A Journey Towards the Meaningful Inclusion of Children in the Church of the Nazarene

Abstract

Throughout the history of Christianity, children have often been overlooked in the life of the Church. Since its beginning, the Church of the Nazarene International has gone through a journey from ignoring the value of children, to ministry engaged in permanent advocating on behalf of children and youth. As a Christian, Holiness, and Missional people, Nazarenes around the world have developed their perspective on children and youth through the establishment of specific ministries that include children and youth in their core values, and by emphasis on intergenerational connections and making historical changes to their procedures manual. All of this has been critical to the meaningful inclusion of children in the active life of the church. Today the Church of the Nazarene together with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries are actively advocating and educating new generations of pastors and leaders to better understand the importance of children and youth in the life of the church.

Keywords

Children Ministry Church of the Nazarene holistic child development inclusion of children Nazarene Compassionate Ministries

Introduction

Journeys are related to everyone. Every person, group, or community has a journey to undertake. Isn’t this what life is all about? A journey from birth to death, whose path is mostly left to us to decide with whom, how, and for what purpose we walk through it.

Journeys may differ in purpose, nature, and pathways, but they are all common in one point: their success is determined by the extent of contribution and scale of transformation that takes place throughout the paths. Life is not static, and therefore it is important to view growth, multiplication, and transformation as essential factors that determine its success.

The Church of the Nazarene has been going through a long journey, following God’s call to become a community of believers, and committing itself to a life that is characterized by holiness. In consecrating itself to become Christ’s growing body on earth, the Church of the Nazarene continued to seek God’s will in every phase of its existence, starting from its establishment. As it started to feel its way towards doing God’s will, it did not refrain from revising the Church Manual, which reflected the extent of transformation happening in the church whose sole purpose was, after all, to be a body whose head is Christ and no one else but Him.

Highlights of the Journey

Born in 1908 after the union of several independent churches from the emerging Wesleyan Holiness movement,¹ the Church of the Nazarene is a global movement with more than 2.3 million members worshipping in more than 29,000 congregations in 159 areas of the world.² From its beginning the Church of the Nazarene has been committed to responding to the Great Commission to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19 (NIV)).³ In 2006 the church coined the simple phrase ‘to make Christlike Disciples in all the nations’, promoting three basic core values: Christian, Holiness, and Missional people.⁴

Children have been part of the life of the church from its beginning. Even so, efforts were made by the denomination to provide education and health care, but there was no serious attempt to provide discipleship and mentorship ministries to transform the lives of children becoming followers of Jesus. This was so for many other denominations too – the focus was as described by Rev. Linda Boardman (2010) in ‘Classical Sunday School’ in which children came every Sunday just to receive teaching about the Bible.⁵ There was never an intentional focus on including children in the active life of the church. Somehow they became the ‘great omission’ of the church as Dr Dan Brewster, former director of International Holistic Child Development, and Patrick Thomas, founder of Viva Network, once said.⁶

With the beginning of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) in 1984,⁷ more focused ministries for children started. Today for more than 20 years NCM have led the way in the efforts of an entire denomination to understand the heart of God for children and to take important steps to include children in its active life. During these years, more ministries specifically focused on children have been started. Larry Bollinger (2010), Global Director of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries International, stated, ‘Priorities are shifting. I noticed that the majority of Regional Directors now include children in their strategies. Twenty years ago this would not have been the case’.⁸

In 2003, NCM began focusing on a more intentional Holistic Child Development approach, engaging local churches in reaching and ministering children, holistically aiming to help them achieve God’s intended purpose in their lives.

In June 2001, during the 25th General Assembly, the Global Church of the Nazarene launched the decadal emphasis on children and youth called “Connecting a New Generation”, ‘Whose main purpose was to raise awareness and appreciation of the value of children and youth in the kingdom of God. They are “disciples in training,” not “disciples in waiting”’ (Boardman 2010, personal interview). A second purpose was to encourage churches to minister effectively to the whole person – physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. A third purpose was to challenge and equip church leaders to include children and youth fully in the life and ministry of the faith community and to challenge and equip parents to nurture the spiritual formation of their children and youth.

The leaders of the church were envisioning the Church of the Nazarene as an inter-generational faith community where children and youth are loved and valued, where they are ministered to and incorporated into the Church family through a wide variety of means and methods, and where they have opportunities to minister to others in ways consistent with their age, development, abilities, and spiritual gifts.

