2004 DISTRICT “Best Practices”

Each year the UCME Department recognizes several districts for significant church growth. The 82 districts in the United States and Canada are arbitrarily divided into five equal size groups.

For 2004 we ranked districts in each group by the percentage of churches showing growth in several areas including: worship attendance, membership, new Nazarenes, Sunday School attendance, new church sponsorship and giving to denominational apportionments.

While district growth results from individual congregations, it is also apparent that district initiatives can affect the health and growth of churches.

District superintendents in each of the five categories and Ken Mills, the Mid-Atlantic district superintendent who reported 12 new congregations in 2004, were interviewed for the 2004 District "Best Practices" article.

Learning from "Best Practices" is an intentional discipline. It recognizes that we learn from listening to one another. We have much to learn from the success of leaders within our own Nazarene ranks even as we benefit from resources outside our faith tradition.

The six district superintendents interviewed for the article were surprised to be recognized for growth. In fact they were reluctant to talk about success in the face of so much need and opportunity. Nevertheless, in each interview they describe important best practices - lessons to be learned about advancing God's mission from the real world of churches of all sizes and composition.

Certainly there are lessons to be learned from all the districts and the 5,000 congregations in the United States and Canada. Thanks to the six district superintendents in the article for their candid and encouraging reflections about the health and growth of their churches in 2004.

—Tom Nees