NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Kansas City, MO

NAZARENE ECCLESIOLOGY: FACT OR FICTION?

A Historical and Theological approach to

Nazarene Ecclesiology through its theological scholars

A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED FOR USE IN

ECUMENICAL CONVERSATION: A REIMAGING OF THE BEING AND MISSION OF
THE CHURCH AND TO
K. STEVE MCCORMICK, PH.D.
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE 830 ECCLESIOLOGY

BY

MATTHEW COLLINS, MARC HARDY, YOUNG MIN PARK, ZACH KINGERY

November, 2010
 “‘Ecclesiology’ is a word which describes the theological understanding of the church: its
purpose, nature, and mission; its sacraments and divine worship; the ministry and church
leadership.”- Commission on the Nazarene Future, Church of the Nazarene

The Problem

If one were to ask, “Does the Church of the Nazarene have an Ecclesiology?” The answer

‘yes’ says too much; ‘no’ says too little. Traditionally, the Church of the Nazarene has endured a

rather undeveloped ecclesiology1. The Church of the Nazarene did not have an Article that

specifically addressed its ecclesiology until the 1989 General Assembly when it adopted an

Article based upon the report of the “Doctrine of the Church Commission”, a commission

formed by action of the 1985 General Assembly. The importance of an established ecclesiology

gives the ability to articulate understanding of ecclesiology which enables proper response of

“why we do what we do when we do it.”

The purpose of this paper is to compare and assess the works of notable theologians

within the Church of the Nazarene in regard to ecclesiology. The question this paper seeks to

answer is: Do Nazarene theologians agree or disagree in their views of a Nazarene

ecclesiological methodology? It is our goal, after reviewing the literature on Nazarene

ecclesiology, that valuable insight is added to the ecclesiological conversations within the

Church of the Nazarene toward a concrete, comprehensive ecclesiology.

One must recognize a certain ecclesiological methodology within the Church of the

Nazarene, for it has unity in the Wesleyan theological tradition and at the same time has the

diversity in conversations with other cultures and disciplines for reaching out the lost2. While

this tradition is key to a Nazarene ecclesiological understanding, Ron Benefiel suggests that a
1
Church of the Nazarene. Clergy Development Faculty Guide. Investigating Christian Theology II. (Kansas City,
MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 2003).
2
Deidre Brower Latz, “What is the Church? Toward a Wesleyan Ecclesiology,” Didache: Faithful Teaching 6, no. 2
(January 2007) 1, http://didache.nts.edu/pdfs/GTIIE_Brower_Latz.pdf (accessed October 20, 2010).
denomination’s culture emerges from the reflection/action processes that define, first, its

theology, then missiology and ecclesiology3. That is to say that, as much as mission is driven by

our theology, it is actions that shape a working theology resulting in struggling ecclesiologies

that are birthed from the differing missiological approaches. These ascertains are not to suggest a

reworking of practical Nazarene Theology but rather incentive to establish a broad platform of

ecclesiological understanding within the Church of the Nazarene, for it is the lacking of an

ecclesiological growth which hinders the concept of ‘Church’ within the Church of the Nazarene.

To accomplish this goal finding a comprehensive Nazarene ecclesiology a list of

theological Nazarene works will be compared and contrasted.

Phineas F Bresee, “The Certainties of Faith: Ten Sermons by the Founder of the Church

of the Nazarene.”

Phineas Bresee was the primary founder of the Church of the Nazarene and is quoted

with the words, “We are not anxious about final results, but to do the service day by day, which

we may be permitted to do under His leadership.”44 While these words were shared with a

worshipful heart, it could be argued this is the very attitude that has left the Church of the

Nazarene without a stated, developed ecclesiology. Bresee does, however, share his goals and

vision for the church he helped found in his words from the pulpit. From Bresee one can learn a

great deal about how he viewed the purpose of the church and what he felt should be our desires

for the church. In his sermon After Pentecost He outlines a Church that is composed of those

who have converted and is a body in a very basic sense, which exists to multiply in numbers by
3
Interview. President, Nazarene Theological Seminary. Urban Imperative video. Kansas City, MO: Mission
Strategy USA/Canada, 2004.
4
James Hampton, Brian Hull, Jon Middendorf, Jim Wicks, Tevis Austin, Dave Charlton, “Is there room at the table:
Emerging Christians in the Church of the Nazarene,” Didache: Faithful Teaching 9, no. 2 (January 2010)
http://didache.nts.edu/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=794&Itemid= (accessed October 22,
2010).
the process and work of the Holy Spirit.5 Those who are not in proper relationship with Christ,

the Son, are not active participants in the Church for “the relationship of the disciples to Jesus is

on some sense the same as that of Jesus to the Father6;” only the called can be sent. Just as Jesus

Christ was absorbed into the Father, who sent Him so they whom Jesus sends are absorbed in

Him7, which is to say that the sent will send or that the church is constructed of disciples making

disciples making disciples.

