Methodist and Nazarene Polity, Worship, and Sacraments — Unit 3: The Nazarene and Wesleyan Pattern: Districts, General Superintendents, and Local Boards

Key Verse

"Let all things be done decently and in order." (1 Corinthians 14:40, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain why the Holiness churches of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries wanted a simpler and more representative church order.

2. Describe the three levels of the Church of the Nazarene and The Wesleyan Church: the local church, the district, and the general church.

3. Explain the work of a district superintendent, a general superintendent, and a local church board.

4. Describe how these churches try to join local responsibility with shared oversight.

5. State the main criticisms of this pattern and the Wesleyan answers.

The Voice of This Unit

This unit is written from inside the conservative Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. Its purpose is to help a pastor or lay leader understand how a Nazarene or Wesleyan church is built, so that he can serve in it with wisdom. The details below are drawn from the general pattern of these churches. Both churches publish a manual or book of discipline that is revised regularly, and the current edition is the final authority on every rule. When this lesson and your manual differ, follow your manual. Where other Christians disagree with our order, we state their views fairly and then answer. "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Why the Holiness Churches Organized as They Did

Course 1 told how the Holiness movement grew in the nineteenth century, and how new churches came out of it: the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1843, the Free Methodist Church in 1860, and the Church of the Nazarene in 1908. Here we ask a different question: what kind of church order did these people choose, and why?

Several concerns shaped them.

A wish for simplicity. Many Holiness believers had seen churches grow large, wealthy and formal. They wanted plain buildings, plain worship and a ministry close to ordinary people. Phineas Bresee began the work in Los Angeles in 1895 with a special concern for the poor, and he named the church for Jesus of Nazareth.

A wish for lay voice. The early Wesleyan Methodists of 1843 left the Methodist Episcopal Church partly over bishops and slavery, and organized without bishops. Holiness people generally valued the voice of the laity in the church's decisions.

A wish for oversight with servants, not lords. They did not want rulers who stood far above the people. But they did not want a scattering of independent congregations either. They wanted leaders who would guide, plant churches and care for pastors, while the people kept a real voice.

A wish for mission. These churches grew by planting new congregations and sending missionaries. They needed a structure that could do this quickly.

The Nazarene union

Several Holiness groups came together to form the Church of the Nazarene. Bresee's work in Los Angeles was one. Groups in the East and in the South had arisen separately, and they joined in a series of unions. The union of the main groups was completed at Pilot Point, Texas, in October 1908. The early name was the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, using "Pentecostal" in its older Wesleyan sense of the cleansing and filling by the Holy Spirit. In 1919 the word was dropped, to avoid confusion with the tongues-speaking Pentecostal movement. Bresee and the early leaders thought carefully about order, and the union required them to blend the practices of groups with different backgrounds.

The Wesleyan merger

The Wesleyan Church in its present form came into being in 1968, when the Wesleyan Methodist Church, which dated from 1843, merged with the Pilgrim Holiness Church, another Holiness body. Both had practiced a connectional form of church order. The merger brought them into one denomination with one manual, called the Discipline.

The Three Levels

The Nazarene and Wesleyan churches have each three main levels. The names are a little different, but the pattern is the same.

The local church

The local church is a congregation of members led by a pastor. It meets for worship, teaching and mission. In both churches it has a measure of real authority.

The congregation. The members meet at least once a year in a church meeting. There they elect lay leaders and receive reports. In the Church of the Nazarene, the members take part in the call of the pastor by vote. In The Wesleyan Church, a pastor is called through the local church in agreement with the district leadership. The precise rules are in the manual.

The church board. A smaller group of elected lay leaders works with the pastor to manage the life of the church. In the Church of the Nazarene it is called the church board, and it may include stewards, who care for finances and the work of the church, and trustees, who care for property. In The Wesleyan Church there is a local church board as well. The board advises and acts for the congregation between meetings, within the limits of the manual.

The pastor. He preaches, leads worship, shepherds the people, and works with the board. He is a minister under the authority of the district as well as a servant of the congregation. Unit 4 treats the call and the credentials of the pastor.

The district

Local churches are grouped into districts, usually by region. A district may cover a large part of a country, or only a few towns, depending on the number of churches.

The district assembly or conference. Once a year, ministers and lay delegates from the churches meet. They hear reports, elect certain district leaders, vote on matters of district business, and examine ministers for licensing or ordination. The Nazarene call it the district assembly. The Wesleyan Church calls it the district conference. Elected lay and ministerial delegates share in it.

The district superintendent. He is the main officer of the district. His work is to encourage and care for the pastors, to visit and strengthen the churches, to help churches find pastors, to plant new churches, and to see that the manual is followed. He works with a district board or committee and represents the denomination to the local church. In a time of trouble he may be the person who calls the church to unity. In the Church of the Nazarene he is chosen through the district assembly. Because he is both close to the churches and answerable to them, he fills a role like the circuit overseer of Wesley's day.

The general church

All the districts together make up the general church.

The general assembly or conference. Delegates from every district meet usually every four years. In the Church of the Nazarene this is the General Assembly. In The Wesleyan Church it is the General Conference. This body decides on changes to the manual, hears the reports of the general leaders, elects general leaders, and sets the direction of the denomination.

The general superintendents. A small number of men are elected to give leadership to the whole church. They preside over assemblies, travel among the districts, oversee the work of the general offices, take part in ordinations, and give counsel on doctrine and unity. They also work with a general board that directs the business of the denomination between assemblies. Their title returns to Wesley's own word for the office he gave to Coke and Asbury.

