964-1980)

According to one denominational historian, W.T. Purkiser, theprocess of 'internationalizing' the church began at the GeneralAssembly in Portland, Oregon in 1964 with aneight-year study of the church's total missionary program.'^[84] Soonafter that General Assembly, E.S. Phillips was elected ExecutiveSecretary for World Missions, who encouraged the self-study. Inthis period, a thinktank comprising R. Franklin Cook, a former missionary toIndia and member of the World Mission department since 1961; missiologist Paul Orjala,pioneer missionary to Haiti; andHonorato Reza, long-time representative for the Hispanic church,was formed to advise Phillips.^[85] Theywere responsible for developing the denomination's first 'NationalChurch Policy' that was adopted in 1966, and indicated explicitlyfor the first time the steps towards achieving 'regular' districtstatus.^[86] Atthe General Assembly of 1972, held at Miami Beach, Florida, Phillips, influencedby the recommendations of the preceding self-study, recommended inhis report that 'The administrative bodies of the church must beinternationalized..That portion of the church that livesoverseas..must be given full voice in the councils of thechurch.'^[87]Phillips advocated contextualization of the gospel andinternationalization of denominational programs and structures.^[88] Itwas only in 1972 that the General Secretary began to includeoverseas membership in reporting totals, as prior to this time ithad been difficult to collect the needed data.^[89]

In 1973 Phillips died, and was succeeded by former missionary toGermany JeraldJohnson (born 1916). In 1974 the Guatemala Northeast districtachieved regular status, the first since Japan achieved thismilestone in 1936^[90] Alsoin 1974 the Nazarene Young Peoples Society (now Nazarene YouthInternational) in its desire to be more inclusive, held its firstInternational Institute (now Nazarene World Youth Conference) onthe campus of European Nazarene Bible College in Büsingen, Germany. At the 1976General Assembly held in Dallas, Texas, aCommission on Internationalization was created to recommend 'meansby which the next stage of internationalization might beimplemented.'^[91] In1976, concrete steps were taken to make possible an internationalchurch with the creation of three intercontinental zones outsidethe USA and Canada: Intercontinental Zone I (Europe, the MiddleEast and Africa); Intercontinental Zone II (the Orient and SouthPacific); and Intercontinental Zone III (Central and SouthAmerica).^[92] In1977 the General Board had eight members (18%) from outside the USAamong its 44 members.^[93] In1978 the first international district superintendents' conferencewas held in Kansas City, Missouri, with 52 leaders from 35 nationsrepresented.^[94]

At the 1980 General Assembly, held in Kansas City, thedenomination formally committed itself to the process ofinternationalization, a deliberate policy of being one church ofcongregations and districts worldwide, rather than splitting intonational churches like earlier Protestant denominations. Theprinciple was set forth of “one church, one doctrine, one polity,and one policy.”[2] At that time,the entire denomination was divided into fifteen geographicalregions, with eight in the USA based around its regional college;one in Canada; and the three Intercontinental Zones subdivided intosix regions: Africa; Asia; Europe and Middle East; Mexico, CentralAmerica, and Caribbean; South America; and the South Pacific.^[95] TheGeneral Board now included members from outside the USA, Canada andthe other parts of the British Commonwealth. In 1980the General Board had fourteen (27%) out of its 51 members residingoutside the United States and Canada.^[96]

Developments after 1980

After the election of Jerald Johnson as a general superintendentin June 1980, the General Board elected L. Guy Nees as hisreplacement.^[97]During his six years of leadership, Nees appointed directors foreach of the six missions regions, who supervised the establishmentof administrative offices in each region.^[98] The2nd Commission on Internationalization recommended that regionaldirectors should be born in the region. The 1985 General Assemblyallowed 'cultural adaptations of local, district, and regionalchurch government procedures', approved the creation of regionaladvisory councils and conferences, and national administrativeboards.^[99] In1989 the 3rd Commission recommended that the Church of the Nazareneshould be a 'denomination of districts (not nations)', and thatdistricts and regions should follow geographical rather than racialor ethnic lines. The 1989 General Assembly stated three principlesfor internationalization: '(1) shared mission; (2) nationalidentity; and (3) indigenization'; prohibited districts beingconstituted on the basis of ethnicity; explicitly rejected the ideaof a commonwealthor federation of thedenomination, in favour of it being a 'global family'; and createda Commission on the International Church.^[100]

