Graves to leave SSM for Olathe College Church

Kansas City-General Secretary Jack Stone reports Sunday School Ministries (SSM) Department Director David W. Graves will resign from his current position to become senior pastor of the Olathe, Kansas, College Church of the Nazarene.

With a 97 percent affirmative vote, members of College Church made a decisive statement when electing Graves senior pastor on August 6. Graves accepted the invitation through a statement to the congregation.

Responding to the election, Stone stated, "A Sunday School Ministries Search Committee will begin the process for selection of a new SSM department director."

According to Jurisdictional General Superintendent J. K. Warrick, chair of the SSM Search Committee, "The committee will seek the very best candidate available to continue the critical work of Sunday School Ministries."

Ironically, Warrick was the most recent senior pastor at College Church. He left the pulpit in June 2005 when he was elected the 36th general superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene. The 3,000-member church has been without a senior pastor since that time.

Graves began his duties as SSM director on November 15, 2001, filling a vacancy left by W. Talmadge Johnson, who had been elected general superintendent in June 2001. Before his duties as SSM director, which included providing leadership for the development of Sunday School and its related ministries around the world, Graves was senior pastor of the Springdale Church of the Nazarene in Cincinnati, Ohio (1993-2001). He earlier had served as pastor in Nashville (Grace), Marion, Ohio (Marion First), Oklahoma (Broken Arrow), and North Carolina (Monroe).

Graves shared, "I have thoroughly enjoyed serving the General Church as director of Sunday School Ministries for nearly five years. The assignment has given me opportunity to see our great church from a much larger perspective than I had as a local pastor. As I traveled across the U.S., Canada, and other world regions, I have developed a deeper appreciation for what God is doing through the Church of the Nazarene. I am thankful for the opportunities I had to speak at Sunday School conventions, conferences, SoloCon, and Primetime retreats.

"Sharon and I are excited and humbled at the opportunity to minister with the wonderful people of College Church. God has used this great church in the past and I believe He has tremendous plans for its future. Unlimited potential exists to reach people for Jesus Christ in the greater Olathe area."

Graves' first Sunday at College Church as senior pastor will be September 10, which is the day the church will be celebrating its 75th anniversary.
--NCN News, Holiness Today

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Nazarenes gather for Fourth National Black Nazarene Conference

Dallas-More than 1,500 Nazarenes from all over the U.S. and Canada came together for the Fourth National Black Nazarene Conference August 3-6. As many as 1,000 people attended plenary sessions, pre-conference meetings, workshops, and other functions in downtown Dallas, Texas.

"Our four-day focus was on reclaiming and empowering the Black family," stated Oliver Phillips, Mission Strategy director.

The conference opened with a plenary address from Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the first woman elected as bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Using the Old Testament story of Joseph, McKenzie explained that God's favor followed him from the pit; to the prison; to the palace, and in each instance was not diminished or weakened by each turn of events.

McKenzie proclaimed, "The favor of God changes the status quo so that the equation of power and authority is interrupted and reconfigured to give power to those who aren't supposed to have it." She concluded her message by relating that God's favor gave Joseph opportunities to learn the skills he needed for the future that God wanted to create for him.

"Joseph used the changes in his life for growth and development," McKenzie stated. "We need to see change as an opportunity because we don't know what God has in mind. Like Joseph, we need to work on our dreams wherever we are because God's favor has the power to make things work out in our favor, even when it looks like they shouldn't."

During Friday morning's plenary session, James Patterson, senior pastor of the Institute, West Virginia Church of the Nazarene, said, "The local church will be relevant in the 21st century only to the degree that it is an agent of empowerment." Patterson underscored that if the Black church is going to truly empower families, it is going to have to develop the capacity to engage the issues of society, and take action, so the family of God can become self-reliant.

"We are not going to be agents of empowerment by just talking or dreaming about it, but by laboring for it," announced Patterson. He explained that true empowerment perseveres and keeps faith despite opposition and obstacles. Patterson closed his message by anchoring empowerment in the image of the cross and Jesus' death and resurrection.

"You are empowered when you can accept the will of God no matter what happens to you," he said. "Let's produce people who are not afraid to engage the powers and principalities of this world so that the desired outcomes of the Lord are achieved."

During the third plenary service, Willie Richardson, an expert on marriage and the family, challenged the assembly to start family training centers in their churches. "There isn't anyone that can do anything about the problems facing the African-American community but us," said Richardson, senior pastor of Stronghold Baptist Church in Philadelphia. "Though statistically we are struggling, I have hope because God established marriage and the family, and if we look to God and the Bible, we can find the principles needed to have successful marriages and families. If Christ is in the center of our lives, we can be the kind of men and women that God wants us to be."

Richardson cautioned that families should not be left alone to learn what it means to be a family. Instead, churches have a role to train people to build Christian homes. "We need to demonstrate unconditional love between husbands and wives and their children, as well as for every family that comes to our churches," stated Richardson.

"If our churches are not producing the results God wants, we need to stop what we're doing, proclaimed Church of the Nazarene General Superintendent Jerry D. Porter during the Saturday morning plenary service. As prelude for his message, Porter related the story of Moses' leadership with the people of Israel during their wilderness wandering in the desert. Moses used his staff to strike the rock and bring forth water for a parched people. Years later, when God asked Moses to repeat the earlier miracle - but this time using only his voice to command the rock - he refused. Porter said that though Moses was a godly man, he had grown recalcitrant and resistant to the changes needed to properly lead God's people. "Moses refused to change his methods and got comfortable with the status quo, and cheated the next generation of people from seeing a miracle," stated Porter.

