The 2024 Eastern Michigan District Assembly Journal had been distributed. The reports aren’t great.
30% of churches on the district reported no conversions this year. Zero.
46% of the churches reported no baptisms. Zippo.
50% reported no New Nazarenes. Nadda.
If a body had no pulse (no conversions); no blood pressure (no baptisms); and no brain activity (no new Nazarenes), we would conclude that the body is dead or at least dying.
Hey Lenexa, call hospice. The Church of the Nazarene is in trouble.
Call the weed control company, the grassroots of the Church of the Nazarene are in the briar patch.
Call the WWE scriptwriters, the Church is on its back, and the referee is about to slap the mat for a third time.
Pick any “We’re-in-trouble” metaphor and that is us.
At least our cemetery has company, the Southern Baptists just reported that 43% of their churches reported no baptisms. You can read it here. Whoopie, we are not alone.
Blame the culture. Blame past church abuse. Blame politics. Blame Covid. Blame whatever you want, the truth of the matter is that churches (no matter the brand) in America are not fulfilling the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:19-20). We aren’t making disciples (30% no conversions); we aren’t baptizing (46% no baptisms); we aren’t teaching (50% no new Nazarenes).
So what are we doing? Why do we exist if we aren’t fulfilling what Jesus called us to do?
In 1946, JB Chapman was disheartened by the state of the Church of the Nazarene and published a little booklet titled, “All out for Souls.” You can read it here. In it he wrote:
“Brethren, I was born in the fire, and I cannot endure the smoke. I am a child of the bright daylight, and mists and fogs and depressing gloom are not to my liking. I want to go all out for souls…
“I want a revival that, like a summer shower, will purify the atmosphere of our churches everywhere, and which will awake the dormant forces of our people young and old. I want something so general and so divine that it will be uncontrollable. I want something that will reemphasize old-time moral and spiritual conditions…
“Something that will make this namby-pamby, soft-handed, compromising, cringing sort of holiness as obsolete as Phariseeism was on the Day of Pentecost.”
If JB Chapman was saying that in 1946, what would he say if he were looking over the sorry state of many of today’s churches? Once again we must “go all out for souls!” Once more we need to be revived. If not now, then when? We can’t look at the reality and be unmoved. We must do something. Anything. It takes going all out for souls once more.
And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. Ezekiel 37:3-5
My Two Cent Offering 
Jesus may we seek You with heart, soul, mind, and strength… that will not only turn our beloved Nazarene movement around, but we will see a worldwide revival!
“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with your whole heart.”
Dear Rob,
Thank you for your leadership. Effective leaders must do two things…1. Frame reality and 2. Offer hope. You are doing both. Our general leaders offer hope, but I suppose for fear of being perceived as negative, they will not frame reality. As a result, few take them seriously.
I love the Church of the Nazarene. I believe our message offers great hope for this generation. But, we too often fail to face the reality of our institutional intransigence. As a result, my hope for revival in our tribe is in a remnant of Nazarene churches across the country (and around the world), led by visionary pastors who are not afraid to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and who are grounded in the Truth of Jesus & God’s Word.
You are that type of leader my opinion. So, keep framing reality AND offering hope. May God bless you as you raise up next gen leaders who have caught that same DNA.
Mark
Sent from my iPad
One has to ask, what are we providing to the public that there would be such a rejection. Are the preachers coming out of our universities, liberal? Have they themselves experienced Jesus in such a way that they can’t go one day without conversations with HIm. We need to focus on getting back to first century Christianity. It starts at the top.
Rob, thank you for saying this out loud. Jon and I have always been called to reach one more no matter what we had to do. We take the life verses God gave us very seriously. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23..become all things to all people so that by all possible means we might save some…) As Prairie Heights grew, we were made fun of for the things we did and ostracized by the Nazarene higher ups for doing everything we could to reach that neighbor, that coworker, that family member. But every day we continue to go after those souls!
Keep pushing us all and making us think.
Teri Hauser
Very sad commentary on a beloved movement. When we decided to use more of the world’s tools, stopped all the extra’s ( like pastoral prayer, special music, Sunday night/Wed services, Sunday School, altar calls etc) our pastor’s stopped preaching the challenging sermons that spoke about being a disciple of Jesus. Our higher educational schools that wanted prestige, hiring professors that didn’t own our theology, which in turn didn’t teach our theology and the list can go on. Going backwards is not the answer but just perhaps we cut out some things that should have stayed. All of this often hindered our ability to learn and own what a real disciple’s relationship with Jesus is and be able to live out the great commandment “Go ye into all the world……..”Mark 16:15 Lord help us find our first love and own it.