In 1999 incoming professor of missions at Nazarene TheologicalSeminary Mario Zani indicated that the biblical concept ofkoinonia, the fellowship 'thattranscended any differences, assignments, or titles', should be thebasis of the development of the Church of the Nazarene. Zanicritiqued the idea of internationalization as being toopredetermined and focused on strategies and administrativepolicies, whereas he advocated the denominational goal should be globalization,which he defined as 'that process by which we become sensitized andresponsive to the multi-cultural, multi-lingual,multi-ethnic, and multi-national world of which we are a part.'^[101]Zani concluded that though the Church of the Nazarene was'international from its conception, it was not truly global.'^[102]

By the 2001 General Assembly, held in Indianapolis, 42 percentof delegates present and voting were not native English speakers.Today 64 percent of Nazarene members and 80 percent of the church's429 districts are outside the United States. However, GeneralSecretary David Wilson reported that at the 2009 General Assemblythat 562 delegates present and registered were from the USA andCanada (55 percent) and 461 delegates were from other world regions(45 percent).^[14]As many elected delegates from outside the United States could notattend the General Assembly due to financial, US immigrationpolicies or other reasons, the General Assembly authorised thecreation of 'a committee to address the concern that a highpercentage (as many as 40 percent in some world regions) ofnon-North American/non-United States delegates are unable to attenda General Assembly'.^[14]Since the Church of the Nazarene's quadrennial General Assembly isbased on representation from districts from 151 world areas, the2009 General Assembly was probably one of the most racially andlinguistically diverse general meetings of any religious body thatoriginated on American soil. At the 2009 General Assembly thedelegates voted to create a global Manual that would bestreamlined in comparison to recent Manuals, consist of theForeward, and Parts I, II, and III of the current Manual, and wouldalso include parts of the Manual that are global in scope,retaining the universally appropriate polity and principles.' TheGeneral Assembly authorised the different regions to adapt theManual to fit specific cultural contexts and wouldfunction as a 'regional Manual policy handbook.'^[14]

For the quadrennium starting July 2009, the General Boardcurrently has 44 members representing the church's 15 regions, andan additional four members were elected to represent Education (2),Nazarene Youth International, and Nazarene Missions International.Of the 48 members elected, 27 (56%) are from outside the USA, and21 are US citizens. Five are women.^[103]

