Month: February 2024

One Statistic to Drop from the Nazarene Annual Pastor’s Report (APR) and Five Stats to Add

On By Rob Prince4 Comments

It’s the Nazarene Pastor’s Annual Report (APR) time and the all Nazarene pastors around the world shouted a collective “UGHHHHHH!!” As much as pastors don’t look forward to filling out the form (think of it as an ecclesiastical version of the IRS 1040 Form), the APR is an important tool for the denomination. It provides all the statistics of churches, pastors, attendance and offerings. It’s a pained necessity.

But the APR is not perfect. There are some things counted that makes one think the leaders-that-be are still in 1974. For example, why count Caravan* numbers (if you are asking, “what’s Caravan?” You’ve proven my point. For the uninformed according to the Foundry website, Caravan is a scouting—or kids’ club—type of program for children in first through sixth grade… Caravan uses an active, hands-on learning approach to help children grow physically, socially, mentally, and spiritually. Caravan focuses on teaching everyday skills with a distinctly Christian focus). Of the 4417 churches in USA/Canada in 2023 only 196 reported having a Caravan program. Canada only had 3 of their 145 churches report a Caravan program. If over 95% of churches (98% in Canada) aren’t running a program– is it worth reporting? (Note: Haiti and Papua New Guinee love Caravan; they account for 1/3 of the Caravan enrollees).   

If the numbers are meant to show church health, the Caravan program fails to meet this standard. Aren’t there better things that should be tallied? Of course, here are a few more relevant indicators of church health that should be counted:

  1. Children’s Bible Quiz. These numbers are not reported but the church thinks highly of this program as evidenced by the “World Quiz” at General Assembly. As far as I know, there is not a quadrennial “Caravan round up” or an alumni gathering of Phineas F. Bresee Award winners.
  2. Teen Bible Quiz. While I assume that there are more children quizzers than teens (I know there are more at the church I pastor), still teen Bible quizzing seems like a legitimate statistic to track. Again, there is world quiz meets at GA or NYC gatherings. Teen quizzing can be an important discipleship tool.
  3. Youth involvement in church ministries. Getting youth involved in the ministries of the church creates ownership in the church. For there to be a “church of tomorrow,” youth must be involved today. Tracking youth involvement is a key indicator of a healthy intergenerational church both of today and tomorrow.
  4. Number of volunteers working in ministries within the church building. Like the previous indicator, this number would track (at least somewhat), the “buy-in” of church folks into the programming of the local church. This year-to-year assessment could show if the ministries of the church are growing or producing more disciples and leaders.
  5. Volunteer Hours of the church membership outside of the church walls. This number would indicate both missionally and evangelistically how involved or not involved the church is in the community. Seems like an important number to track.   *Tracking hours could be difficult but following this number year-to-year would help evaluate the strength of the missional aspect of the church. If tracking hours seems too difficult, counting participants could also be done.

There are probably other indicators that could be counted to help determine the health of church. Counting these five areas is a start. 

*Written with apologies to heavenly Rev. Milton Bunker, one of the creators of Caravan and former member of the Flint Central Church of the Nazarene. It’s my contention, Caravan, at one time, was an important discipleship tool for children, but has run its course. 

Declining Nazarene Church Attendance is not simply a USA Problem

On By Rob Prince1 Comment

Declining Church of the Nazarene Worship attendance is not just a USA (and Western Europe) reality. I thought it was (Canada churches saw a modest gain last year). When examining the worship attendance numbers from the six regions for the Church of the Nazarene, only the Africa region has shown an increase over the totals posted pre-covid. 

Here are the numbers:

Region                         2023 Attendance        2020 Attendance         Incline/Decline %
Africa                                387,730                       367,490                            +5.5%
Asia-Pacific                        64,814                        99,064                           -34.6%
Eurasia                               117,065                       214,622                            -45.4%
MesoAmerica                   214,316                       250,459                            -14.4%
South America                 163,274                       196,456                             -16.9%
USA/Canada                     329,900                      423,529                             -22.1%

At the release of the 2023 statistics, the General Secretary’s office touted the positive numbers: increases in membership; new Nazarene’s and profession of faith numbers. I would probably try to find a silver lining too. The reality is that the numbers are bad. Really bad. On-line attendance numbers were counted in the 2023 records (in prior years these numbers were not tallied), makes the hit seem less severe. (Full confession: The church I pastor has a healthy group of people who join on-line each week that cannot attend in person for one reason or another). Still, the in-person attendance free fall across the globe is staggering and should be the cause of major concern.

My assumption that the major decline was only a USA/Canada (and maybe Western Europe) thing, probably reveals a North American bias in me. The report shows that USA/Canada and Western Europe are not the only tough mission fields. These days everywhere seems tough. Asia/Pacific and Eurasia are apparently in worse shape than USA/Canada. 

Each region has its own unique challenges. There are wars in Eurasia. Asia/Pacific has had natural disasters. South America is dealing with failing economies. MesoAmerica has had violence and disruption. USA/Canada is fractured by politics and a shifting cultural. As such there isn’t a cookie cutter, one-answer-fits-all solution for a global church.

What can be done to overcome the global institutional decline in the Church of the Nazarene? Is there any recovery to pre-covid numbers? Do the numbers only reflect the negative impact of the pandemic or is it a Nazarene problem? Is the problem with the Nazarene message, methods, structure or something else? The most important question: Are the people gone forever?

