2010 National Black Nazarene Conference report

St. Louis, Missouri

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The fifth bi-annual National Black Nazarene Conference was  convened at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, July 22-25. Representing 27 districts and 44 churches, more than 900 Nazarenes came together to celebrate, learn, fellowship, strategize, resource, connect, and encourage each other in a manner typical of the Black Nazarene community. The hotel was buzzing with jubilant praise and worship as three other Black evangelical groups converged for separate conventions.

Elmer Gillett, mission director for Black Ministries and the Strategic Readiness Team spent the past year in planning for the event amidst the financial challenges faced by many of the congregations. "We have been having bake sales, concerts, and other fund raising events," said Carl Bompart, pastor of the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Manor Church of the Nazarene. "We determined a long time ago that this event is a watershed moment in the life of our congregation. We've come to be refocused." The New Iberia, Louisiana church teamed up with New Orleans First Church of the Nazarene to travel by bus for 12 hours to celebrate the event.

Special breakfast alumni meetings were hosted by Eastern Nazarene College and MidAmerica Nazarene University, giving attendees opportunity for interaction with the respective college presidents, Corlis McGee and Ed Robinson. Another highlight of the conference was the appearance of Rosie Moore, retired pastor of the St. Louis New Hope Church of the Nazarene, where she pastored for more than 44 years. Moore planted the Bibleway Church of the Nazarene in 1963 from which seven additional congregations emerged.

Choirs, praise teams, drama groups, soloists, musical selections, all joined to provide a powerful expression of worship typical of the Black religious community. According to Oliver Phillips, Mission Strategy director, USA/Canada Regional Office, "Plenary speakers ignited the audience with sermons that were poetic masterpieces biblically rooted, politically prophetic, intellectually stimulating, emotionally evocative, rhetorically polished, pastorally positive, personally sensitive, and reverently and joyfully delivered."

The closing message was brought by Bishop John Bryant of the Fourth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Bryant, using the story of Mary and Martha's summons to Jesus to return to Bethany because of Lazarus' illness, homiletically recreated the narrative to suggest to the convention that Jesus tarried and was bathed in prayer before he dealt with the disappointment, pain, loss, and grief that was being experienced in the home of Lazarus. He admonished Nazarenes to make prayer the cornerstone of life and ministry.

Workshops were geared to the conference theme of "Reclaiming and Empowering the Black Family for the 21st Century." Among the district superintendents who were present was Mike Palmer, superintendent of the Missouri District. In bringing greetings to the crowd, Palmer stated he felt at home in the uplifting atmosphere of the conference.

The Black Ministries Strategic Readiness Team met in two sessions to evaluate the progress of Black churches and ministers. New and aggressive plans were devised to strengthen Black churches. Special emphasis will focus on continuing education initiatives, recruiting and deploying new church planters, institution of cultural unity forums, and to formulate a purpose statement for future conferences. The Team agreed that future conferences should be more deliberate in providing resources to pastors and congregations equipping them to transform communities, to be passionately evangelistic, to target youth, and to emphasize the need for congregations and leaders to model holiness in living and public expressions of God's presence.
--NCN News with Oliver R. Phillips, director, Mission Support USA/Canada Region

 

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