Bible Missionary Baptist Church

References

Bible Missionary Church Locations

1. ^Nazarene Archives, 'Periods in Nazarene History' (2003), http://www.usamission.org/Portals/1/Documents/Nazarene%20History%20Outlines62009.pdf
2. ^Bryan Merrill, 'The Rise of the Church of the Nazarene' (1992), http://www.nazarene.org/files/docs/schematic.pdf
3. ^List of Churchof the Nazarene conventions
4. ^'Historical Statement', Manual of the Church of the Nazarene2005-2009 (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House,2005):21.
5. ^Watchword, 62.
6. ^'Historical Statement', Manual of the Church of the Nazarene2005-2009 (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House,2005):19.
7. ^Watchword, 157.
8. ^Manual 2005-2009, 22.
9. ^Manual, 19.
10. ^Manual, 19-20.
11. ^Historical Reflections of Godat Work
12. ^Early Church of the NazareneStats
13. ^Manual, 22-24.
14. ^ ^abcd'Legislative Actions and G.S. Ballots', Nazarene News (29June 2009), http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10007296
15. ^Smith, Called, 180, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2501-2600/HDM2593.PDF
16. ^Smith, Called, 181, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2501-2600/HDM2593.PDF
17. ^Smith, Called, 182.
18. ^Paul Westphal Thomas and Paul William Thomas, The Days of ourPilgrimage: The History of the Pilgrim Holiness Church (WesleyPress, 1976):98.
19. ^HDHM, 215; Charles Yrigoyen and Susan Eltscher Warrick,eds., Historical Dictionary of Methodism (HDM) 2nd ed.(Scarecrow Press, 2005):328; Margery Post Abbott. ed.,Historical Dictionary of the Friends (Quakers) (ScarecrowPress, 2003):136.
20. ^Watchword, 204-213; Smith, Called, 203, 211-217;Mallalieu Wilson, William C. Wilson: The Fifth GeneralSuperintendent (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene, 1995):46-47, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2501-2600/HDM2594.PDF;Asa Everette Sanner, John W. Goodwin: A Biography (KansasCity, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 1945):47; and Ronald BKirkemo, Promise and Destiny: Grace in the History of PointLoma Nazarene University (Point Loma Press, 2001):42-55. Foran alternate perspective, see Paul Westphal Thomas and Paul WilliamThomas, The Days of our Pilgrimage: The History of the PilgrimHoliness Church (Wesley Press, 1976):92ff.; Paul S. Rees,Seth Cook Rees: The Warrior Saint (Indianapolis: PilgrimBook Room, 1934). For a good summary of the two contrastingperspectives, see Keith Drury, 'Did the Pilgrims Split from theNazarenes? The Seth Rees Conflict in Pasadena: 1912-1917', http://www.drurywriting.com/keith/pilgrim.holiness.church.5.htm(accessed 22 December 2009). See also Peter Neychev, 'Seth CookRees: A Biographical Review', (11 September 2007), http://wideandhigh.com/blog/2007/09/11/seth-cook-rees-a-biographical-review/
21. ^Smith, Called, 222.
22. ^ ^abcWatchword, 213.
23. ^Also known as the Rees Dissension, see Smith, 216.
24. ^Purkiser, Called 2: 200.
25. ^Glenn Griffith, 'The Bible Missionary Union', Missionary Revivalist(June 1956; Holiness Data Ministry, 2000):12-15, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/1801-1900/HDM1836.PDF;'Glenn Griffith' in Who's Who in Religion (Marquis Who'sWho., 1975); 'Glenn Griffith' in Historical Dictionary of theHoliness Movement, eds. William Kostlevy, Gari-Anne Patzwald(Scarecrow Press, 2001):122; J. Gordon Melton, ed., 'Glenn GriffithMovement' in Encyclopedia of American Religions, Vol. 1,5th ed. (Gale Research, 1996):358ff; 1st ed. (McGrath Pub. Co.,1978):236-242; James R. Lewis, The Encyclopedia of Cults,Sects, and New Religions (Prometheus Books, 1998):248ff.;Arthur Carl Piepkorn, Profiles in Belief: The Religious Bodiesof the United States and Canada Vols. 3-4 (Harper & Row,1979):55ff; J. Gordon Melton, Nelson's Guide toDenominations (Thomas Nelson, 2007):390.
