The Church of the Nazarene and Deaf Ministry: An Overview and Proposal for Implementation of Ministry
Written and Compiled by:
Rev. Rickey A. McClain, Deaf Pastor
College Church of the Nazarene
2020 E. Sheridan Avenue
Olathe, KS 66062
August, 2003
Chapter 1
THe CHurch of the Nazarene and Deaf Ministry: an Overview
The Church of the Nazarene, from its conception, has confessed itself to be a branch of the “one, holy, universal, and apostolic” church and has sought to be faithful to it. It confesses as its own the history of the people of God, recorded in the Old and New Testaments, and that same history as it has extended from the days of the apostles to our own. As its own people, it embraces the people of God through the ages, those redeemed through Jesus Christ in whatever expression of the one church they may be found. It receives the ecumenical creeds of the first five Christian centuries as expressions of its own faith. While the Church of the Nazarene has responded to its special calling to proclaim the doctrine and experience of entire sanctification, it has taken care to retain and nurture identification with the historic church in its preaching of the Word, its administration of the sacraments, its concern to raise up and maintain a ministry that is truly apostolic in faith and practice, and its inculcating of disciplines for Christ-like living and service to others.[1]
In preparation for celebrating the Church’s Centennial, the Church of the Nazarene promotes the mission of the Church of the Nazarene as:
Evangelism – Our Mission to the ends of the world where we live and worship.
Compassion – hope for a hurting world
Inclusion – a place where the nations meet
Reproduction – Churches starting churches[2]
In the above mentioned statement that was taken from the 2001 – 2005 Manual of the Church of the Nazarene, the Church is identified as a specific member of the “one, holy, universal, and apostolic” church – a unique Christian denomination. The Church of the Nazarene is truly an American denomination that emphasizes freedom in worship, adherence to the embraced foundational doctrines, and ecumenical decrees of the first five Christian centuries (with special emphasis on the doctrine of entire sanctification as a 2nd definite work of grace subsequent to the experience of salvation) as expressions of its own faith. The Church of the Nazarene is representative in government, and thus avoids the extremes of episcopacy on the one hand and unlimited congregationalism on the other.[3] Members of the Church of the Nazarene are ecumenically minded and fully cooperative with other denominations in missionary efforts around the world. The Church of the Nazarene believes strongly in the universality of the Church and have from the beginning sought Christian unity. While the Church of the Nazarene is Wesleyan in its theology, Holiness in its perspective, Global in its mission, and International in its scope, the Church has much to offer in the way of ecclesiastical and theological sustenance to the deaf and hearing impaired throughout the world.
The Church of the Nazarene also has offered a stable, rational and effective recourse to a hurting and unstable world through the preaching and teaching of the effective and entire Gospel of Jesus Christ. Effective and entire in the experience and in the exposition of entire sanctification as expressed in the written and personal revelation of the Word of God. Yet, the Church of the Nazarene as a whole has been essentially non-responsive and insensitive to the needs of the deaf and the deaf community. The question begs to be asked, “Why has the Church of the Nazarene, a Church that is committed to global outreach and Christian unity, not yet discovered the importance of ministry to the deaf?”
Prior to delving into and proposing an answer to the question, a brief examination into the unique characteristics of the Church of the Nazarene in relationship to the development of a Ministry with the Deaf might be helpful, and the proper context within which this complex issue can be understood will be established.
The Church of the Nazarene is an international, globally-minded Mission. The Church of the Nazarene, from the beginning of its inception has strived and successfully served the Lord Jesus Christ to an extent that more than 120 world mission areas serving more than 1,390,306 members distributed over 12,600 congregations have been impacted.[4] The long accepted axiom, “Spreading the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world” is still the modus operandi of the Church of the Nazarene.
The Church of the Nazarene is an aggressive Mission. Its theology is Wesleyan. Its focus is on the evangelism and rescue of individuals from bondage of sin without any consideration given to race, nationality, or economic status. Its perspective is holiness of Heart and Mind in relation to Worship of God in everyday life and practice of faith, and in relation to humanity. The mission, in respect to the Wesleyan theological perspective of evangelism – “The World is my pulpit”[5], is to earnestly seeking to bring people into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, striving to assist others to experience freedom from the passions of the sinful nature in the expressive joy of entire sanctification cannot require a passive effort, but an aggressive, obedient response to the call of God. Loving God with all of her mind, soul, and strength and loving her neighbor as herself is a cardinal doctrine of the Christian Church, as well as the lifeblood of the Church of the Nazarene.
The Church of the Nazarene is both rational and educational. Recognizing that there are more than 12 Seminaries and institutions of higher learning that are sponsored by the Church of the Nazarene and logistically placed throughout the globe gives credence and sustenance to the Mission and purpose of the Church of the Nazarene. The Church of the Nazarene is educational, not only in the scholastic endeavor, but also in the training and development of Christian men, women, and children through the auspices of Sunday School, Weekday programming, Weekly Preaching points both at home and abroad, and in the publication of her World Mission magazine – Holiness Today. The official publishing arm of the Church of the Nazarene, the Nazarene Publishing House, boasts to be the largest publisher of Holiness and Wesleyan Theology materials in the world. The Church of the Nazarene also sponsors a global Nazarene Radio Network that permeates the world with the message of Holiness throughout the airwaves, and also enjoys the services of the Nazarene Communications Network which produces and promotes Holiness Materials through videotapes, television production, and live broadcasts of selected special services such as the Communion Sunday Service of the 2001 International General Assembly held in Indianapolis, Indiana.