A portion of the answer for a declining global church is a renewed call to prayer and disciple making. No matter where one is in the world, all Nazarenes should be praying and making disciples. Getting back to its roots of serving the most needy of society, but, not simply serving, also pointing the lost and needy to Jesus. It’s serving with a purpose of sharing Jesus. New converts are then trained in the ways of Jesus. The need for today, no matter where one is in the world, is the same as when P.F. Bressee hung the “Church of the Nazarene” sign above the Glory Barn. The way of “holiness unto the Lord” compels the church to “make Christlike disciples in the nations.” 

The declining attendance numbers across the globe need not be the last story, but should be a reality that vaults the church into action. It’s a wakeup call. There is work to do in the world. A lot of work to do. People still need Jesus. Will the church rise to the challenge or continue to slide into obscurity?

Jesus Demands We Give Up a Whole Lot More for Lent than Coffee or Chocolate

On By Rob Prince1 Comment

Christians around the world begin observing the season of Lent today. It’s Ash Wednesday. Many people in observance of this season will fast from something dear to them. You’ve heard folks say, “I’m giving up ______ for Lent.” The fill in the blank answer can be anything from coffee to alcohol to chocolate to TV to social media to you-name-it. 

Of course, Jesus didn’t speak about the season of Lent. “Lent” isn’t mentioned in the Bible. Jesus never said, “Hey in the 40 days leading up to my death and resurrection, do this?” He never told us to give up chocolate or coffee. What he told us to give up was much, much more.

In discussing the cost of being a disciple in Luke 14, Jesus said these words:  those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Luke 14:33. Underlining mine). “Everything” is a little bit bigger ask than giving up donuts or coffee. “Everything” is, well, everything. Clearly, Jesus hasn’t asked us to leave everything like he instructed the rich young ruler… or has he? Our attempts to distance ourselves from the rich young ruler seems to justify our exemption from Jesus’ leave-everything-and-follow-me instruction. We say we are nothing like the Rich Young Ruler (Truth Alert: By world’s standards nearly all Americans are rich). Our excuse making leads us to thinking we don’t need to leave everything, in fact, we don’t need to leave anything to follow Jesus.

Contrary to popular belief, Jesus doesn’t promote an easy way. His demands are hard. He said,“small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13)?  We like to think that the road to life is wide and most everyone is on it… ummm… maybe not. Jesus also said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23). We like to think if we are doing the big and mighty (read: prophesying, chasing demons and miracles or in our context– preaching, putting the Enemy to shame in big ways or leading miraculous ministries), then clearly we are doing God’s will…. ummm… maybe not. We like to think if we say the magic words (Read: Lord, Lord) then we are “in”… ummm…maybe not. The black-and-white demands of Jesus should make all would-be followers take notice.

What if we were to take Jesus literally. What if Jesus meant what he said? What if (not just for Lent but for all times) we give up everything. We take up a cross and follow him (Jesus said to do that too). We give up our rights. We give up having things our way. We give up our importance. We give up our demands. We give up our position. 

The way of the cross is the road of humility. It’s the road of peace-making. It’s the road of gentleness, kindness, patience, faithfulness and self-control. It’s the road that refuses to gossip, grumble and backbite (social media included). It’s the high road. The Jesus road. The narrow road.  

What if this season of Lent (and always) we acknowledge that Jesus calls us to give up everything—that’s a whole lot more than chocolate or coffee for 40 days.

Have American Christians Chosen Easy over Faithful?

On By Rob PrinceLeave a comment

It’s easier to put forth a mission statement to “Make Christ-like Disciples in the nations” than it is to make a Christ-like disciple in one’s hometown.

It’s easier to blame the plethora of factors that have contributed to the decline in the church than it is to except responsibility for one’s own lack of effort or involvement in disciple making. 

It’s easier to say, “All of Scripture is God-breathed” than it is to follow one verse such as, “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself” (Leviticus 19:34).

It’s easier to think “Love your enemies” only applies to a superficial, ambiguous “enemy” in the great big world and not to one’s rival at work or school or church.

It’s easier to show a poster on social media stating that a denomination, like Jesus, stands with the outcast, than it is to engage the messy, complicated, long-hours-of-conversation with a trouble person struggling with identity, belonging, faith and life.

It’s easier to read “Love your neighbor” than it is to know the names of those people who live in one’s neighborhood. 

It’s easier to eat at Ruth’s Chris Steak House than it is to feed the hungry.

It’s easier to drink Fiji Natural Artesian Water ($3+ per bottle) than it is to build a well in Africa for those without access to clean drinking water.

It’s easier to live behind double locked doors, than to invite the stranger in.

It’s easier to buy another item for an overstuffed closet than it is to clothe the naked.

It’s easier to talk about being tough on crime, than it is to visit a prisoner.

It’s easier to place the elderly and infirmed into a facility and quickly ignore them, then it is to visit and care for them. 

It’s easier to rationalize Jesus warning in Matthew 25 than to heed His words: For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’(Matthew 25:42-43). 

It’s easy to choose the wide, crowded road than the narrow, lonely path.

It’s easier. Not better. Not faithful. Just easier.  

(FYI…it doesn’t end well for “easy.” See Matthew 7:13-14)