26. ^See Glenn Griffith, 'Nineteen Reasons Why I Am Leaving the Churchof the Nazarene', (ca. 1956; 1998 Holiness Data Ministry): http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/0101-0200/HDM0187.PDF
27. ^Watchword, 415; For a discussion of the debate at the 1952General Assembly, see Purkiser, Called 2:197-199.
28. ^Elbert Dodd, To Shine in Use: The Life Story of Rev. Henry A.Erdman, John H. Abrahams, Albert L. Crane (Natchitoches, LA:Anchor Publications, 1975).
29. ^'Brother W.M. Tidwell Explains', The Voice of the Nazarene3:11 (July 1956):8, http://voiceofthenazarene.com/von/VON_195607-Jul.pdf
30. ^'Twenty-One Reasons Why I am Leaving the Church of the Nazarene',pamphlet (1956), http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/0101-0200/HDM0188.PDF.
31. ^'W.L. King', in Historical Dictionary of the HolinessMovement, eds. William Kostlevy, Gari-Anne Patzwald (ScarecrowPress, 2001):153; 'Who Is W.L. King?', http://www.voiceofthenazarene.com/wlking.html
32. ^Watchword, 415-416.
33. ^Watchword, 416; for a more detailed discussion of theirparticular ethical convictions, see Purkiser, Called2:196-197.
34. ^Piepkorn, 55.
35. ^Purkiser, Called 2:200.
36. ^Charles Edwin Jones, The Wesleyan Holiness Movement: AComprehensive Guide (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2005):814.See Glenn Griffith, Unto Death Do Us Part, (Dundee, IL:Metropolitan Press, 1958; Holiness Data Ministry, 1998), http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/0701-0800/HDM0774.PDF
37. ^W.L. King, Autobiography of W.L. King: A Radical (Voice ofthe Nazarene, 2002); Watchword, 416-417; 'PREJUDICE: TheFake Oath', Time (22 August 1960), http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869792,00.html
38. ^'Churches', The Voice of the Nazarene 15:8 (January1967):14, http://voiceofthenazarene.com/von/VON_196701-Jan.pdf
39. ^Jones, 795-797.
40. ^Jones, 1462. See Herald Bulletin (Anderson, IN, 25 April2006): 'Rev. Joseph S. Pitts (June 14, 1907 - April 19, 2006) TheRev. Joseph S. Pitts, 98, of Anderson, passed away peacefully onWednesday morning, April 19, 2006, at the Veterans AdministrationNorthern Health Care Center in Marion. Joseph was the fourth offive sons born to Nathaniel Pitts and Cattie King on June 14, 1907,in Birmingham, Ala. He attended college in Oklahoma. He was aCaptain in the United States Army and served as chaplain duringWorld War II. Joseph went to the Philippines as a Nazarenemissionary in 1948 with his family. He spent more than 25 years inmissionary work.'
41. ^W.T. Purkiser, Called Unto Holiness Vol. 2: The SecondTwenty-Five Years (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene, 1983)102, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2601-2700/HDM2623.PDF
42. ^Purkiser, 136; Joseph S. Pitts, 'The Road to Tokyo' in TheChaplains See World Missions, ed. L.J. Du Bois (Kansas City,MO: Nazarene, 1946):9-30; Joseph S. Pitts, 'Shining with God'sWord', in Light Unto My Path, ed. Remiss Rehfeldt (KansasCity, MO: Nazarene, 1954):39-40); Joseph S. Pitts, Mission tothe Philippines (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 1956); RichardShelley Taylor, Our Pacific Outposts (Kansas City, MO:Beacon Hill, 1956):56ff;
43. ^Joseph S. Pitts, Voices from the Philippines (Wilmore, KY:J.S. Pitts, 1958); Joseph S. Pitts, Long Hair: A Woman'sGlory (Bicknell, IN: Fellowship Promoter Press, 1966; HolinessData Ministry, 1998), http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/0601-0700/HDM0653.PDF.
44. ^Watchword, 415, 417-418.
