Wesleyan/Anglican

Saturday, November 14, 2026

A Commemoration of Phineas F. Bresee

Monday, October 26, 2026

General Assembly Resolution: Membership / Baptism

In June of 2027, the Church of the Nazarene will be conducting its General Assembly. The General Assembly is the supreme doctrine-formulating, lawmaking, and elective authority of the Church of the Nazarene. During past quadrenniums, I have presented to my district delegation, and through them to the General Assembly, a number of resolutions. Some of them have passed and impacted the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene. Some were amended. Others were rejected.

This year I have presented nine resolutions to my district delegation. - If you are a district superintendent or a delegate from another district, I would draw your attention to these and hope you might consider supporting them. If you are not a ds or delegate, but you know a ds or delegate from a district other than SWID, please consider sharing these resolutions with your superintendent and/or delegates.

Note: Strikedthrough words are to be deleted from the current Manual. Underlined words are to be added to the current Manual.

________________________________________________________________________________

Article II. Local Churches

23. The membership of a local church shall consist of all who have been organized as a church by those authorized so to do and who have been publicly received by those having proper authority, after having experience Christian baptism, and having declared their experience of salvation, their belief in our doctrines, and their willingness to submit to our government. (100-109)

B. Local Church Membership

109. Full Membership. The full membership of the local church shall be composed of all persons who have been organized into a local church by those authorized so to do, and all who have been publicly received by the pastor, the district superintendent, or the general superintendent, after having experienced Christian baptism, and having declared their experience of salvation, their belief in the doctrines of the Church of the Nazarene, and their willingness to submit to its government. The local church leadership shall seek to place every member into a ministry of service and a circle of care and support. (23, 109.2, 113, 115.1, 125.1, 129, 524.8, 530.8-530.9)

704. RECEPTION OF CHURCH MEMBERS

It is expected that prospective members have been baptized and have professed the Christian faith and been instructed in the doctrine and practices of the Church of the Nazarene. They may come forward to stand before the congregation and the pastor shall address them as follows: . . .

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. It is generally accepted that, as the late General Superintendent Emeritus, the Rev’d. Dr. William Greathouse, has said, “In the New Testament church there simply were no unbaptized Christians . . .” (Staples 11) Staples, Rob L. Outward Sing and Inward Grace: The Place of Sacraments in Wesleyan Spirituality. Kansas City: Beacon Hill P 1991.

2. The Church, generally, for over 2000 years has understood baptism as the sign of initiation into the new covenant and the community of faith, the Church.

3. Jesus and the apostles command baptism (e.g., Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38; 10:48).

4. The Scriptures consistently declare the importance of baptism (e.g., John 3:5; Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:13; 1 Peter 3:21).

5. Article of Faith XII. Baptism, paragraph 12, indicates that Christian baptism is “commanded by our Lord,” that it “is a sacrament signifying acceptance of the benefits of the atonement and incorporation into the Body of Christ.” - Thus, those who refuse baptism are acting inconsistently with the membership requirements in paragraph 23, which states that they must declare “. . . their beliefs in our doctrines . . .”

6. The FIRST of our General Rules under V. The Covenant of Christian Character (par. 21 – 21.1) calls us to do “. . . that which is enjoined in the Word of God, which is our rule of both faith and practice . . .”

7. Most denominations, including the two denominations most like the Church of the Nazarene (viz., The Wesleyan Church and the Free Methodist Church of North America), along with the new Global Methodist Church, require baptism prior to membership. In fact, allowing members who are not baptized places us at odds with orthodox Christianity, itself.

8. It is surely more important for people to be fully “Christian” than just “Nazarene.”

General Assembly Resolution: General Superintendents Footnote

Note: Strikedthrough words are to be deleted from the current Manual. Underlined words are to be added to the current Manual.

________________________________________________________________________________

G. The General Superintendents¹

1(General Superintendent was John Wesley’s term for the biblical episkopos. The Church of the Nazarene has retained this terminology for those elders who fulfill the episcopal office referred to as bishops in other Wesleyan/Methodist denominations.)

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. When Phineas Bresee used the term general superintendent, he understood that it was the Methodist term for bishop. Both terms were used interchangeably to describe those elders serving in this role in Bresee’s former denomination (viz., the Methodist Episcopal Church). Further, general superintendent was the terminology Wesley used for bishops Coke and Asbury.