Porter called for leaders who would be spiritual, missional disciples that would not be afraid to use even unconventional methods to reach others for Christ and the church. "As Nazarene leader L. Guy Nees said, 'The Church of the Nazarene is liberal in method and conservative in message.'"

Porter concluded his message by asking JoeAnn Ballard, director of the Neighborhood Christian Center in Memphis, Tennessee, and others to pray for a Black church that would be empowered to bring forth spiritual, missional disciples that would be innovative and radically obedient to the call of God.

The conference closed with a message from Oliver R. Phillips, Mission Strategy director. Phillips used the twin miracles of the healing of Jairus' daughter and the woman with the issue of blood to argue that Jesus was not made unclean by contact with the latter. Using as a theme "All in the family," Phillips charged the audience to be more inclusive in ministry outreach to tthose left out and left behind. An observance of the Lord's Supper followed.

An added bonus to the conference was evidenced when 12 South African Nazarene pastors journeyed to Dallas to join this year's National Black Conference. While in the U.S., they were hosted by Sandra L. Woods, president of Missions with a Face Foundation. The foundation was established this past year for the purpose of both encouraging and supporting mission opportunities, especially for our African friends.

For more information about the conference and its supporting ministries, visit www.blacknazareneministries.org.
--Reported by Oliver R. Phillips and Bryon McLaughlin, UCME Department

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Palmer elected DS in Missouri

Kansas City-This week, the Board of General Superintendents announced the election of Michael G. Palmer to the office of district superintendent of the Missouri District. With Jurisdictional General Superintendent J. K. Warrick presiding, Palmer was elected on the 11th ballot on August 9, to be effective 30 days after the election.

Palmer, who attended MidAmerica Nazarene University, and his wife Mary currently pastor the Ferguson Church of the Nazarene in St. Louis. He has pastored for 16 years in Iowa and Missouri and served as a full-time evangelist for seven years.
--BGS, NCN News

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NazJam 2006 focuses on families

Mt. Peasant, Pennsylvania-NazJam, sponsored by Children's Ministries at the Church of the Nazarene International Headquarters, is a camp conducted every four years for children and their families. NazJam 2006 was held at the Laurelville Mennonite Church Center just outside Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania. Though the weather provided a few challenges, it didn't dampen spirits or fun.

This year the special emphasis was on family devotions. A time was designated in each day's schedule for family or church groups to discuss biblical concepts and pray. Families were introduced to WordAction's (NPH) new quarterly devotional, connect!

NazJam 2006 participants enjoyed the following features:

• Special speaker Kim Bobb, Grove City, Ohio Church of the Nazarene children's pastor, inspired children and adults. Along with her band, Straight and Narrow, Bobb provided a fast-paced, high-energy dimension to all the NazJam 2006 worship services.
• Skill sessions for campers included archery, water sports, compassionate ministries, crafts, team building, and missions. Children grades 1-6 had fun while learning important skills in each session.
• Adult sessions were conducted by Larry Morris, Adult Ministries director. Early childhood children and youth participated in special age-appropriate activities.
• Fun late-night activities included "The Amazing Chase," "Family Sports Night,"

The next NazJam will take place in 2010.
--Children's Ministries E-Newsletter

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First U.S. Youth In Mission team joins with counterpart in DRC to reach thousands

Goma, DRC-This summer, Youth In Mission (YIM) sent its first team to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The team ministered to youth in poverty-stricken Goma in the North-Kivu District.

Specifically, the team spent four weeks participating in evangelistic activities such as outreach to orphans, preaching, sports outreach, Bible studies, AIDS education, Evangecube, door-to-door evangelism, puppets, drama, and bible quizzing. The team partnered with a Congo YIM team led by Milly Ibanda to visit seven schools, four orphanages, three hospitals, and twelve local Nazarene churches.

In all, Ibanda reports the teams reached more than 2,600 people.

Ibanda states, "Goma, Congo suffers from the worst poverty these teams haves ever seen, but that simply means they need hope of Jesus all the more. There are some very good people here who are starving for Christ and others that enjoy evangelizing for Him.

"Many pastors cannot even afford Bibles and Evangecubes," Ibanda continued. "The teams visited two primary schools for the poor and orphans that don't even have floors - just hardened lava. Two of the Nazarene churches visited by the teams only had tarps for shelter."

On July 4th, the U.S. team celebrated their Independence Day by cooking (without electricity) a special meal for their Congolese friends. They obtained their supplies from a local market and made hamburgers, onion rings, and cooked apples.

Each Sunday afternoon, the teams organized a service for the youth from all over Goma.

Ibanda says, "In my analysis, the ministry was successful and the mission accomplished. I consider this event successful in training and exposing some young people to the happenings of different countries. Another accomplishment is the fact that these people from USA were young people and, in spite of the media which may alarm travelers about the DRC situation, they decided to come. We take security of all our guests seriously here."

The U.S. team left on July 15, traveling back to Rwanda where they visited the Milles Collines Hotel, a major part of the Kigali city. On the 16th, just before the returned to the U.S., the team attended a service at the Remera Church of the Nazarene in Rwanda. They also visited the Rwanda Genocide Memorial.

The four-person team from the U.S. was made up of students from Southern Nazarene University, Trevecca Nazarene University, and Olivet Nazarene University (2).

Note: To view photos of the trip, see this week's photo gallery on ncnnews.com.
--YIM, Milly Ibanda - Great Lakes (Africa) Youth In Mission teams coordinator

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