What a record. A beginning pastor plants a new church and stays for 50 years. That must be a historical first for Nazarene pastors.

In 1948, Mrs. Adelina E. Domingues prayed for a Portuguese Cape Verdan church to be planted in New Bedford, Massachusetts. About the same time, a ministerial student name Manual J. Chavier was contemplating whether or not God wanted him to give his life to overseas missionary service. Soon he felt directed to start a new work on the mission field in New Bedford among his own people. The official history of the New Bedford International Church fairly sings when it reports about those early days: "It is amazing how God works. God called a person, and the people called on God for a person. As soon as the two met, a harmonious relationship developed where pastor and small congregation came together."

The results is history. Pastor Chavier planted the church and continues to serve to this day. The church now has 738 members and an average Sunday worship attendance of 450.

One of the persons present at the first meeting of pastor and new church reported: "I sat in the congregation that day and heard the most free sermon ever preached and was deeply impressed with his delivery. His spiritual charisma, like an electric current, swept throughout his listening audience. It became obvious to everyone there that God had chosen this young student as the man for this new work." Chavier started with street meetings just outside the home of the town's most well-known gambler. Soon the gambler's Sunday business was undermined, and the gambler's mother insisted that her son shut down his operations and all Pastor Chavier to use the facilities on Sundays. Pastor Chavier also served as chaplain to two or three fish companies where he preached to the workers over their lunch hours.

The church was organized in February 1949 with 23 members. From home meetings the church moved into the Allen Street church building where the pastor, William Mosely, graciously offered them all they needed to carry on their afternoon services every Sunday at three o'clock, Because of their growth, the beginning congregation moved many more times. In October 1951, the congregation broke ground for the first chapel which is now used for Sunday School, children's church, youth activities, and Friday Bible school. The new sanctuary was built in 1983-84. Now the church has acquired nearby nine pieces of property for ministry or parking valued at more than one million dollars.

Pastor Manuel Chavier, born in 1921, continues in active service to the church and community. The walls of his study are filled with citations of achievement honoring him by city and community organizations. He preaches with anointing, leads the congregation with vigor, and has a pastoral touch that makes him loved by everyone in the church and community. Pastor Chavier lists three principles that have grown the church: (1) prayer, (2) Sunday School, and (3) Bible studies through the week in the community. The he added, "When all these are in place and running smoothly, lives are changed and growth is the natural fruit of the labor."

The church presently has 35 different ministries in place. An interesting note is that through all the years of Chavier's leadership, there has never been one negative vote on pastoral review and continuance. Chavier continues to be active in city government and denominational relationships; he has been elected a delegate to ten general assemblies.

Cutting-edge evangelism is being accomplished through the Friday Bible school for children--the idea being that unsaved parents are glad for someone to have a positive influence on their children on Friday evenings. Another outreach strategy is that Pastor Chavier holds many funerals for people from the community. As a condition for his preaching a funeral, the family members must agree to attend a memorial service at the church on the Sunday following the funeral. Seats are reserved for the family at the front of the church. Memorial remembrances are part of the pastoral prayer as well as a brief tribute by the pastor. Then at the close of the worship service, family members--many of whom have been thinking seriously about the relationship with God--are invited to seek the Lord.

When asked about his unquenchable enthusiasm for ministry even as he approaches his 79th year, Chavier says, "Our church lives on miracles, and we can't wait to see what God will do next." he also giggled that his wife was used to his having lipstick marks on his shirt because he received so many hugs and kisses after each sermon.

The church continues to flourish. Two hundred and thirty-one persons have been received into membership in the last five years. Sunday School attendance has moved from 251 to 310. And the evening service attendance always averages more than 250. Chavier continues to preach in nearly every service, including two Sunday morning worship services. His pastoral prayers are anointed and filled with affection for God and his congregation. In his pastoral prayer, after all these years, he recently prayed, "Lord, thanks for bringing us together and allowing us to serve together for all these years."

GROW offers gratitude and amazement over the record God has accomplished through Pastor Chavier and his wonderful congregation at New Bedford. And the work continues.

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Nehemiah Builders Build Church in Two Weeks
Joplin District Uses Creative Building Strategies

Recently, Joplin District Nehemiah Builders built a new church at Reeds Spring, Missouri, in two weeks. But this is not their fist project to be finished in two weeks. The Lord used the example of Nehemiah of the Old Testament to fire and shape a movement for building church buildings across the Joplin District. The Reeds Spring church is the fifth building project plus three remodeling or restoration projects.

