The effects of covid are still lingering in Nazarene churches across USA/Canada. This is not a statement on virology or the uptick in covid cases this summer, but a review of the post-covid church attendance numberrs. Sadly people left churches during covid and many haven’t come back. 

From 2020 to 2023 the USA/Canada Nazarene worship attendance went from 423,529 to 329,000. A 22% decline in three years. In 2020, four Nazarene churches in USA/Canada averaged over 2000 in attendance. In 2023, there is only one (Oro Valley, Arizona and Oro Valley wasn’t one of the four in 2020). In 2020, 26 churches averaged over 1000 in attendance, now there are eleven. In 2020 the church in the 100^th attendance position was still above 500, in 2023 the 100^th church in attendance was at 383. One church dropped 1775 people in the three year span; another dropped over 800. Most churches lost people. A covid attendance recovery hasn’t happened in most places. 

Most but not all. 

There are some shining lights. Oro Valley, as mentioned above, gained nearly 200 people to go over 2,000 (see the chart below for the twenty churches that grew the most in the last three years). There are others that also grew significantly too. Amplify, a Church of the Nazarene, in Willow Spring, North Carolina increased by 480 people in the three years (this summer they are averaging in person 1150 which is an increase of about 1,000 people in four years!).

What has made Amplify so successful? 

They have good music, but a lot of churches have good music. The pastor preaches fine sermons. There are plenty of good preachers in the Church of the Nazarene. The church relocated four years ago, but location change doesn’t always equate with growth. Churches aren’t like the Field of Dreams, “Build it and they will come.” Willow Spring, North Carolina is a growing area which can certainly help with church attendance growth, but other churches located in growing areas are not experiencing a similar increase. 

So what is the “secret sauce” of Amplify when so many churches lost people post covid? Amplify church’s pastor, Rev Philip Modlin, tried to answer the question for me (I spoke with him last week). 

Pastor Phillip humbly told of the commitment of his people to relocate. But not just relocate, the people had a commitment to pray and get involved in the community once they relocated. Pastor Modlin’s wife grew up at Amplify (the former Raleigh First Church of the Nazarene), where her father was the pastor. She has roots in the church and community. The Modlin’s are committed raising their family there too (they have five children). You get the sense, that Pastor Modlin and the congregation of Amplify are simply (it sounds too simple) seeking the Lord and following the lead of the Holy Spirit. Nothing “secret” about it.

Maybe closer to the truth of Amplify’s “secret sauce” is John Maxwell’s maxim, “everything rises and falls with leadership.” The church has: a humble, gifted leader; a willing and unified people; a commitment to prayer; and a desire to bless their community (I see you smiling, USA/Canada regional director, Dr. Stan Reeder. It’s a real time example of the USA/Canada’s Cycle of Resurgence initiative).  

Amplify’s ingredient for success is a commitment to prayer and serving. It is blessing their community through service; seeing people come to the Lord through those efforts; teaching them to be Christlike disciples; who, then in turn, are seeing these folks serve in the community. They repeat this formula over and over and over again. Maybe other churches won’t grow by 480 people in 3 years like Amplify, but if all USA/Canada churches made a commitment to prayer and blessing their community, then strong and steady results quite possibly will follow. 

Covid doesn’t have to kill the church. Kingdom growth can happen post covid. Strong, healthy, praying, unified and faithful churches can still happen in the 2020’s. Amplify and Pastor Modlin are showing us how to do it.

Top 20 Churches in Growing Nazarene Churches from 2020 to 2023

District	Church	2023 Worship, In-Person	2020 Worship	Worship Change
North Carolina	Amplify, a Church of the Nazarene	850	370	480
Metro New York	Nueva Vida Iglesia del Nazareno	375	–	375
North Arkansas	Crossroads Cowboy	1,365	1,039	326
Metro New York	The Bridge	250	–	250
Central Gulf Coast	Landmark	405	210	195
Arizona	Oro Valley	2,033	1,839	194
Chicago Central	Grace Community	334	145	189
Virginia	Harrisonburg Esperanza Viva	187	–	187
Anaheim	Yorba Linda Faith Community	319	143	176
MidSouth	Foundry	168	–	168
Joplin	The Well	953	791	162
South Carolina	Midland Valley Community	833	681	152
Arizona	Tucson Central	480	334	146
Upstate New York	Owego	382	248	134
Kentucky	Mount Sinai	160	32	128
North Central Ohio	Wadsworth	289	171	118
Anaheim	Cerritos Dias de Gloria	115	–	115
Southern California	Redlands The ARK	283	169	114
Indianapolis	Clermont	161	48	113

