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MARCH 2014
The other morning I was having breakfast at a Cracker Barrel,
and a young couple was seated near me. In the course of their
breakfast, he stood up and raised his voice so the whole dining
room could hear. He said, “My name is Earl, and this is Kathy. She
has made me real happy. I would like to ask her to make me happy
for the rest of my life. I love you, Kathy. I would like to ask you
to marry me.” He then got down on one knee and gave her an
engagement ring. She burst into tears, and the whole restaurant
burst into applause. It was a special moment!
My first reaction to it was, “I think I could have come up with
a more romantic place and time to ask my girlfriend to marry me
than in a Cracker Barrel at breakfast time. Pass-ing a diamond ring
over a bunch of hash browns just doesn’t seem to be the ‘right
moment’ to me.” However, perhaps the young man knew something I
didn’t know. Maybe they had
their first date in that Mt. Juliet Cracker Barrel, or perhaps
the first time he told her he loved her was right there at that
table. Then again, perhaps the young man realized something
beautiful. That is, ordinary places can become sacred spaces. What
makes moments sacred is the special love expressed, and thereby the
moment becomes holy.
Jesus was the founder and creator of such an idea. Through His
indefatigable love, He was able to forever alter the per-ception of
an instrument of capital punishment called a cross. Now, centuries
later, the cross is a lovely, cherished Christian symbol.
You and I have had special holy moments that, upon first glance,
the surroundings wouldn’t dictate sacredness; but be-cause of our
contact with God, those ordinary places became sacred places. When
the love or our Holy Lord shows up, even a Cracker Barrel can
become a sanctuary. This is true of rough-hewn alters, Lazy Boy
chairs, and the bedsides of dy-ing loved ones. When love shows up,
God shows up; and the mundaneness of life becomes majesty.
What places can become sacred in your home, as you model
discipleship to your family? Could it be on your knees beside your
child at bedtime? Could it be the dining room table dur-ing family
devotions? Open your eyes and heart today to those sacred places
and moments that open the door to discipleship.
Dr. Bob Broadbooks is the USA/Canada Regional Director for the
Church of the Nazarene.
ConnectionSDMIFAMILY DISCIPLESHIP — BEST PRACTICES
SUNDAY SCHOOL & DISCIPLESHIP
MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
Ordinary Places...Sacred Spaces by Dr. Robert Broadbooks
u OUR ROLE IN DISCIPLING TEENS by REV. JUSTIN
PICKARD........7
u EMbRACING FAMILy DEVOTIONS by DR. DEAN bLEVINS....5
u ARE yOU PRAyING FOR yOUR FAMILy? by ALETHA HINTHORN...3
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M15 Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future
A Mid-Quadrennial Conference for the USA/Canada Region February
9-11, 2015 Kansas City, Missouri
More information available soon at usacanadanazarene.org.
SDMI USA/Canada District Leadership ConferenceFebruary 9-11,
2015 Kansas City, Missouri
2
zing participants. During the every-other-week drive to church
for Sunday and Wednesday evening children’s programming, the car
radio played Adventures in Odyssey, and they sang
scripturally-based songs… “God Made the Moon.” Nightly devotions
were held, and the children actively participated in scripture
reading and prayer. In every way possible, a Christian worldview
was introduced into those three little minds…minds that are
“sponges.” The God-directed efforts of those loving grandparents
are showing results: the boys love their church friends and the
church environment. They have even set up “church” in the
grandparents’ basement, complete with puppet shows, Bible readings,
“sermons,” and even offerings!
Realities of today’s culture can be painful. Half of all
American chil-dren will witness the breakup of their parents’
marriage1, and 33% of America’s 72 million children will go to bed
tonight in a home without their biological father2. Psalm 78 tells
us that when fathers and families fail to transmit values and
beliefs, future generations pay the price.
Fractured families on alternate weekends are a reality, and
churches must effectively adjust to this bi-weekly attendance so
children feel a true part of God’s loving family. As Christians, we
also must pray fervently for our families that all children, like
the three Hebrew chil-dren, will experience God’s protection from
Satan’s fires.
1 McKinley Irvin Family Law blog posting, October 30, 2012,
www.mckinleyirvin.com, quoting findings from the U.S. Bureau of
Statistics.2 “How Are Men Doing? The State of Men in America,”
David Delk, Man in the Mirror Report, April 16, 2013
Wm. Marshall Duke is the Church of the Nazarene Prime Time and
Men’s Ministries Coordinator.