2. This footnote would provide clarity when relating to and cooperating with other denominations.

3. This footnote does not change our use of the term general superintendent. However, it does provide an important biblical grounding for our terminology, and clearly positions our ecclesiology within our Wesleyan tradition.

4. This footnote helps us to recognize that the term general superintendent has roots in the biblical and ecclesial world, rather than the corporate world.

5. This footnote may help to reinforce the reality that the “general” in general superintendent is a geographical term relating to the scope of the superintendency, rather than a title of (military type) rank.

6. The footnote changes nothing at all concerning the stated duties and powers of the general superintendents, their elected tenure, or their elder’s orders.

General Assembly Resolution: Official Church Anthem

Note: Strikedthrough words are to be deleted from the current Manual. Underlined words are to be added to the current Manual.

________________________________________________________________________________

OFFICIAL CHURCH ANTHEM

Resolution Not in the Manual

Be it resolved that the hymn, “Holiness unto the Lord” by Lelia N. Morris (as found on page 503 of Sing to the Lord) be declared to be the official anthem of the Church of the Nazarene.

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. “Holiness unto the Lord” has already been acknowledged, elsewhere, as the “unofficial” anthem of the church.

2. The message of the hymn expresses clearly the identity of the Church of the Nazarene as a Wesleyan-holiness denomination.

3. The hymn is widely and consistently (if not always) sung during the ordination services at our various district assemblies.

4. Such a resolution does not require the use of the hymn in any particular setting, but simply reaffirms our holiness identity.

General Assembly Resolution: Universal Footnote

Note: Strikedthrough words are to be deleted from the current Manual. Underlined words are to be added to the current Manual.

________________________________________________________________________________

HISTORICAL STATEMENT

The Church of the Nazarene confesses itself to be a branch of Christ’s “one, holy, universal¹, and apostolic” church, . . .

¹Universal is a clarification of the meaning of the traditional term catholic. Its usage is not intended to separate us from the traditional marks of the Church, but rather, to clearly identify with those traditional marks.

701. BAPTISM OF BELIEVERS & 702. BAPTISM OF INFANTS OR YOUNG CHILDREN

. . . “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church universal¹ ~~of Jesus Christ~~, the communion of saints, . . .

¹Universal is a clarification of the meaning of the traditional term catholic.

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. The footnotes seeks to clarify that we firmly stand within Christ’s Church.

2. The footnotes, further, seeks to clarify the actual meaning of the traditional word catholic. It is no more a reference to the Roman Catholic Church than the word church is a reference to the Roman Catholic Church.

3. The change of language in the creed in our baptismal rituals brings those versions of the creed in line with the language in both, our Historical Statement, and the version of the Apostles Creed found in the Sing to the Lord hymnal. This will help to avoid confusion during baptism for those churches that use the Apostles Creed from the hymnal.

General Assembly Resolution: Sacramental Wine

Note: Strikedthrough words are to be deleted from the current Manual. Underlined words are to be added to the current Manual.

________________________________________________________________________________

29.3 We call our people to abstain from drinking alcohol . . .

. . . Ephesians 5:18; Philippians 2:4)
(Only unfermented or dealcoholized wine should be used, along with bread, in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.)

I. SACRAMENTS

700. LORD’S SUPPER

The administration of the Lord’s Supper . . .

. . . NOTE: Only unfermented or dealcoholized wine should be used, along with bread, in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. This resolution seeks to clarify our rational for using non-alcoholic wine for the sacrament by reintroducing it back into our statement in The Covenant of Christian Conduct. This grounding was lost when the Covenant was re-written for the 2023 Manual.

2. It is important to have such a statement within The Covenant of Christian Conduct, because the only place it is currently addressed is in the actual ritual, which many Nazarenes do not use.

3. The inclusion of “dealcoholized wine,” along with “unfermented” is due to the development of the process of removing alcohol from otherwise fermented wine. This process was not available when grape juice was first developed. The inclusion reinforces our stance on alcohol, as well as our continued commitment to following Christ’s institution, using the fruit of the vine.

4. The inclusion of “bread” seeks balance, simply recognizing both elements used in the sacrament.

General Assembly Resolution: Tongues

Note: Strikedthrough words are to be deleted from the current Manual. Underlined words are to be added to the current Manual.

