Sunday School
The core values of the Church of the Nazarene remind us that we are a Christian people, a Holiness people and a missional people. In Sunday School Ministries we hold to these same core values. We are a Christian people. We believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord of Scripture. We look to Scripture as the primary source of spiritual truth confirmed by reason, tradition, and experience.
Sunday School is the place to teach the vital importance of Scripture to our children, teens, and adults and to disciple them in their Christian walk. Sunday School remains one of the church's most powerful ways to affirm the Word of God as the foundation for living the Christian life. We are a Holiness people. Sunday School is the place where disciples of all ages can be taught the doctrine of holiness, enter into the experience, and be guided in their process of becoming more like Jesus through regular Bible study and personal spiritual accountability.
We are a missional people. Our mission is to go and make disciples. The goal of Sunday School ministries is to reach lost people for Jesus. Through the Sunday School, we challenge all ages to be disciples of Jesus Christ and to invite others to do the same. Sunday School is the place where we help each other live the holy life through mutual support, Christian fellowship, and loving accountability.
John Wesley said, "God has given us to each other to strengthen each other's hands." In Sunday School Ministries we believe that Sunday School is the place to discover what it means to be Christian, holiness people who are on a global mission to reach and disciple people of all ages.
Adult Ministries
The Church of the Nazarene provides resources for adults to mature in Christ and find opportunities for ministry and service. This includes Family Life Ministries (with Marriage Enrichment and Recovery Ministries), Single Adult Ministries, Prime Time Ministries, Women's Ministries, Adult Ministries Connection and Men's Ministries. Join us as we journey toward Christian maturity.
Children's Ministries
Today’s children face many societal influences that draw them away from God and His love. To counterract these, boys and girls need a variety of nurturing experiences provided by caring adults at church. Children’s spiritual needs include regular Bible study that focuses on life application worship, Christian fellowship, and evangelism. They need these experiences on Sunday, through the week, and during the summer.
Children’s Ministries exists to resource, train, and support districts and local churches as they minister to children. With this in mind, the Board of General Superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene calls the Church to a decade of emphasis on children and youth – Connecting a New Generation.
January 2002 through January 2012 has been designated to be a decade for assessing the needs and issues facing children and youth, creating ministries that will meet the needs of children and youth, supporting and nurturing the family unit, and integrating children and youth into the faith community. The vision that fuels our work in Children’s Ministries grows out of Jesus’ words in Mark 10:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” In the midst of a consuming ministry to adults, Jesus regularly ministered to children. We believe the future of the church depends on effective ministry to children today.
CLT/Lay Ministry Curriculum
As Christians, we are called to service and ministry. We are responsible for enhancing our effectiveness by learning necessary skills and expanding our understanding. CLT is designed to enable your process of "lifetime learning". Not since the days of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation has there been a time like this in the life of the Christian Church.
Multitudes of lay persons are discovering their heritage as ministers and servants in the local church. In the Church of the Nazarene, the largest corps of persons in lay ministry are local Sunday School teachers and workers. But lay ministry is not limited to one area.
Indeed, thousands of Nazarene lay persons are discovering their spiritual gifts and aptitude, learning appropriate ministry skills, and getting involved in ministry. Their ministries may be within the wall of their local churches or beyond, in venues of service to the community at large. CLT has always been associated with quality lay training curriculum designed to enrich your understanding of God's Word and the basic doctrines essential to our shared life as a community of faith.
Now we are emphasizing the powerful linkage between training and ministry. Our new name expresses that link by associating training materials with our mission and objective: equipping Christians for ministry in the local church. Our hope is that through your participation in the various CLT / Lay Ministry programs you can increase your effectiveness as a Christian worker in your church.
*See Laureen Whitney for information on all of the above