A daughter raised in a God-honoring, Christian home…a marriage…a
cou-
ple…three young boys….and then D-I-V-O-R-C-E. That word was
foreign to
her family; but reality set in, and significant, related
questions sur-faced. But, the most significant question was, “What
about those little boys who, through
no choosing of their own, are thrust into a part-time parenting
experi-ence?”
Christian grandparenting took on a whole new meaning. No lon-ger
was it just supervising the children for a few hours, celebrating
birthdays and Christmas, and laughing as they played. Because their
daughter had to work to provide adequately for her needs and the
needs of the children, the grandparents’ home became a substitute
overnight location for the children. Divorce-required “shared
parent-ing” makes the children part-time residents in multiple
homes. Back and forth they go with exposure to different lifestyles
and values….Stop what you’re doing, get your coat on, and grab your
toys; it’s time to meet your dad. Painful realities…precious little
guys caught up in a lifestyle not of their own making; but God
opened an alternative pathway.
Keenly aware that the “window” for the training and guidance of
children closes quickly, the grandparents responded. Being devout
Christians who hunger for the boys to know God, they prayed for
wisdom and followed the directive from Deuteronomy 6:4-9. They
guided scripture memorization, and the children became Bible
quiz-
More information available soon at sdmidlc.nazarene.org.
FRACTURED FAMILIES AND THE ROLE OF GRANDPARENTS by Wm. Marshall
Duke
UPCOMING EVENTS
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3
Recently, several of us had dinner with the international
evangelist Sammy Tippit. He said that for years he often stated
that he grew up in a secular home with no spiritual heritage. But
then he discovered a written description of his grandmother, who
died five years before he was born. It referred to her as a woman
of prayer and stated that she prayed so fervently the doors of the
church shook when she prayed.
Then Sammy understood why the first time he heard the Gospel, he
repented and received Christ. Two nights later he was called to
preach. His godly grandmother’s prayers were an-swered, too, for
her son. Sammy’s father came to Christ shortly before he died.
God answered his grandmother’s prayers in greater ways than she
could have anticipated. Through her prayers, she made an impact on
millions of lives around the world. Sammy has preached in more than
80 countries and in evangelistic stadium events in such places as
Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Rio de Janeiro, and Albania. His
grandmother was one of those who “were still living by faith when
they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw
them and welcomed them from a distance” (Hebrews 11:13).
My grandmother was one, too, who believed for her children, but
did not receive the answers except by faith. Two of her four sons
were not interested in following Jesus when she died, de-spite her
many prayers. However, not many months after her death, Uncle Les
came under great conviction. He felt so miserable he went to the
doctor, but the doctor found nothing wrong. On Sunday morning, he
called Grandma’s pastor and said, “I think I need to pray.” He
walked into the church during service and, without stopping to sit
down, went to the front and fell at the altar. Not only was his
life transformed but also that of future generations.
Grandma’s other son, Uncle Amos, came to faith in Jesus not long
before he passed away. God answers mothers’ prayers. Every burdened
groan and tear is too precious to Jesus to waste. Someday, at just
the right time, they will be poured out. “The desire of the
righteous shall be granted” (Proverbs 10:24). Dear Father, if we
knew how wonderful Your plans are for answering our prayers, we
would never grow weary of praying.
Aletha Hinthorn is an author and the founder/director of Come to
the Fire conferences.
In a recent study of today’s college students, Professor Jay
Moon discovered that nearly 53% of the students at Asbury were
actually oral learners. That is, they prefer
to listen to what they are learning rather than to read it. This
signifi-cant discovery has affected how Professor Moon teaches some
of his classes, even to the point of how homework assignments may
be com-pleted. The adaptations he has made have dramatically
impacted his students and their grades. We cannot let this
discovery slip past us, as we have those same students in every one
of our homes and churches.
Many people today gather most of their information from the
internet. As a result, they are being referred to as ‘digitoral,’
meaning that their learning comes from both digital and oral
sources. How can we engage these young, creative, highly-stimulated
minds with the ancient truths of Scripture? In short, how can we
speak their language, bring the Bible to life through digital and
even oral techniques? Very few of us have the ability to supply our
Sunday School teachers with computers or iPads for their class, but
all of us can draw from an ancient tech-nique that is finding new
interest from today’s digitoral generation.
Bible Trekking teaches ways to bring stories to life for this
creative generation using some of the oldest methods known and one
that Jesus popularized…story telling!