The decadal emphasis was illustrated with the phrase ‘You’re losing us’, shown in the poster in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

‘You’re losing us’ poster.

In January 2009, the Connecting A New Generation (CANG) committee agreed to make this a permanent emphasis for the global church. The Board of General Superintendents of the church approved the recommendation of the committee to make the decadal emphasis a for-life emphasis on the church engaging with children. This decadal emphasis was the beginning of many important changes in our view of children and their importance in the life of the church. Very important changes also happened in the manual of the church. For instance, one paragraph (107) concerning church membership and voting responsibilities was universally misinterpreted and used by church leaders to hinder full participation in the life of the church. The paragraph in question used to read as follows:

107. Full Membership. All persons who have been organized into a local church by those authorized so to do, and all who have been publicly received by the pastor, the district superintendent, or the general superintendent, after having declared their experience of salvation, and their belief in the doctrines of the Church of the Nazarene, and their willingness to submit to its government, shall compose the full membership of the local church. Only church members who are active and have reached their 15th birthday shall be entitled to vote in annual or special church meetings.⁹

Unfortunately, the last part of the paragraph was always used by missionaries and pastors as an excuse not to include children in the full communion of the church. Most church leaders, when asked at what age a person could become fully involved in the life of church, would answer 15 years of age. This wrong perception for many years hindered the opportunity for hundreds of thousands of children to be discipled and mentored in the Global Church of the Nazarene.

In 2007, during the General Assembly in Orlando, Florida, a motion was submitted and adopted by 77 votes in favor and 10 against. Today the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene, section B, Membership, paragraph 107, after the suggested amendments read as follows:

107. Full Membership. All persons who have been organized into a local church by those authorized so to do, and all who have been publicly received by the pastor, the district superintendent, or the general superintendent, after having declared their experience of salvation, and their belief in the doctrines of the Church of the Nazarene, and their willingness to submit to its government, shall compose the full membership of the local church. The local church leadership shall seek to place every member into a ministry of service and a circle of care and support.¹⁰

The second part of the original paragraph concerning voting in annual or special church meetings in elections only after a person’s 15th birthday was moved to a separate paragraph.

This change in the manual has created a new environment in church leadership. Now churches are more child-friendly and there are more intentional ministries reaching and ministering holistically hundreds of thousands of children worldwide. Today, when pastors present their annual reports to their district assemblies they report on how many children are active in their full communion membership.

At the same General Assembly in 2007, another important milestone was achieved when a declaration on children and youth was included in the manual of the church submitted together by NCM, Sunday School Ministries International, and Nazarene Youth International. The General Board committee and the USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism Department supported the recommendation. Eighty votes in favor and one against meant the resolution was approved. The declaration reads as follows:

903.16. The Bible commands every Christian to, ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute’ (Proverbs 31:8). The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-7; 11:19) admonishes us to communicate God’s grace to our children. Psalm 78:4 declares, ‘We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.’ Jesus affirms this in Luke 18:16, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’¹¹

As a response to this biblical perspective, the Church of the Nazarene acknowledges that children are important to God and a priority in His kingdom. We believe God directed us to attend to all children – to love, nurture, protect, uphold, guide, and advocate for them. It is God’s plan that we introduce children to the life of salvation and growth in grace. Salvation, holiness, and discipleship are possible and imperative in the lives of children. We recognize that children are not a means to an end, but full participants in the Body of Christ. Children are disciples in training, not disciples in waiting. Thus, holistic and transformational ministry to children and their families in every local church will be a priority as evidenced by:

providing effective and empowering ministries to the whole child—physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually;

articulating Christian positions on current social justice issues that affect children;

connecting children to the heart of the mission and ministry of the faith community;

discipling children and training them to disciple others;

equipping parents to nurture the spiritual formation of their children.

The Church of the Nazarene envisions an intergenerational faith community where children and youth are loved and valued, where they are ministered to and incorporated into the Church family through a wide variety of means and methods, and where they have opportunities to minister to others in ways consistent with their ages, development, abilities, and spiritual gifts.