This ‘church of the sent’ has the goal to share the Gospel solely out of a desire to do what

the Son has tasked to them, just as Jesus did what was tasked to Him by the Father. In both cases,

the enabling power is that of the Holy Spirit, who is the primary source of accomplishing great

works of faith and of maintaining the relationship of the Church to the Son. Bresee stated that

“God’s Holy people are neither players for the world’s amusement nor caterers to the world’s

taste. They stand in the height of their resplendent spiritual beauty - the prophets, the

messengers of God to men8.” As those called and sent by Christ, the church is a people who are

participants in the mission of the Church, a holy people empowered by the Holy Spirit to share

the Gospel and increase in faith and in numbers.

H. Orton Wiley, “Christian Theology”

Wiley’s important work “Christian Theology,” specifically volume three, understands the

church to include both the visible and invisible, as well as the internal and external. As a body,

the ecclesia is composed of the divinely adopted children of God with Christ as the head of

ecclesia, the founder of the Church.9 The participants of the church are supernaturally extended
5
Phineas F. Bresee, “The Certainties of Faith: Ten Sermons by the Founder of the Church of the Nazarene,” ed.
Timothy Smith (Kansas City: Nazarene Publishing House, 1958), 42
6
Ibid, 45.
7
Ibid, 46.
8
Ibid,75.
9
H. Orton Wiley, vol. 3 of Christian Theology (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press,1940) 103a.
the redemptive work of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit10 and only then can they share in

the role of the ecclesia, which is to spread the message of the Gospel. The power of the ecclesia

is granted by the Holy Spirit, and it exists primarily to grow in numbers by the power of the Holy

Spirit. For though the Church is founded in Christ and His redemptive work/resurrection, the

Church is created by the Holy Spirit11 and it is the Holy Spirit that unites the Church.12

What Wiley establishes about his ecclesiology flows quite naturally from Bresee, yet as

with any movement there is growth and progression of thought. Wiley agrees with Bresee about

the basic makeup of the Church – that it is made up of the adopted, or converted, participants and

that it is headed by Christ. However, Wiley places the church as being founded by the Holy

Spirit, instead of primarily by the Son, and does not ground the actions of the church in the

relationship between Father and Son in the same way that Bresee does. Wiley incorporates his

understanding that the body of the Church is both the visible and invisible; that there is an

earthly-political church as well as the heavenly-timeless church. This visible and invisible

dichotomy charges the participants with the necessity of finding a balance between the two for

proper ecclesial understanding.13 The church, both local and universal, has various internal and

external functions - administrative as well as ministerial, which are expressions of the work of

God within the life of the body; which is supported by the assertion that nothing is more clearly

taught in the Scriptures than the fact of an external organization of the Church.14

H. Ray Dunning, “Grace, Faith, & Holiness.”

10
Ibid, 103b.
11
Ibid, 107.
12
Ibid, 108.
13
Ibid, 113-115.
14
Ibid, 118.
 Dunning’s work “Grace, Faith, & Holiness” incorporates the marks of the Church in

regards to the characteristics of the true Church and the communion of Saints. It is from

challenges to the Church, both from the inside and out that the marks of the Church were truly

formed as the four: Unity, Holiness, Catholicity and Apostolicity. Dunning also adds that even in

the Protestant Reformation these marks were confirmed and then even added to, to include the

preaching of the Word of God and the proper observance of the sacraments. It is because of these

marks of the Church that Dunning places such an ecclesiological importance on the Catholicity

of the Church.

Taken at face value, the oneness of the Church seems easy to understand. This mark of

the Church can be traced back to Christ Himself in His prayer for the unity of all believers. It is

this universality that causes concern to Dunning when it comes to denominational uniqueness.

While Dunning is not a proponent of surrendering Nazarene uniqueness, his writing shows his

concern for the divided state of the Church. He writes, “it will not do to speak of the divergences

in the existing church as diversities and thus speak of unity in diversity. This is a truism that fails

to touch the true situation. One must face the reality and call the church to repentance and seek to

identify the sources of the rifts that so weaken the church’s witness in the world.”15 A Church

divided is not the Church at all, and if divided the Church becomes a very poor witness to a

world that desperately needs the Gospel.

William Greathouse, “An Introduction to Wesleyan Theology.”

What initially began as a Sunday school curriculum, “An Introduction to Wesleyan

Theology” lays out the basic understandings of ecclesiology within the Nazarene denomination.