Here are some tips to story telling engagement:
• Tell the story with excitement. Told stories are best; but if
you must read, put some gusto into it!• Review the story to make
sure your hearers are with you.• Ask open-ended questions that
cause the hearers to enter the story for themselves.• Listen to
their observations and ask meaningful follow-up questions.• Draw a
scene or act out the story to bring new insights.• Connect the
story to today by asking how the story speaks to each person.
Story telling is an art. We all tell stories every day. To learn
more about improving your story telling abilities and how to engage
others through this fun, proven method, go to
www.bibletrekking.org.
Rev. Ray Neu is the Oral Language Coordinator for the Church of
the Nazarene.
by Aletha HinthornARE YOU PRAYING FOR YOUR FAMILY?
by Rev. Ray NeuREACHING “DIGITORAL” YOUTH
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I would like to ask a few questions...
What kind of family did Jesus grow up in? Did he live in a
typi-cal middle-class home in Nazareth? What do you know about his
brothers and sisters? How many other children do you think
could have been in his house? Did Jesus ever experience sibling
rivalry or jealousy?
How did the siblings feel about their big brother? Do you think
there was
ever any conflict or tension in the home?
What kind of relationship did Je-sus have with his family?
How much did Mary and Joseph tell Jesus about the circumstanc-es
of his birth? At what point
in Jesus’ life did Mary tell him about Gabriel suddenly
appearing
to her? Did she tell him what the an-gel told her? (See Luke
1.)
Did Mary tell Jesus that the Lord God was going to make him a
mighty king over the peo-
ple of Israel, just as his ancestor David was? Did she tell him
that his kingdom would never end?
What did Joseph tell Jesus about how the shepherds showed up at
the stable the night he was born? How much did Joseph tell him of
what the shepherds said about the baby in the manger and what had
happened in the fields? Did Joseph tell him the whole story or just
part of it? (See Luke 2.) How much time passed before Jesus
realized that Joseph was not his “real” father?
When Jesus questioned Mary and Joseph at the temple about why
they were so upset and surprised to find him there, he asked, “Why
didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (See Luke 2.)
Does that question imply that there had been much discussion in the
home about who Jesus was? What kind of family devotions did Mary
and Joseph have? Were they inten-tional and habitual, or haphazard
and sporadic? How important do you think family worship times were
in Jesus home? How vital are they to the atmosphere in your
home?
Could these questions be used to start a discussion in your
fam-ily about what family worship should be like? Try it and
see.
Dr. Woodie J. Stevens is the Global Director of SDMI.
MARRIAGE - FROM GOOD TO GREATDr. David and Lisa Frisbie
Let’s say you’re happily married. You’re together for life and
everyone knows it. Even better, both of you are authentic
believers. Here’s another plus: The two of you attend the same
church. If you were taking one of those surveys for couples, both
partners might report that your marriage is “good” or even “very
good” right now. If so, stop reading this article and thank God for
that reali-ty. Don’t let the blessing of a good marriage go
unpraised!
Meanwhile, what if you want to take your relationship from good
to great? What if you want to improve on an already good thing? You
can do that in as little as four minutes a day --- real time. You
can use a principle that has already been ‘road tested’ on the
gleaming autobahns of Germany, the winding byways of rural
Bulgaria, and in many other settings and locations. Couples who go
home to “try and apply” this principle tell us their relationship
starts getting deeper almost immediately. And after only a week or
two, they’re hooked. They end up revising and expanding the concept
beyond the original idea.
Here’s the seed to plant in your marriage garden: Starting
today, the two of you spend four minutes each day together, in a
quiet place, praying for each other out loud. You pray for your
spouse for two minutes. Your spouse prays for you for two
minutes.
Two minutes each. Praying out loud. You can hold hands if you
want, or put your hand on your spouse’s shoulder. You can kneel to
pray if you want. You can pray in your car or your closet, your
office or your kitchen. Just be together in a private space, and
pray for each other out loud. Start with four minutes. No egg timer
needed; approximate durations are fine. The point is, you don’t
need an hour or a half-hour; you don’t even need 15 minutes!
Couples around the globe report that this is a) difficult to get
started; b) gets easier with a little practice; and c) quickly
becomes a highlight of their day. Oh, and also, the same God who
listens to your prayers begins to answer them, wisely and well.
What if God’s presence invades your marriage in a new way?