These, and more, are important qualities that the Church of the Nazarene possesses and which would provide an adequate and ideal atmosphere through which to develop and operate a successful evangelistic endeavor within the deaf community.
The deaf community, while a significant part of the global population (an estimated more than 290 million deaf people in the world, today[6]), has been grossly overlooked in the evangelistic efforts of the Christian church. Recent statistics have shown that less than 1 out of 1,500 deaf people have been reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A combined total of 2,500 Christian workers for the deaf have been tabulated[7]. While it is difficult to obtain an accurate statistical determination of the population of the deaf community and the Christian workers who are serving the deaf, these figures are considered to be drastic, and underreported. If the total deaf population were gathered together under one national flag, the deaf community would comprise the fourth largest continent. Nevertheless, the Christian church as a whole must be honest with herself and admit that in one area of evangelism, failure has been recognized – primarily with the deaf and with the other specifically challenged population.
Currently, this writer believes that the Church of the Nazarene is in this particular realm, at the pinnacle of her life. Holiness of Heart and Character not only empowers us to rise above the level of social dysfunction that is prevalent within society, today, but we are also empowered to recognize and perceive that “the fields are white for the Harvest.” As a Nazarene Minister, we must recognize that It is our denominational foundation to minister to the downtrodden and the rejected of society. It is our denominational foundation to minister and invite people to the “glory barns” of our Churches and bring people to a saving and sanctifying knowledge of Jesus Christ and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that equips us to live victorious lives. The Church of the Nazarene has seen a dramatic outpouring of the blessings of God among the African American and the Hispanic Community. The Church of the Nazarene has seen a return to the social gospel of reaching the lost through Rescue Missions, Harvest Houses, and other benevolent avenues such as Heart – to Heart International. The Church of the Nazarene is ready to embark into a world that has previously been unexplored and uninitiated. It is our belief that as a Holy People called of a Holy God to reach out to a people living in an unholy world – nothing shall hinder us if we go in Jesus’ name. We can do no other. It is our Missional emphasis, it is our Missional calling, and it is our Missional imperative that will not rest until we step forward in faith and obedience reaching out to a silent majority.
It may be understood that the deaf community may not and cannot hear, but their total lives (physical, emotional, spiritual, and social) are affected by the world in which they are born and live. This silent world of deafness is no different than that of the mainstream of humanity. They have similar needs – and special needs that cannot be simply met through the medium of print and other means.
Because of their deafness, the deaf community is, and must continually be, developing their own theological perspective that provides for the basis and practice of the Christian faith. These new theological postulations are, in many instances, radically different from traditional Christian theology. While we may disagree with the postulations at the beginning, Deaf people are certainly entitled to a certain theological freedom within Christianity in order to express their theological formulations. The Church of the Nazarene, with her emphasis upon freedom from the consequences and bondage of sin through the blood of Jesus Christ and empowerment of the Holy Spirit in the lives of these deaf people for whom Christ died and was resurrected is already in position to assist the deaf community in the implementation of their theological formulation. The Church of the Nazarene recognizes cultural diversity in Worship, and encourages development of indigenous churches and worship experiences. A case in point may be referenced by the Los Angeles First Church of the Nazarene which houses a number of different language groups, each worshipping in their own style and language. The deaf community, while as diverse and different within their own group in the use of language and in their cultural considerations, are truly not any different from any other ethnic language group that utilizes a language other than English as their primary means of communication. The Church of the Nazarene with their missionary emphasis and training has already set the foundation for a new mission emphasis that must be built and designed upon reaching the deaf and hard of hearing in America, and in the world.
The deaf community, because of their deafness, receives spiritual inspiration from visual stimulation. Worship services must be visually creative. Church music and the signing of hymns often will have little value within the deaf worship service. Nevertheless, there are some individuals for whom music is an expression of faith and practice. The worship format, liturgical expressions, ceremonial rituals will radically differ from the traditional hearing worship service. While this can be problematic for the deaf who have previously attended churches with a well developed and mandated liturgy, the expressive need for community, closeness and identification as a deaf community will ultimately override any felt and theological discomfort. The Church of the Nazarene does and should recognize that worship must be Christ – centered, not liturgical centered. Worship must be an expression of the Love that we have for Christ and our understanding of Christ’s love for us. Freedom in worship and in the designation of worship services within the context of Classical Christianity is a hallmark of the Church of the Nazarene. This is another way in which the Church of the Nazarene can begin to embrace a ministry with the deaf.
The deaf community is ecumenical in spirit. There are a variety of reasons for this ecumenical spirit that exists among the deaf community. For one, in the past, deaf people have had their denominations chosen for them. They have had limited choices and opportunities through which they have been given proper venue of worship. The Churches that would provide services for the deaf community would most naturally be the church they would attend – whether it might be the denomination of their origin or not. Contrary to their hearing counterparts, deaf people who are active within the Christian community have not previously been indoctrinated with a strong sense of doctrinal loyalty. As a point of reference, many deaf people are more concerned with what makes them Christians, and are concerned with the impact of the Christian faith in their lives than they are with denominational and theological differences that exist between denominations. Many deaf people are more concerned with being Christians than they are being identified as Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God, Lutherans or Catholics. For many, because their faith is not readily available and accessible in their own home town, attending another church that does cater to the needs of the deaf is not a major difficulty.