Greathouse begins by pointing to two main images for church in NT: the people of God and the

15
H. Ray Dunning, “Grace, Faith & Holiness,” (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1988) 529.
body of Christ. According to Greathouse, the New Testament states that “the Christian Church

is now the new people of God, a new Israel.”16 The understanding of ecclesia originated with

Abraham’s calling, namely with the faith he demonstrated, “and all who have his faith are

members of the one true people of God”.17 The people of Israel shared in this calling and now

the Church is the heir to this calling. The next image for the Church in the New Testament is the

Church as the body of Christ. For Greathouse, this means that Christ is universally embodied by

the fellowship of all believers in the Church Universal. In each congregation there is a visible

manifestation and koinonia of Christ with the participants. It is through these two main images,

the people and the body, that gives proper understanding to the mission of the Church: to

continue Jesus’ ministry on earth.

In light of these New Testament metaphors, the Church is then to be understood as a

‘saved and saving community’.18 For Greathouse, this is the very nature and function of the

church in an examination of ecclesiology from a Nazarene perspective. In undertaking the task

of defining the Church, Greathouse further establishes and promotes that Church must carry out

mission to be fulfilling its purpose. For if a church is defined as “a saved and saving

community”19 it must be composed of spiritually regenerate persons, the preaching of the Word,

the sacraments, and discipline.

Rob Staples, “Outward Sign and Inward Grace”

In his work, “Outward Sign and Inward Grace” Staples offers his understanding of

ecclesiology from where current ecclesiological understand was conceived. Staples notes that, in
16
William M. Greathouse, “An Introduction to Wesleyan Theology” (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1989), 100a.
17
Ibid,, 100b.
18
Ibid., 106a.
19
Ibid,, 106b.
Wesley’s thought, Wesley himself perceived two models of ecclesiology or proper church

doctrine. One such model viewed the Church with an emphasis of freedom in the Spirit which

allowed room for spontaneity and experience, or the ‘religion of the heart.’20 The other perceived

model focuses on the institutional and structured Church where elements of the service are

directed by those who are ordained. It is these two models of importance to Wesley that Staples

argues for an ecclesiological understanding of “structure through Spirit.”21 While Staples lacks

an in-depth examination of ecclesiology, his argument of “structure through Spirit” allows for

the progression that although the Scriptures clearly teach external organization of the Church, it

is truly a Spirit-led organization nonetheless.

Staples does not ultimately answer the true ecclesiological questions of “What is the

Church” and “What is its purpose?” Instead, the church is his starting assumption for an

important discussion of the sacraments. Staples offers a sacramental theology which sees the

physical as the vehicle for the spiritual.22 The progression allows for Christ and His redemptive

work to be the founder of the Church, founded in the Holy Spirit, and the sacraments to

constitute the very life of the Church. “To be exact, it is Spirit (the Holy Spirit) that God imparts

through means of grace such as sacraments. He has not limited himself to them. It is the Spirit

that is sovereign, and not the structures.”23

Deidre Brower Latz, “What is Church? Toward a Wesleyan Ecclesiology”

In a recently presented paper, Latz tries to tackle the question of “What is the Church”

and drives the conversation forward for a Wesleyan/Holiness ecclesiology. The Wesleyan

ecclesiology to date seems to be one of broad spectrum, centered not on a stated orthodox or
20
Rob Staples, “Outward Sign and Inward Grace,” (Kansas City, Beacon Hill Press, 1991) 25a.
21
Ibid, 25b.
22
Ibid, 63.
23
Ibid, 289.
orthopraxis but rather on that strives to find unity in its diversity. It is in this diversity that Latz

promotes the idea that there can be different denominations that can be fully functional and

maintain the inner coherence of a Wesleyan theology and doctrine. This idea of ‘inner

coherence’ is the main proponent of Latz’s paper and is comprised of certain theological and

practical emphases. To maintain unity in diversity, Latz proposes a theological emphasis on:

Scripture, sacrament, tradition, Scriptural holiness/Christian perfection, global vision, social

justice, prevenient grace, experience and arminianism. Yet, these theological emphases must be

coupled with the practical emphases of: corporate worship, accountability, inclusion, creative

engagement with culture, etc.

Latz discusses the various aspects of the “Church” in some detail. It is hard to summarize

all the specific arguments and discussions on these areas of what constitutes a church. What

unifies her thoughts on these areas is the underlying idea that the Church is meant to be a

gathering of the people that is culturally and sometimes philosophically diverse . What unites

them are their fundamental beliefs that are expressed in the traditions and the creeds. However,

that does not mean the Church is completely inflexible. To say that nothing can be changed

would be equating specific cultural practices with the Church’s fundamental beliefs. We must

not confuse the two. Latz argues that the Wesleyan theology has always been aware of a

dynamic possibility of progression in understanding, and was engaged in fresh thinking and

enabling new practices to evolve. It is grounded in tradition but is also dynamic.