Dr. David and Lisa Frisbie serve together as Executive Directors
of The Center for Marriage and Family Studies in Del Mar,
California. Their most recent book is Right from the Start: a Guide
for Couples (Beacon Hill Press).
by Dr. Woodie J. Stevens
THE FAMILY WORSHIP CONNECTION
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by Dr. Dean Blevins
I teach family ministry at a seminary and occasionally in a
local church. When I meet with parents to talk about
their family’s journey together in discipleship, I usually get
a
“deer in the headlights” look of panic at the mention of family
de-
votions. Sometimes I catch them checking for a quick,
inconspicu-ous way to the door. Other parents
come off so inflexible in their practices that they appear not
to want to learn anything “new” for fear they will discover some
deficiency in their devotional principles. Whether the desire is to
run for the door or build a wall of defensiveness, the reaction is
really the same – a deep panic with the topic at hand.
Why do parents often melt into their chairs when confronted with
the question of parental responsibility in nurturing the spiritual
lives of their children or their spouse? Disobedience? Laziness?
Detachment? Are parents in our churches really so distracted that
they do not care about the spiritual health of their children? Are
they so self absorbed that the very person they have pledged their
life to in marriage doesn’t matter?
I don’t think so. Some of the people most concerned about this
topic and about their family’s devotional life often serve as
Sunday school teachers and workers in the church. Yes, they care
about other people’s children; so why do they panic when it comes
to their own? Could it be that the church has actually failed them
in the way we talk about and model discipleship?
Let’s be honest. Teachers and leaders in North American churches
often risk arguing that “we” have the responsi-bility to raise
children through our ministries. For gen-erations, we have brought
children to church by bus and by car to deposit them in Sunday
School class-es, children’s church, and youth group, expecting the
church do the real work of discipleship. Now, today, suddenly the
very children who arrived in the bus ministry find themselves as
parents who are being told how they need to be raising their kids
through family devotions, often with no handles on what those
practices look like. No wonder they panic.
So, how can we help parents overcome the panic? Can Sunday
School teachers and ministry workers learn to work with families
rather than challenging or blaming parents for the spiritual lives
of their children? Of course we can overcome this mes-sage,
particularly since God desires that church and family work together
through the Holy Spirit
to model Christlikeness throughout our lives. Perhaps the best
way to begin is to build on our strengths, both in the family and
through the church. We need to help families identify first what
they are doing well, help them celebrate what God is
accom-plishing, then determine what they need to add and design a
plan that is “doable” for a family. Starting with this approach
focuses on the strengths rather than deficits within families.
Similarly, we can find places in the church where families do
grow in their faith through intergenerational living and learning
through worship, meals, ministry, and intergenerational classes. We
can then discern other opportunities that both support parents and
model discipleship in and among families. Using this ap-proach
allows families and congregations, parents and teachers an
opportunity to work together in connecting with each other and even
with others in their communities. In the Church of the Nazarene, we
have started a project titled Faithful Homes to help us work
together for this mutual growth. Learn more at
http://faithfulhomes.org.
Both parents and congregations need to move beyond a “deer in
the headlights” mentality when thinking about ministry to and
through families. Starting with strengths, then finding out where
God is already working provides an important first step.
Dr. Dean Blevins is Professor of Practical Theology and
Chris-tian Discipleship at the Nazarene Theological Seminary.
EMBRACING FAMILY DEVOTIONS
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Traveling down a one-way street is often preferred to the
congestion of a two-way street. When you drive down a one-way
street, you are not concerned about opposing traffic – everything
and everyone is going one way – your way. It’s kind of nice, isn’t
it?
Discipleship – and especially disciplining children – is not
like that. When one considers the topic of family discipleship, it
can be easy to overlook the reality that discipleship can be more
like a con-gested two-way street, with instruction and information
traveling in every direction. But the God we serve is not
restrained by our limited imagination, nor is He limited in the
channels by which He carries out His plan for our lives.
When a child is introduced to a story from the Bible that both
cap-tures their imagination and gets them excited about Scripture,
their ability and willingness to share the story with others is
bound to in-crease. When a child shares a story they have learned
from Scripture with family and friends, more than just a retelling
of a story is tak-ing place. God’s Word is being shared in a way
that allows the Holy Spirit to move within the hearts of both the
teller and the hearers.
Discipleship can be a challenging process. That is why a portion
of the money raised through this year’s Kids Reaching Kids Mission
Of-fering Project, Lis-ten, Learn and Let it Out!, will fund
Orality ministries like Bible Trek-king. Bible Trek-king is a
ministry that teaches how to use Bible stories as a family
discipleship tool. To find out more about Bible Trekking, or
Listen, Learn and Let it Out!, visit www.krknaz.com.