There are Nazarenes (some former members) on social media who like to complain about the Church of the Nazarene. “The denomination is dying,” they say.  Read too much of it and you’d think the grim reaper is knocking on the Global Ministry Center’s door. Call me overly optimistic (aren’t Wesleyans supposed to be radically optimistic?), but there is a lot to like about the Church of the Nazarene. 

• I like that Nazarenes are in 160+ countries in the world.
• I like that Nazarene churches number 30,000+
• I like that Nazarene clergy number 30,000+ too.
• I like most all of the 2,419,219 members of the Church of the Nazarene. I haven’t met all of them (obviously) but I would probably like most all of them (there’s probably a few stinkers in the bunch that I’d avoid, not many, just a few). 
• I like that Nazarenes in Africa or Bangladesh or the United States are just as “Nazarene” and just as valuable as any other Nazarene in the world.
• I like that the Nazarene leadership team of General Superintendents include an African, a Central American, a South American, one born in Germany and two others from the United States. 

I like that the Church of the Nazarene is a global church.

• I like that Nazarenes baptizes babies or dedicates them.
• I like that Nazarene churches have accountability through Nazarene Safe. 
• I like Nazarene Bible quizzing for children and youth.
• I like Nazarene Youth Conference where so many students’ faith grow. 
• I like that Nazarene Child Sponsorship helps so many boys and girls around the world. (Karla and I sponsor two kids. One in Panama. One in Jordan).

I like that the Church of the Nazarene cares about the next generation.

• I like that Nazarene Compassionate ministries are helping when the world hurts
• I like that Nazarene “boots are on the ground” in most places when tragedies strike.
• I like that Nazarenes historically have sided with those that culture has rejected.

I like that the Church of the Nazarene cares for the least of these.

• I like that Nazarene Bible colleges and universities are around the globe.
• I like that Nazarene publishing, the Foundry, is on solid footing. Printing quality holiness materials still matters (maybe more than ever). 
• I like the Nazarene periodical, Holiness Today and read it cover to cover.
• Shameless plug alert: I like that the Nazarene Sunday School paper, Standard, allows me to write a monthly article; sometimes Reflecting God puts me down for a week of devotions too and The Foundry Publishing (back when it was Beacon Hill Press) published my first book Chronic Pain: Finding Hope in the Midst of Suffering. 

I like Nazarene emphasis on learning.

• I like that Nazarene theology is Biblical, Wesleyan and steeped in church history.
• I like that Nazarenes emphasize holy living.
• I like that Nazarenes ordain women.
• I like that Nazarenes don’t have to agree on everything (i.e. details of the Second Coming; creation accounts; modes of baptism; etc.) to still be sisters and brothers in the faith. 

I like that Nazarenes are deeply theological.

• I like that Nazarene gatherings like General Assembly or next year’s M-25 conference feel like a family reunion.
• I like that Nazarenes are dependable and available. I feel like I could be practically anywhere in the world and, if in trouble, I could call the local Nazarene church and they would help.

I like that Nazarenes are family.

There are probably plenty of other things to like too, but what I like most about the Church of the Nazarene is my local Nazarene church. It is filled with godly people who love Jesus, their neighbors and each other. Jesus and my local church family’s love for Him make me wanting to come back week after week. My local congregation inspires me and shows me that Nazarenes are good people. I see it every week (every day practically) in old and young alike. Moreover, I like the team of women and men pastors I am privileged to work alongside– they are the best of the best. The Nazarene family at my local church is the best part of being a Nazarene.