Even though dynamic, what we do still is very closely related to what we believe in. Just

because it is flexible, it does not have to be completely independent of the core thoughts that

define us as Christians. That was shown clearly by the amount of time Latz spent analyzing

specific practices of the Church. Latz expresses the essence of her idea by saying: “praxis and
theology are interwoven in the Wesleyan schema. What we do (or don’t do) and who we are

always reflects what we believe and how we think.” This theme frames the ecclesiological nature

of the Church, its being and mission. The Church’s being is the Church’s mission, and its

mission is it’s being.24

Concluding Remarks

The fact that the Church of the Nazarene strives to be part of the Church Universal

demonstrates hope for the future, though this hope contains both complexity and diversity. This

brief survey of various Nazarene thinkers demonstrates the lack of unanimity on a

comprehensive ecclesiological view. However, there is a consensus of opinion as to what the

goals of ecclesiology is in the Church of the Nazarene - that believers will be sanctified within

the Church Universal, and that these converts, both laity and clergy, will participate in the

mission of the God. The slowly but continually developing Nazarene ecclesiology shows a

combination of loyal respect for the Church of God’s visible witness to the reality of the present

kingdom with flexibility in finding new ways of accomplishing the mission of the church in

restoring the fallen world to right standing with God.

The ecclesiology of the Church of the Nazarene has developed continuously over the

course of its history. Bresee, in his sermon “After Pentecost” delivered in 1903, outlined a

church of “converts” that is in relationship to the Son as the Son is in relationship to the Father.

The same motivation for the church and the Son are shared in their mission. The theology of H.

Orton Wiley followed Bresee closely - Wiley, however, included the “invisible” church in his

theology, which for him included those who had gone before (and now existed in Heaven) as

24
Deidre Brower Latz, “What is the Church? Toward a Wesleyan Ecclesiology,” Didache: Faithful Teaching 6, no.
2 (January 2007) 1, http://didache.nts.edu/pdfs/GTIIE_Brower_Latz.pdf (accessed October 20, 2010).
members of the church. It is clear that the differences between Wiley and Bresee show a wider

understanding of the church by Wiley (perhaps resultant of himself watching the passing of

previous generations of Nazarenes into Heaven?), but perhaps a less exclusive understanding

than Bresee. Dunning continues in Bresee’s thought concerning the unity of the Son and the

Father as a image of the unity that is seen in the Church in the midst of its universality. The

universality of the Church is to be maintained in unity without using the differences in tradition

as means for division. Greathouse, in connection with Dunning, and continuing in the line of

Bresee, comments primarily on the universality of the Church as seen in the New Testament

metaphors of the Church. Greathouse also offers a significant contribution by discussing the

nature and function of the Church as “a saving and sent people.”25 Latz continues on the idea of

“unity in diversity”. She also implies that the uniqueness of Wesleyan thought has a legitimate

place within the universality of the Church, and so the Church would therefore supersede any

particular theological traditions.

The one somewhat differing thinking in Nazarene ecclesiological thought is Staples’

contribution to the discussion. While it is valuable to understand the nature of the sacraments

within a Wesleyan perspective, it does not ultimately address the nature or function of the

Church. It is primarily addressing the place sacraments have in the Wesleyan context. Unity

within the universality of the Church is not addressed, as has been a thread that can be seen since

Bresee in Nazarene thought.

It is in the creative tension beginning with Bresee and in the spirit of unity as well as

diversity that the Church of the Nazarene strives to fulfill the purpose of a people who are called

and sent.

25
Greathouse, 106a.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Austin, Tevis; Charlton, Dave; Hampton, James; Hull, Brian; Middendorf, Jon; Wicks, Jim. “Is
there room at the table: Emerging Christians in the Church of the Nazarene,” Didache:
Faithful Teaching 9, no. 2 (January 2010) http://didache.nts.edu/index.php?
option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=794&Itemid= (accessed October 22, 2010).

Benefiel, Ron. Interview. President, Nazarene Theological Seminary. Urban Imperative video.
Kansas City, MO: Mission Strategy USA/Canada, 2004.

Bresee, Phineas F. The Certainties of Faith: Ten Sermons by the Founder of the Church of the
Nazarene. ed. Timothy Smith. Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 1958.

Church of the Nazarene. Clergy Development Faculty Guide. Investigating Christian Theology
II. Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 2003.

Dunning, H. Ray. Grace, Faith & Holiness. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1988.

Greathouse, William M. An Introduction to Wesleyan Theology. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press,
1989.

Latz, Deidre Brower. “What is the Church? Toward a Wesleyan Ecclesiology,” Didache:
Faithful Teaching 6, no. 2 (January 2007) 1,
http://didache.nts.edu/pdfs/GTIIE_Brower_Latz.pdf (accessed October 20, 2010).

Staples, Rob L. Outward Sign and Inward Grace: The Place of Sacraments in Wesleyan
Spirituality. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1991.

Wiley, H. Orton. Christian Theology. Vol. 3. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1940.