nazarene question

[jef1225]

hello brothers and sisters. my question is fairly open cause im trying to learn about all of my Christian brothers and sisters. what is it that makes you a part of the Nazarene denom? what do you like, dislike etc. and if possible just tell a lil something about your church in general. im curious to find out what the lay people have to say. oh and this is in no way a troll job for anybody to criticize or compare denoms or anything. im just curious. god bless

 

[jef1225]

so there are no Nazarenes out there wanting to give a lil insight on their church? well let me ask a couple other questions then. is your church a little more liberal/conservative? is your church liturgical? does your church ordain women? what is some of the mission work involved? does your church have a more traditional service or is it more charismatic or both? do you believe in speaking of tongues. is there an open communion. is communion more symbolic than believing it is the blood and body?

 

[circuitrider]

Sorry, I'm a United Methodist. So I can't speak for the Nazarenes. I know we have a few of them in the forum if they picked up on your question.

 

[jef1225]

that's ok circuitrider. I know some people are probably thinkin read the statement of faith. but, that's not what I am after. I just would like to hear from those in the pulpits first hand.

 

[Charlie7399]

I think it's actually quite hard to find Nazarenes here, much like Old Catholics in the Anglican subforum or Moravians in the Lutheran one. Let's hope you find at least one to answer!

 

[ServantJohn]

hello brothers and sisters. my question is fairly open cause im trying to learn about all of my Christian brothers and sisters. what is it that makes you a part of the Nazarene denom? what do you like, dislike etc. and if possible just tell a lil something about your church in general. im curious to find out what the lay people have to say. oh and this is in no way a troll job for anybody to criticize or compare denoms or anything. im just curious. god bless

I went to a Nazarene Church years ago because of their focus on holiness.

 

[Maid Marie]

I've been utterly stressed with stuff going on and then my computer died - twice. So, haven't looked at this forum until just now. I'll get back to you tonight when I have a chance to breath for a few minutes.

 

[Maid Marie]

what is it that makes you a part of the Nazarene denom? what do you like, dislike etc. and if possible just tell a lil something about your church in general. s your church a little more liberal/conservative? is your church liturgical? does your church ordain women? what is some of the mission work involved? does your church have a more traditional service or is it more charismatic or both? do you believe in speaking of tongues. is there an open communion. is communion more symbolic than believing it is the blood and body?

I was born into the Church of the Nazarene. My father became a part of it when his father married a Nazarene woman. He liked it and the Nazarene college that he went to and stuck with it. He convinced my mom to join as well. I stayed with it because a few years ago when I did a major prayer and fasting kind of search to discern in which denomination God wanted me to be a part I felt that he wanted me to stay with the CotN.

I like the emphasis on Wesleyan theology, on holiness and on missions. I dislike how fundamentalism has made so many unhealthy inroads which leads to division. I also dislike how the seeker sensitive movement has added to the division. It almost made me leave the denomination a few years ago. And lastly, I dislike how the church of my childhood was so concontrolled by the Amercian Holiness Movement that it left me often feeling emotionally manipulated at times. It created so much legalism that it about choked me to death. I really like how the return to Wesleyan theology is replacing American Holiness Movement theology. And I like the growing interest in liturgical stuff within the denomination. In general, the CotN is not a liturgical church but there are pockets growing. I love a good liturgical service with a high view of the sacraments but the senior pastor of my church does not. Sigh.....My previous church was liturgical while the one before that was so into the seeker sensitive movement with only a loud rock band to worship with that it would give me horrible migraines at the thought of going to church.

The denomination in general tends to be conservative although there are some that are super conservative and some super liberal and progressive.

The denomination has always ordained women. I am on the ordination track.

Communion is viewed as symbolic though the more liturgical amongst us have higher views of it. We have open communion. But it is generally not served every Sunday. Many have it once a month while many have it once a quarter.

Speaking in unknown tongues[aka a prayer language] is not a part of our practice. Personally, I don't care if one prays in tongues or not but I know some get really upset if they hear it.

Regarding the mission work, it is so big that it is hard to describe in a few words.

 

[jef1225]

thank you for your reply maid marie. I love and respect all of my Christian brothers and sisters and I don't care what denomination they choose. im of the belief that god doesn't sit in his throne saying whoops jef 1225 you are in the wrong group so your out. you know what I mean? I just want to learn as much about my fellow Christians paths as I can. I find it interesting. again thank you for your reply. hopefully more cotn parishners join in.