________________________________________________________________________________

926. Evidence of Baptism with the Holy Spirit . . .

To affirm that even a special or any alleged physical evidence, or “prayer language,” is evidence of the baptism with the Spirit is contrary to the biblical and historic position of the Church. The biblical and historic position of the Church of the Nazarene is that the true gift of tongues is a missionary gift to clearly spread the gospel to those who speak in other human languages, as is demonstrated in Acts 2, 10, and 19. We do not believe that speaking in unknown tongues is the evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. This addition is reflective of the consistent statements from the board of general superintendents throughout the history of the denomination.

2. It has become clear that neo-Pentecostal views, contrary to our biblical and historic views, are finding inroads into the Church of the Nazarene in various parts of the world.

3. While clear statements have been made by the board of general superintendents, it is time that the Manual include a clear statement concerning the nature of the biblical gift of tongues. - This addition provides such a statement.

General Assembly Resolution: Elder / Deacon

Note: Strikedthrough words are to be deleted from the current Manual. Underlined words are to be added to the current Manual.

________________________________________________________________________________

124.4. Administer the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. The Lord’s Supper should be administered at least once a quarter. Pastors are encouraged to move toward a more frequent celebration of this means of grace. A district licensed minister who has not complied fully with the provisions of paragraph 524.7 shall arrange for the administration of the sacrament by an ordained elder ~~minister~~. A local licensed minister shall not be eligible to administer the sacraments of baptism or the Lord’s Supper. Consideration should be given for extending the Lord’s Supper to homebound persons, under supervision of the pastor. (523.7, 700)

504. The Church of the Nazarene recognizes the order of elder and the order of deacon ~~only one order of the preaching ministry, that of elder~~. It also recognizes that the member of the clergy may serve the church in various capacities (Ephesians 4:11-12). . . .

525.1. ~~The deacon does not witness to a specific call to preach.~~ The church recognizes, on the basis of Scripture and experience, that God calls some individuals to a lifetime ministry ~~who do not witness to such a specific call~~ of Word and Service, and believes that individuals so called ~~to such ministries~~ the ministry of a deacon should be recognized and confirmed by the church and should meet requirements, and be granted responsibilities, established by the church. This is a permanent order of ministry.

525.2. The deacon must meet the requirements of the order for education, exhibit the appropriate gifts and graces, and be recognized and confirmed by the church. The deacon shall be vested with the authority to administer the sacraments of baptism ~~and the Lord’s Supper~~, to assist the elder in the distribution of the Lord’s Supper, ~~and~~ to officiate at marriages where the laws of the state do not prohibit, to conduct worship, and on occasion ~~to conduct worship and~~ to preach. It is understood that the Lord and the church may use this person’s gifts and graces in various associate ministries. As a symbol of the servant ministry of the Body of Christ, the deacon may also use his or her gifts in roles outside the institutional church. (~~124.4,~~ 124.9)

525.4. If in the pursuance of his or her ministry, the ordained deacon feels called to the ~~preaching~~ ministry of elder, he or she may be ordained ~~elder~~ as such upon completion of the requirements for that credential and the return of the deacon credential.

526. An elder is a minister whose call of God to preach, gifts, and usefulness have been demonstrated and enhanced by proper training and experience, and who has been separated for the ministry of Word and Table and to the service of Christ through His church by the vote of a district assembly and by the solemn act of ordination, and thus has been fully invested to perform all functions of the Christian ministry.

526.1. ~~We recognize but one order of preaching ministry—that of elder. This~~ The order of elder is a permanent order in the church. The elder is to lead well in the church, to preach the Word, to administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and to solemnize matrimony, all in the name of, and in subjection to, Jesus Christ, the great Head of the Church. (31, 124.2, 124.4, 124.9)

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. Throughout the history of the Church, from ancient times up to and including our own lineage of John Wesley’s Anglicanism and American Methodism, the distinction between the order of deacon and the order of elder has been: a.) the deacon is called to a ministry focused on service, and b.) the elder is vested with the authority to administer the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. This has been expressed as the ministry of “Word and Service,” on the one hand, and the ministry of “Word and Table,” on the other hand.

2. This is this distinction that holds nearly universally in the larger Wesleyan/Methodist tradition.

3. This is the main distinction that seems to be held ecumenically, and is stated as such in the reports of the ecumenical dialogues between the World Methodist Council (of which the Church of the Nazarene has been a member) and the Anglican Communion, and it is the main distinction that seems to be held in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, as well.