45. ^Long Hair, 2.
46. ^Long Hair, 2.
47. ^Jones, 1463; Long Hair, 2.
48. ^Long Hair, 2.
49. ^Watchword, 418.
50. ^Floyd Timothy Cunningham, Holiness Abroad: Nazarene Missions inAsia, Issue 16 of Pietist and Wesleyan Studies (ScarecrowPress, 2003):249.
51. ^Ancestry.com. Social Security Death Index [database on-line].Provo, UT, USA: Number: 488-36-6230; Issue State: Missouri;IssueDate: 1951.
52. ^'Church of the Bible Covenant', in HDHM (2001):56; Melton,EAR (1978) 1:237.
53. ^Melton, EAR (1978), http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/ear_01/ear_01_00073.html
54. ^Jones, 798.
55. ^Jones, 799.
56. ^Cunningham, 442. For an extended discussion of Pentecostalism andthe Church of the Nazarene, see 442-448.
57. ^Cunningham, 445.
58. ^Cunningham, 445.
59. ^'Charismatic Meet Shows Some Dissent', Spokane DailyChronicle (25 July 1977):2. See also Warren Black, The Acts ofthe Holy Spirit among the Nazarenes Today', Full GospelBusiness Men's Fellowship International (Los Angeles, CA:1973):23-29.
60. ^Jones, 508.
61. ^'Charismatic Meet Shows Some Dissent', Spokane DailyChronicle (25 July 1977):2.
62. ^Jones, 508, 781.
63. ^Manual Church of the Nazarene 2005-2009:24.
64. ^Purkiser, Called 2, 224, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2601-2700/HDM2623.PDF
65. ^Called 2:224.
66. ^Watchword, 511.
67. ^Watchword, 511.
68. ^'Middendorf Delivers 'A Future of Hope' Quadrennial Address', http://www.nazarene.org/ministries/superintendents/news/middendorf_address/display.aspx,http://www.nazarenemedialibrary.org/MediaView.aspx?mediaId=9ab0e0e0-0888-44fa-8007-03edf0075c04
69. ^Watchword, 512.
70. ^World Areas. For a mapillustrating both the world areas and regions of the Church of theNazarene, see [1]
71. ^NMI Prayer Mobilization Line for February 24, 2009‏.
72. ^ ^abchttp://www.nazarene.org/ministries/administration/visitorcenter/about/display.aspx
73. ^Louie E. Bustle; http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10006888
74. ^Watchword, 245.
75. ^Charles R. Gailey, 'Internationalization in the Church of theNazarene', Paper presented to the Association of Nazarene SocialResearchers (c.1987):2-3, http://www.nazarene.org/files/docs/Internationalization%20in%20the%20Church%20of%20the%20Nazarene.pdf;Watchword, 249.
76. ^'The Policy of the General Missionary Board of the PentecostalChurch of the Nazarene to Govern the Work in Japan', 3 March 1914,quoted in Gailey, 2.
77. ^Gailey, 2.
78. ^'Policy of the General Missionary Board of the Pentecostal Churchof the Nazarene to Govern Its Work in the Foreign Fields', quotedin Gailey, 3.
79. ^'Policy of the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene ToGovern Its Work In Foreign Fields', Kansas City, Missouri, 1932(Nazarene Archives):14, quoted in Gailey, 3.
80. ^Gailey, 3.
81. ^Watchword, 257-258.
82. ^Watchword, 181, 184, 253.
83. ^Watchword, 257.
84. ^Purkiser, Called 2:234.
85. ^Gailey, 4.
86. ^Gailey, 4-5
87. ^Watchword, 525-526.
88. ^Watchword, 526.
89. ^Purkiser, Called 2: 317.
90. ^Watchword, 513.
91. ^Watchword, 526.
92. ^Watchword, 525; however Purkiser indicates it was in 1972,see Purkiser, Called 2:224.
93. ^Purkiser, Called 2:226-227.
94. ^Watchword, 526.
95. ^Purkiser, Called 2: 225.
96. ^Purkiser, Called 2:226-227.
97. ^Watchword, 516-517.
98. ^Watchword, 517.
99. ^Watchword, 528.
100. ^Watchword, 529.
101. ^ Mario Zani, quoted inWatchword, 531.
102. ^Watchword, 531.
103. ^ 'General Board Members:2009-2013', Nazarene News (9 July 2009); http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10007318;'General Board Vacancy Filled', Nazarene News (13 August2009), http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000023&id=10007416