The statement of purpose for the Nehemiah Builders will enkindle your enthusiasm for their amazing work. The Nehemiah Builders are committed to "see a need and supply it by the quickest and most economical method possible with the greatest unified and qualified involvement of volunteer workers. Taking the challenge to 'arise and build,' the group promised it will do it (1) in record time, (2) with great savings to the local church and/or district (eventually debt free), (3) to the amazement of the onlookers, (4) for the glory of God and prospering of His Kingdom." The primary purpose is to construct home mission facilities, mainly church buildings and parsonages.

Joplin District Nehemiah Builders came into being out of the burden to build buildings for new and struggling churches. On May 9, 1990, Riley Hall accepted District Superintendent Pal Wright's appointment as pastor of the Norwood church. It was to be resurrected with four active members and a borrowed building. Less than two years later, with 35 members, they gave the building back, changed the church name to Countryside Church of the Nazarene, and prepared to build on their new 4.8-acre plot. Pastor Hall, fired in faith by his recent participation in the construction of the new Nazarene University in Africa, felt deeply that a Work and Witness team from the district was the way to build Norwood's new building. That was the beginning of a district movement that was to be directed by Riley Hall. The rest is history.

The following criteria are generally followed. The size of the building should be 40 x 80 fee with a basement, where feasible, and with a roof no more than six to twelve pitch designed with an attractive façade and portico where practical. This size building meets the guidelines for time involvement and skills of the available volunteers.

Among the many benefits is the tremendous bonding and sense of achievement by those who involved in the projects. Other districts interested in the specific details of the Nehemiah Builders strategy can contact Dr. Pal Wright, district superintendent of the Joplin District.

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What Church Planting Does For a Pastor
by Jonathan Foster: Worship Leader/Multi-Media pastor, Scottsdale Family Church

During my before-church-planting days, I often wondered if there were pre-Christians anywhere in our community who were aware of what the church was doing. Though there were many positive aspects about the places I had been before church planting, yet something was missing for me.

As my wife and I prayed about this missing element, God sent Dr. Alan Nelson and his wife, Nancy, into our lives. They were looking for a music leader, and in five minutes of conversation it was as though God allowed me to refocus my ministry through providential binoculars. I realized my spiritual gifts and temperament were made for church planting. My missing element was Scottsdale Family Church.

Someone described an adventure as a detailed plan gone all wrong. In the context of starting a church, that's a pretty accurate statement. After three years, I can say that Scottsdale Family Church is not yet a place that every church would aspire to be. It's not perfect, slick, nor at this point extremely efficient. Rather, our present stage brings to mind something akin to organized chaos. But it is effective at relating to the unchurched in our community. My analysis of whether or not we are being effective comes from several sources, but none more candid than the personal comments I hear week after week. Phrases like "I can't believe I enjoy church," "I never even thought about spiritual things before coming to this church," "I thought I had it all figured out until I came here" are commonplace. If fact, I hadn't lived until I heard about the guy who found our senior pastor after one service and said, "That was a ***** of a sermon, Pastor." Or experienced small-group Bible studies where someone used an expletive in the same sentence as he mention the name of Jesus.

Since our first days in Scottsdale, those types of things have happened dozen of times. I never get tired of them. It's been one of the greatest thrills of my life to witness the joyous confusion on an unbeliever's face as he/she tries to describe his/her experience with God or with our church or with the people of our church. I've discovered that for me, my previous life filled with stained glass conversations could never compare to the open honesty that I get on a weekly basis dealing with the pagan type. They typically don't mince words. They ask questions, a lot of questions. Concerning spiritual things, they tend to be cynical, leery, and a bit self-righteous about their "I'm-as-good-as-the-next-guy" attitude. In fact, they kind of remind me of some of the people that Jesus hung around with.

I'm a third general Nazarene. Both granddads and my father were Nazarene pastors. I have siblings, cousins, and friends who are ministers in the Church of the Nazarene. I love my church. It's important for us to understand that 21st century growth for Nazarenes, as well as other movements, will be impacted more by effective church planting than any other single issue. All this to say, I have no desire to change our doctrine, our heritage, or our past. I have great desire to make our future better. Effective church planting is our future.

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