I for one love the 'Big Tent' image thatn is often portrayed in the church of the Nazarene. We have a more inclusive approach to church and ministry. This is evident in how the church of the Nazarene came to be over 100 years ago (only just). But in recent times i have been having more and more conversations with church people, and hearing some interesting views on our district assembly floors, that leads me to think something is missing.So, Are we (Australian nazarene church) in danger of losing our 'Wesleyanism' when it comes to our understanding on issues such as Bibilcal Innereancy, the Atonement, Sin, Baptism just to name a few?
With the ever increase of people from other denominations joining the CotN(which is a great thing, not a bad thing and i welcome it) we increasingly have people 'objecting' or 'misunderstanding' our churches view and stance on MANY issues which can and does divide communties of faith and puts pastors and preachers in difficult positions.
Do we, the Australian church of the Nazarene, need to educate our people about our 'Wesleyan 'views of scripture, missions and the world?
The CotN position on Scripture:
We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments given by Divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith."
What are your thoughts? Are we in danger? Have we come across this in our ministry? What are the ways forward? Do we as pastors need to be 're-deucated'?
Many have 'dissagreed' with our Theological college, however, we are in desperate need (in my opinion) of some deep discussions with our people and the support and teaching from our college (which they are more than happy to help with if we pick up the phone) in our Local churches if we are to remain 'Wesleyan' at the Local church level.
Peace
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Ah, the old "We're loosing our Wesleyanism" argument. It's been a while since anyone has brought this one up.
ReplyDeleteFirstly I think you're right Caine, "the ever increase of people from other denominations" is the main cause of the lack of understanding of Wesleyanism. The answer?
Theology tests before accepting people into membership.
Just kidding! But I do think that it comes back to our basic understanding of what it means to be a Wesleyan. And with more and more people joining the church from other denominations (which I agree, is a good thing) we need to up our levels of education and make sure people understand WHO we are and WHAT we're about.
The key, I think, is education. Not just for our pastors but for all of our church members.
Maybe we need to throw in a once-a-month "What Would Wesley Do" segment in church.
What would John Wesley say about biblical authority? alcohol? and the ever controversial cup of tea?
Poll the people: do they know we are Wesleyan?
ReplyDeletedo they care?
What does it mean anyway?
Are we in danger of losing our Wesleyanism?
Absolutely!