Record Crowds Gather In New Zealand For Centennial Celebration

Nazarenes in New Zealand celebrated the Centennial of the Church of the Nazarene at their district assembly in November.  In the spirit of Phineas Bresee the District Assembly voted unanimously to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand, opening the way for increased fellowship, collaboration and cooperation in sharing of church buildings, training events and combined youth camps. 

On Sunday November 9, the churches combined for a multicultural worship celebration.  This was the largest Nazarene Worship service ever conducted in New Zealand.  Special music was provided by Samoan, Korean and Indian music groups.  Young people from 18 different nations proudly brought their flags to the front of the auditorium.  The scripture was read in 16 different languages as people traced “God’s plan for the nations” starting with God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 and following the theme through the scriptures until Revelation 7 where every believer from every tribe language people and nation surrounds the throne and worships the Lamb.

Centennial Heritage Certificates were presented by Dr. Jesse Middendorf to those pastors and lay leaders who had been active in the church for more than 40 years.  Dr. Middendorf then brought a challenging message and ordained four pastors from four different countries: South Africa, Cook Islands, USA and New Zealand.  Many of those who attended joined in a celebration lunch.
 
Neville Bartle

this post was filed under Around The Region on Dec 22, 2008