4. Our current distinction between the two orders (viz., preaching), seems to have been assumed due to the statement in par. 526.1 that “We recognize but one order of preaching ministry – that of elder.” - However, making preaching the distinction between the two orders when we developed the order of deacon was an erroneous assumption. The statement found in par. 526.1 was not intended to distinguish the order of elder from any other order. Rather, that statement was meant to reinforce that we had only ONE order; that of elder. We did not have TWO preaching orders (viz., elder and deacon), as did the Methodist Episcopal Church of the time. We only had ONE preaching order (viz., elder).

5. To identify the distinction between the elder and deacon as one of a call to preach, not only disregards the historic position of the larger Christian Church universal, but is very difficult to maintain when the deacon, according to par. 525.2, may also preach, and when we are a part of a tradition that involves lay preachers (cf. par. 503.1).

6. The proposed changes will bring us much closer to alignment with the usage of the terms in Scripture, the distinctions throughout the history of the Christian Church, the ecumenical consensus, and our own Wesleyan heritage.

General Assembly Resolution: Women in Ministry

Note: Strikedthrough words are to be deleted from the current Manual. Underlined words are to be added to the current Manual.

________________________________________________________________________________

501. Theology of Women in Ministry. The Church of the Nazarene supports ~~the right of~~ women ~~to use~~ using their God-given spiritual gifts within the church and affirms the historic ~~right~~ practice of electing and appointing of women ~~to be elected and appointed~~ to places of leadership within the Church of the Nazarene, including the ~~offices~~ orders of both elder and deacon. . . .

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. The language of rights is foreign to Scripture, but arises out political language, particularly in the Western world.

2. No one, whether a woman or a man, has “a right” to be ordained. Rather, we affirm that God calls certain women and men to the ordained ministry. We seek to ordain only those women and men who profess a call from God.

3. These changes only deal with the language of rights. They do not in any other way change the substance of our theology of women in ministry.

4. We understand elders and deacons to be holy orders, not merely an office. In contrast, the general superintendency is an office held by certain elected elders (cf., 305.2).

General Assembly Resolution: General Superintendency / Ordination

Note: Strikedthrough words are to be deleted from the current Manual. Underlined words are to be added to the current Manual.

________________________________________________________________________________

307.4. Have discretionary power to ordain, or appoint others elders (preferably another general superintendent, general superintendent emeriti or retired) to ordain, those who have been properly elected to be elders or deacons. (314.1, 320, 530.5-530.6)

530.5. The candidate elected to the order of elder or order of deacon shall be ordained by the laying on of the hands of the general superintendent and ordained ~~ministers~~ elders with appropriate religious exercises, under the direction of the presiding general superintendent. (307.4)

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. We, along with Wesley and the larger Wesleyan/Methodist tradition, have understood that “Bishops and Presbyters are the same order, and consequently have the same right to ordain” (Wesley’s Sept. 10, 1784 letter “To Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and our Brethren in North-America”). That is to say, the power to ordain is found within the order of elders. There is not a separate “order of bishop” or “general superintendent.” Nevertheless, we, along with others in the larger Wesleyan/Methodist tradition, have reserved the authority to ordain, within our denominations, to those elders who have been elected to the episcopal office/role of general superintendent.

2. For the Church of the Nazarene, the episcopal aspect of our government is expressed through the general superintendency (cf., the “Foreword,” and par. 22.2, 306.f, 314.f, and 315.f).

3. It would be highly desirable that ordinations, if not being performed by the general superintendent in jurisdiction, be performed by another general superintendent (active, emeriti, or retired), in as much as they represent the whole (or general) church.

4. In the unfortunate situation when the general superintendent in jurisdiction is not able to ordain, and when no other general superintendent is able to ordain, it would be highly desirable that one vested with the authority to oversee the district (i.e., the district superintendent) be the person appointed to ordain.

5. In no case should anyone other than an ordained elder be appointed to ordain, for the power to ordain is found within the order of elders. This is seen in 2 Timothy 1:6, which, referring to Timothy’s ordination, says, “For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;” (NRSV), and most especially in the parallel passage of 1 Timothy 4:14, which says, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders” (NRSV, emphasis mine).