Dan Harris is the Kids Reaching Kids Mission Offering Project
Coordinator for SDMI.
When it comes to the chal-lenges that today’s par-ents face with
discipling and p r o t e c t i n g their children, none can cre-ate
as much
difficulty as technology. However, the flip side of the coin is
that technology can also greatly enhance a parent’s connection with
their child and actually lead to a deeper and stronger
relationship. Finding a balance of face-to-face and digital
connection is the key. As the Apostle John said:
“I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and
ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face,
so that our joy may be complete” (2 John 1:12).
What John understood was that technology (his being paper and
ink) was a substitute for something better: face-to-face
interac-tion and connection. John and all of the
writers of the New Testament mastered the art of balancing these
two connecting op-portunities. Just like them, we ought to seek a
healthy combination of both. As a parent of three kids, I would
suggest a three-fold strategy when it comes to managing tech-nology
in your homes.
Protect - This first strategy tends to come more naturally for
parents. We have a strong desire to protect our children. And that
is a good thing! We ought to protect them with filters, time
limits, and an overall technolo-gy strategy. However, we cannot
stop there.
Equip - A requirement of good 21st century parenting is that we
train and equip our kids to use technology in a wise and
responsible way. If we have focused more on pro-tecting from rather
than equipping for, we will fail to prepare our kids for the
onslaught of dangers that lie in wait for them in the cyber
world.
Model - As the famous psycholo-gist Albert Bandura observed many
years ago, observational learning is how most children
learn behavior that will carry over into their adult lives. We
must model wise and godly technology behavior for our children
while they are in our homes. Use technology to enhance your efforts
to disciple your children, but remember that face-to-face is the
best!
For more specific tips and ideas on these issues check out our
parenting resources at www.purehope.net/resources.
Dan Martin is Director of Parenting Minis-try at pureHope.
A TWO-WAY STREETby Rev. G. Daniel Harris
by Dan MartinDISCIPLING IN THE DIGITAL AGE
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by Rev. Justin Pickard
OUR ROLE IN DISCIPLING TEENS
As disciples of Christ, one of our core beliefs is to disciple
others - to train them up in what it means to surrender to, follow,
and love Jesus. Sometimes I wonder if we forget that this process
includes lots of “show and tell.” Remember back in school when you
brought something of value to show others and you shared its
significance?
In discipling teens, we need not just tell them what to do, say,
and be. We must show them as well. We must engage them in real life
in such a way as to model for them what it looks like to be a
disciple of Christ in the thick and thin, highs and lows,
cel-ebrations and tragedies, mundane and extravagant. Parents and
youth leaders cannot do this alone.
The entire body of Christ is needed to rally around the call to
be disciplers of our young people. Otherwise, we run the risk of
giving our teens a narrow view of who the body of Christ is and
what we look like as a real family of believers.
One of the most foundational ways to be involved in discipling
teens as a community of faith comes from youth ministry guru Dr.
Chap Clark1. He suggests a reversal of our typical ministry ratio
of 1:5 adult-to-teen. Clark challenges churches to reverse that
ratio.
What would it look like for every teen in our churches to have
five caring adults surrounding them with love, modeling
Christ-likeness, and speaking truth into their lives from different
perspectives?
While one or two of these adults may be parents and youth
leaders, it leaves plenty of room for other adults in the church to
join in this vital ministry.
How robust could our discipleship of youth be if our teens are
learn-ing what it means to be a disciple
of Christ not just from parents and pastors, but also from
coach-es, teachers, grandparents, neighbors, and church members
with a desire to invest in their lives? My hunch is that it would
bring a fresh wind of life and faith into our churches as
generational gaps are crossed, generalizations are dismissed, and
God’s pres-ence is found in the midst of it all.
1Dr. Kara E. Powell and Dr. Chap Clark, Sticky Faith. (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 101.
Rev. Justin Pickard is the USA/Canada NYI Coordinator.
KNOW THE 3 Bsby Dr. Linda G. Hardin
Some young and single adults will visit church dur-ing a life
transition. It might be a career change, job relocation, divorce,
continuing education, or various other reasons. Here are some tips
to help make your church their home.
Befriend them. Engage them in conversations to learn about their
needs, interests, and desires. Remember that conversation involves
as much listening as talking – perhaps even more. This often
requires us to restate what we hear to ensure understanding.