Am I a Nazarene Pollyanna for listing such things? I don’t think so (you might disagree). I don’t wear rose colored glasses. I know the Church of the Nazarene has issues (show me a church that doesn’t). We’ve got some dysfunction (show me a family that doesn’t). We’ve got our share of strange relatives in our family (again, who doesn’t). We don’t all agree on all things (clearly). There have been decisions made that I found questionable. There are conversations that need to be safely had. I get it. We aren’t perfect.

Still there is a lot to like in the Church of the Nazarene. 

Edited to Write: Sorry this was a longer blog than normal, but if you can’t tell, I think there is a lot to like in the Church of the Nazarene.

As far as I remember the General Church of the Nazarene baptizes no one. Maybe there has been a baptism at a General Assembly, but I’ve never seen it. No infant baptisms either. Or baby dedications. Nothing like that. Those are local church happenings.

There’s been a few baptisms on our district campgrounds, but it’s still a local church thing. The district didn’t do much in their discipleship. Yes, there are camps but the day to day discipleship happens in the local church. Again, no infant baptisms or baby dedications happen on the district level. There is no marriage counselling. No food programs. No ongoing mission efforts. That is all a local church thing too. 

Ministry happens at the local church. We all know this to be true. So if one is starting to get bent out of shape or ruffled feathers because of decisions made on the general (global) or district level take a breath, calm down, practice self-control (a fruit of the spirit, remember) look around and see all the good things (God things) that are happening at your local church.  

There are a lot of good proceedings. 

At my local church just in the next week or two these things are happening: a mission team of 35 people (mostly teens, but our District Superintendent too) was supposed to be in Panama this week (unfortunately,  weekend storms and a day in the Buffalo airport ruined that and sent the team back to Michigan). Another team is going in September (no storms please). We partner with the closest elementary school to the church. Partnering means providing all the school supplies; sponsoring extracurricular activities and field trips; buying the entire school matching T-Shirts to inspire school spirit and unity; providing mentors and aids; and delivering bags of weekend groceries so the 60+ children identified as at risk kids won’t go hungry without the free school breakfast and lunch. Our Vacation Bible Camp children raised money to buy 65 backpacks for the kids around the Flint Eastside mission. The Boys and Girls Club of Flint that meets in our building is supplying a free lunch to anybody and everybody this summer. Folks from the community are playing pickleball (free of charge) two nights a week in the Community Center. Central Park, the play area we built for our neighbors, is constantly in use. Our neighborhood block party, Summerfest, happens in a couple of weeks. Besides trying to be the best neighbor, baptisms are happening this Sunday– infants in the morning service and new believers at night at a public beach area (I love public baptisms); and our worship services have been Spirit filled and God led!  

When I get worried about doctrinal brouhahas in the general church or bug-a-booed about thing-a-ma-bob at another Nazarene church or pastor 30 miles away, I start to lose my focus. God has called us to bloom where we are planted. So let’s bloom. Don’t get so (in our Nazarene world) “Lenexa focused” that we miss what’s happening under our noses. 

Would I change a few things if I were the Super Czar of the Nazarene-dom… probably, but no one voted me into that role (there isn’t a Super Czar of Nazarene-dom). Instead of filling the complaint box in Lenexa with wonderful ideas about how the GSs should do their jobs (I don’t think there is a complain box), why not take a neighbor a plate of cookies or babysit a single mom’s kids, mentor a child at your elementary school or visit a widow. Do something that truly matters. 

Jesus calls us to love our neighbor. That’s a local thing. James says the religion that matters is that which takes care of widows and orphans. That’s a local thing too. When Jesus told the parable of the King separating folks at Judgement Day like a shepherd separates sheep and goats, the difference was in how people cared for the sick and needy. In each incidence, it’s a local matter. Not once does Jesus tell us to worry about what others are doing. In fact, he says let the sin-free folks have the first stone toss at the sinner. Nobody chucked a rock. Maybe we shouldn’t either.

Don’t like what’s happening in Lenexa? Instead of spinning your wheels (or banging your fingers on a keyboard) trying to clean up the world around you. The ministry that matters is local ministry. Start tossing rocks at others once your own glass house is perfect. Want to change the Church of the Nazarene? Start in your own backyard!