Another important and critical point in the declaration on children and youth is that the leaders of the Global Church of the Nazarene challenge educational institutions to embrace the preparation of pastors and leaders:

Since the church’s educational institutions (Bible schools, colleges, universities, and seminaries) prepare students for leadership, they play a crucial role in carrying out the vision and mission of communicating the value of children. They join local churches and families in taking responsibility to prepare clergy and laity to raise the next generation of children and youth to be biblically and theologically literate and to meet the known and unforeseen challenges for evangelizing, discipling, and transforming their societies. (Manual of the Church of the Nazarene 2009–2013: 367)

NCM have started a dialogue with different theological and academic institutions with the purpose of involving them in academic education for preparing and deploying Holistic Child Development workers. Today we already have academic degrees in the Asia Nazarene Theological Seminary, Sendas in Costa Rica, and the Seminario Nazareno en Chiclayo in Peru. And we continue working on engaging many other Nazarene educational institutions in the conversation.

Recently we launched an initiative to engage children in reaching and impacting their peers, family, and community, called ‘The Power of One’. The initiative involves encouraging children to start practicing what they learn and to put their faith to action by praying for their family and friends, trying to look out for the needs of others and considering how they can show God’s love practically to those people. Eventually, the children would be encouraged to take the lead in making a difference in their immediate surroundings, and to believe in their abilities to do so, showing the love and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

With all the changes we have achieved in the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene in the last 10 years, there is hope that current and future generations of pastors and leaders in the global church will be encouraged to understand and embrace the inclusiveness of the Church and to start ministering holistically to thousands of children. Thanks to this we are developing a child-friendly church! Today we believe children are a blessing and a divine promise from God, as Stephen Tollestrup points out:

Children are a promise of hope for every generation. They are the tangible hope of renewal of humanity. Of course, we are not restricting the notion of hope as something projected out into the future; assuming that when the child becomes an adult the fruition of hope is realized. On the contrary, children are intrinsic to hope in the present; to the degree to which they are nurtured, empowered and respected, hope is expressed. Children are the presence of the future.¹²

We firmly believe that God wants to reach and use children in the construction of His church and kingdom, as Dr Wes Stafford states: ‘In more powerful and dramatic ways than most of us can imagine, God delights in using children to build His Kingdom precisely because they are children, unsoiled vessels in His hands’.¹³

Practical Outcomes

As a result of the movement inside the church:

✓ Pastors are becoming more accountable in their engagement to reaching children in their communities and this is reflected through their pastoral reports;

✓ Mission giving towards children’s ministries has increased;

✓ There has been a transformation from ‘classical’ Sunday School to a more holistic approach;

✓ Children are now active participants in the life of the church and their communities through the connection between child development, local church, and community;

✓ Child development is a MINISTRY, not just a program;

✓ We have created a Nazarene global HCD practitioner forum as a training space for sharing information and training tools among our CDM practitioners, pastors, and church leaders;

✓ We have developed and implemented Child Protection training and policies, as well as education and advocacy, not only in all NCM-supported child development programs but also in the broader Church of the Nazarene child development ministries.

The church is called to be the instrument God uses to restore His image and dignity: ‘men and women are made in the image of God, every person, regardless of race, religion, color, culture, class, sex or age, has an intrinsic dignity because of which he or she should be respected and served, not exploited’.¹⁴ This applies to millions of vulnerable children we are called to lead to experience the transformational process of holistic development achieving the God-given purpose they were created for (Luke 2:52 (NIV)).

Footnotes

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes

Author biography

Trino Jara is a Costa Rican citizen with more than 20 years of experience with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) and the Church of the Nazarene International. He has been involved in Compassionate Ministries for more than 30 years, especially regarding developing the Holistic Child Development Ministries in his native country as well as in Central America, Mexico, Africa and the former Soviet Union. He currently lives and serves in Armenia together with his wife Anna. Trino has been coordinating the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries’ Holistic Child Development Ministries both globally and in the Eurasia region. He holds a BA in Church Resources Administration and MA in Theology from the South African Theological Seminary.

One of his main tasks is to engage local churches in developing Holistic Child Development ministries by educating and training pastors and leaders in this field, and by developing a strong connection between children and youth in the active life of the church.

“I believe God uses each circumstance and experience in life to prepare His children for the next step in ministry. It doesn’t matter where we come from, He gives us the opportunity to gain and use experience to contribute to the development of the church and to help build a better world for our new generations.”