Share life with them by inviting them into your life. They want
to see how others live, to learn how to integrate Christianity into
all aspects of life, and to watch as you deal with the chal-
lenges, conflicts, and joys life brings. Remember, it isn’t
important to have all the answers. Actually, admitting
that you don’t have an answer and working together to find a
solution is often appealing to young adults.
Find places where young and single adults can belong. Based on
the information you gained from conversations, identify programs
and ministries that match needs and interests. Develop ways to
communicate more effectively. Facebook and text mes-sages will be
among the prime communication tools.
Encourage leadership development and give leadership
respon-sibilities to them. Remember how someone trusted you with
leadership positions. Relive that experience as you invest in new
members of your congregation.
Help them discover what we believe. In Sunday School classes,
small groups, and Bible studies, help them to discover how the
Bible applies to their lives today. Even if they know basic
Christian beliefs, they will also want to know why we believe as we
do. As you teach our doctrine and beliefs, guide them to discover
the foundational supports.
Bible studies provide a greater opportunity for the
intergenera-tional ministry. Many are seeking to learn from the
experiences and knowledge of those farther along life’s journey;
they also want many of their friends to be present. Offering Bible
stud-ies at various times, day and evening groups, allows people to
select a time that fits into their schedules.
Our goal is to develop young and single adults to become the
people and leaders God created them to be. Meet newcomers for
coffee and listen as they share their passion and vision. To
bor-row words from a book title by Dr. D. Michael Henderson, we
welcome new people “one conversation at a time.”
Dr. Linda G. Hardin is an SDMI consultant for Women’s Ministries
and Bridges singles ministry.
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SUNDAY SCHOOL & DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL CHURCH
OF THE NAZARENE
FAX: 913-577-0866Email: [email protected]:
sdmi.nazarene.org
Nazarene Global Ministry Center17001 Prairie Star Pkwy
Lenexa, KS 66220
800-221-6317913-577-2802
STATE OF MARRIAGES IN THE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENEby Dr. Ken
Crow
Most adult members of the Church of the Nazarene are married.
Their relationships need the ministry of the church as they face
the negative external pressures in the culture and the stresses and
frictions of living together. A recent study1 examined the question
of whether God’s grace and the church’s ministry is helping them in
their marriages. What are the marriage patterns of Nazarene adults?
Are they as likely to divorce as people who do not have the
resources of God and the church? What are the factors that most
influence their level of marital happiness?
MARRIAGE STATISTICSThe study found that 95% of the adult members
of the Church of the Nazarene have mar-ried. Of those who have ever
been married, a little more than two-thirds are still married to
the person they first married, not having experienced either the
death of a spouse or a divorce. One-fourth are divorced or have
remarried after a divorce.
DIVORCE STATISTICSMost Nazarenes (72%) believe divorce is
necessary in some cases for reasons other than adultery. Abuse is
often cited as another acceptable reason for divorce. Nearly
two-thirds believe Christians are as likely to divorce as are
non-Christians. In 2004 a Barna Group study2 reported that
born-again Christians, as they defined born again, were as likely
to divorce as non-Christians. That study did not include enough
Nazarenes to examine their experience of divorce. It did not
consider the effect of religious affiliation. In fact, among
Nazarenes who have ever been married, 25% have been divorced. This
is about the same level as a later Barna Group study3 found among
evangelicals (26%) and significantly lower than the 33% they found
among non-Christians. Nevertheless, the false belief that
Christians are as likely to divorce as non-Christians persists for
a majority of Nazarene members (65%) and pastors (64%).
MARRIAGE SATISFACTIONMost married Nazarene members describe
their marriage as quite happy, with 77% choosing a description of 8
or higher on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 was “Very unhappy” and 10
was “Very happy.” The issues most strongly associated with marital
happiness were “my spouse and I communicate well, do well in
resolving conflicts, have similar values, have similar life goals,
and share a deep commitment to God.”
1 2013 ANSR Poll survey of a representative sample of local
church lay leaders and users of SDMI’s Discipleship Place.2 The
Barna Group, ”Born Again Christians Just As Likely to Divorce As
Are Non-Christians,”
(http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/194-born-again-christians-just-as-likely-to-divorce-as-are-non-christians).3
The Barna Group, New Marriage and Divorce Statistics Released,
(http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/15-familykids/42-new-marriage-and-divorce-statistics-released).
Dr. Ken Crow, a retired missionary and pastor, currently serves
as a consultant to Nazarene Research Services.
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