This is also why it has historically been the presbytery (i.e., elders, rather than deacons) who have joined the bishop (i.e., the elder serving in the office of general superintendent) in the laying on of hands.

6. As the paragraph currently reads, it would be possible (even if unlikely) that a general superintendent could appoint someone outside of holy orders to ordain. Such would be completely and wholly inconsistent with the historic Christian and Wesleyan and Nazarene understanding of ordination.

Friday, September 25, 2026

THE LITANY: SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

Here is a recorded service of The Litany for Friday, September 25, 2026, for Ancient Paths Church of the Nazarene.

A copy of the service from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer can be downloaded, here, under The Great Litany.

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

WESLEY WEDNESDAY: John Wesley's Understanding of "Real Presence" in the Lord's Supper

The following Wesley quotes are taken from Bishop Ole E. Borgen’s book, John Wesley on the Sacraments: A Definitive Study of John Wesley’s Theology of Worship. This book still stands up to its subtitle, and I highly recommend it to all of my Wesleyan/Methodist clergy friends who are interested in understanding John Wesley’s Sacramental Theology.

Borgen’s book, by the way, was used as the primary model for Rob Staples’ Outward Sign and Inward Grace: The Place of Sacraments in Wesleyan Spirituality. Dr. Staples was my professor of Sacramental Theology at Nazarene Theological Seminary. His book is the first of its kind to originate from the Holiness wing of Methodism. So, if you are a part of one of the Holiness denominations (e.g., Nazarene, Free Methodist, Wesleyan), I recommend Staple's book, first, followed by Borgen for a more in-depth study.

The following quotes identify Wesley’s understanding of Christ’s Real Presence in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

The first quote is an excerpt of a letter from John’s mother, Susannah, in response to John’s description of Christ’s presence as understood by one of his friends. Susannah writes:

I own I never understood by the ‘real presence,’ more than what he has elegantly expressed,
that ‘the divine nature of Christ is then eminently present, to impart, by the operation of his
Holy Spirit, the benefits of his death to worthy receivers.’ And surely the divine presence of
our Lord, thus applying the virtue and merits of the great atonement to each true believer,
makes the consecrated bread more than a sign of Christ’s body; since by his so doing, we
receive not only the sign, but with it the thing signified, all the benefits of his incarnation
and passion!1

John responds to his mother by saying:

One consideration is enough to make me assent to his and your judgement concerning the
Holy Sacrament; which is, that we cannot allow Christ’s human nature to be present in it,
without allowing either con- or transubstantiation. But that His divinity is so united to us
then, as He never is but to worthy receivers, I firmly believe, though the manner of that
union is utterly a mystery to me.2

Borgen, himself, asserts:

Wesley rejects the Lutheran views of consubstantiation and ubiquity, which require a
communicating of the properties of the divine nature to the human. Christ is only
omnipresent according to his divine nature; therefore, in order to communicate the benefits
of his human life and death to us, these must be, as it were, at the disposal of Christ as
omnipresent God. According to Wesley, no corporeal, carnal, material, substantial or
localized presence of Christ in the sacrament can be accepted.”3

Borgen summarizes Wesley’s view by saying:

Wesley’s conception of the “Real Presence” excludes all ideas of corporeal, physical-
material, substantial or localized presence, tied to or subsumed under the visible elements.
In fact, although he would insist upon a close relationship between the res and the signum,
he shies away from any view of a static presence, connected organically, although spiritually
with the elements after consecration. This would impose a form of necessity upon God, as
well as lead to the dangers of con- or transubstantiation. Instead, Wesley holds a view of the
“Real Presence,” which may properly be called “Dynamic” or “Living Presence”: where
God acts, there he is. The “objective presence” cannot be thought of as the static presence of
an object, but rather as that of a living and acting person working through the means.4

Borgen quotes one of the Wesley Hymns to illuminate John’s views:

The Cup of Blessing, blest by Thee,
Let it thy Blood impart;
The Bread thy Mystic Body be,
And chear each languid Heart.5

Thus, “As the cup conveys or imparts the Blood; so the bread conveys or imparts the ‘mystic
Body’; and both the bread and the cup . . . are said to be what they convey.6

_____________________________________________________________________________

1. Borgen, p 63.

2. p 63.

3. p 65

4. p 68-69

5. p 69

6. p 69