The Balance: Local, District and General

The Church of the Nazarene describes its government as representative. It is neither the rule of one man nor the rule of each congregation alone. It combines certain features of the episcopal pattern, which gives weight to general leaders, with features of the congregational pattern, which gives weight to the local church. Elected delegates, both ministers and laity, make the decisions. Elected officers carry them out and answer to the assemblies that chose them.

The following summary shows how responsibility is shared.

• The local church worships, evangelizes, teaches, receives members, elects its lay leaders, cares for its property, and takes part in calling its pastor.

• The district licenses and examines ministers, helps churches and pastors, plants new churches, and carries out the work of the denomination in its region.

• The general church settles doctrine and the manual, directs missions and publishing, oversees colleges and seminaries, and sets the direction for the whole body.

The basic idea is that no one is left alone and no one rules alone. This is the principle of 1 Corinthians 14:40: good order serves the body so that the work of God may go forward.

Historians' Views and Our Answer

Historians do not all agree on the origin of this pattern. Some say the Holiness churches simply borrowed their structures from the Methodist Episcopal Church, with the bishops reduced and the laity enlarged. Others stress the influence of other American church traditions with elected representatives, as well as the practical needs of frontier and urban missions. Others believe that leaders such as Bresee shaped the Nazarene pattern deliberately as a middle way.

We can accept something from each account. The Holiness churches did inherit much from Methodism, and they did borrow what worked. But we do not judge a church order only by its source. We ask whether it serves the gospel, whether it agrees with Scripture, and whether it helps believers to grow in holiness. The New Testament does not hand down a single chart. It does show elders, overseers, shared decisions and shared giving. The Nazarene and Wesleyan pattern respects each of these.

Objections and Our Answers

Objection 1: The district takes too much power from the local church.

Baptists, and some members of Holiness churches themselves, say that the district and the manual interfere with the freedom of the local congregation. A district superintendent who comes into a church with an outside viewpoint may be unwelcome. A local church, they say, knows its own situation best.

Our answer. We agree that the local church should have a real voice, and in the Wesleyan-Holiness pattern it does. It elects its leaders, shares in calling its pastor, and votes in the assemblies through its delegates. But the local church is also part of a larger body. Paul told Titus to appoint elders in every city, and the churches of the New Testament shared teaching, giving and decisions. A district superintendent who comes to a church with prayer and humility does not take the church away from Christ. He helps it to hear what the whole family has learned. When he fails to do so, the church can speak through the assembly.

Objection 2: The pattern is too weak to protect doctrine.

Those who prefer bishops, or a strong central authority, say a system of elected superintendents and assemblies may drift. With frequent elections and a heavy dependence on votes, they say, doctrine may be decided by popularity and not by truth.

Our answer. The risk is real, and it applies to any system. But the Wesleyan-Holiness bodies fix their doctrine in a written statement of faith that is not easily changed, and their manual requires ministers to agree to it. A general assembly can change rules of procedure with a simple vote, but statements of belief are protected by much more difficult processes. The best defense is a church in which pastors and laity know the Word and love the truth. No structure can replace that.

Objection 3: Elections turn leadership into politics.

Some critics say that elected superintendents may be tempted to seek the support of delegates, and that ambition may enter the assemblies.

Our answer. This is a danger wherever leaders are chosen by people. The remedy is spiritual. Leaders should be chosen after prayer, by people who know the character of the candidates, and they should hold office as servants. Jesus said, "whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant" (Matthew 20:26). Where elections are conducted in prayer and in the fear of God, they express the church's trust. Where they are not, they should be corrected.

Pastoral Application

A layman in a village has been leading a small group in his home for two years. It now has thirty people who meet for worship each week. They ask him, "How can we become a real Nazarene church and not just a house meeting?" He has no seminary training, and he fears that the denomination will take the work from him.

A district superintendent from the region comes to visit. First, he listens to the story of how the group began. Second, he explains the steps: the group will be recognized as a mission, a pastor will be appointed or licensed, members will be received after instruction, and the church will later be organized with a church board elected from among the members. Third, he promises the group support from the district, including help with training. Fourth, he asks the layman to continue to serve, and encourages him to study for ministerial credentials. The layman realizes that the district is not an owner but a partner. The group is neither alone nor under a stranger's rule. Its members have both a voice and a family.

Details such as the stages and names differ from district to district and country to country, so a pastor should read his own manual and talk with his superintendent.

Summary

The Holiness churches wanted simplicity, a voice for the laity, servant leaders and mission. The Church of the Nazarene took shape through unions that were completed in Pilot Point, Texas, in 1908, and The Wesleyan Church came from the merger of the Wesleyan Methodist and Pilgrim Holiness churches in 1968. Both are organized at three levels: the local church with its congregation, church board and pastor; the district with its assembly or conference and its district superintendent; and the general church with its general assembly or conference and its general superintendents. The result is a representative order that blends local freedom with shared oversight. Baptists fear it takes too much from the local church, others fear it is too weak to protect doctrine, and some warn of church politics. We answer that the local church keeps a real voice, that doctrine is guarded by written statements and the love of truth, and that the cure for politics is prayer and servant leadership. "Let all things be done decently and in order."

Further Reading

• John Wesley, "The Nature, Design, and General Rules of the United Societies" (1743).

• Francis Asbury, Journal.

• The Methodist Articles of Religion (1784).

• Your own denomination's current manual or book of discipline: the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene or the Discipline of The Wesleyan Church, as the authority for how your church is organized today.

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