NOTE: the Page Numbers Throughout This Word File Indicate Pages Within the Printed Leader

RITUALS

WHY SHOULD WE CELEBRATE ALL THREE RITUALS?

The Church of the Nazarene recognizes only baptism and the Lord’s Supper as sacraments because only they were instituted by Christ Jesus himself. It is fitting for Nazarene congregations to participate in these sacraments as a part of the church’s heritage on this 100th anniversary. The Centennial is also a strategic time for receiving new members into the church.

These provide ways of publicly affirming Nazarene affinity with Christians everywhere and our commitment to the Great Commission, our Articles of Faith, and our core values. These ceremonies give opportunity to educate new Nazarenes as well as unbelievers. They bond us together with our Nazarene brothers and sisters around the globe by giving commonality to our worship experience as we break bread, drink the cup, and rejoice

57 with newly baptized believers across 24 time zones on October 5.

HOW SHALL WE CONDUCT THE RITUALS? Every church has a unique culture and worships in ways that are familiar and comfortable to the congregation. The methods and wordings presented here for celebrating baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and membership reception all include the rituals as worded in the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene. Additional options are given, some more or less formal than others.

Responsive readings are also optional. All of these resources are meant to be flexible and adapted to your local usage. Choose what comes closest to your congregation’s style, and adapt it to your purposes. The most important thing is to worship in celebration of God.

WHEN SHOULD WE CELEBRATE EACH RITUAL?

The worship service on October 5, 2008, cannot encompass all three rituals

58 as well as the other elements of the celebration service.

Schedule the Lord’s Supper on October 5 so that your church can join in unity as the Nazarene family partakes of the bread and cup together across 24 time zones on one day. Because four Centennial themed sermons are provided, you can construct orders of worship for three additional Sundays and schedule the other rituals for one of those special days.

59 BAPTISM

Baptism in the Tweed River In Australia

I. Centennial Baptism Ritual

A. Centennial Introduction

From its beginnings 100 years ago, the Church of the Nazarene has celebrated the sacrament of baptism, based on the example of Jesus Christ and His Great Commission in Matthew 28:19: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The mission of the Church of the Nazarene is to make Christlike disciples in the nations—disciples who hear, understand, and obey the teaching of Jesus. Baptism is one of 16 Articles of Faith in the Church of the Nazarene: “We believe that Christian baptism, commanded by our Lord, is a sacrament signifying acceptance of the benefits of the atonement of Jesus Christ, to be administered to believers and declarative of their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and full purpose of obedience in holiness and righteousness.”

Today we join with over 18,000 Nazarene congregations in baptizing new believers. I welcome now the Centennial Class of believers who present themselves for baptism.

B. Optional Responsive Reading

The Believer’s Baptism

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

60 “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off— for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Sing to the Lord, 740

C. Baptism Ritual

See page 234 of the 2005-2009 Manual of the Church of the Nazarene or http://nazarene.org/ministries/gensec/2005-09Manual/display.aspx.

II. Informal Option

From its beginnings 100 years ago, the Church of the Nazarene has celebrated the sacrament of baptism, based on the example of Jesus Christ and His Great Commission in Matthew 28:19: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The mission of the Church of the Nazarene is to make Christlike disciples in the nations—disciples who hear, understand, and obey the teaching of Jesus. Baptism is one of 16 Articles of Faith in the Church of the Nazarene: “We believe that Christian baptism, commanded by our Lord, is a sacrament signifying acceptance of the benefits of the atonement of Jesus Christ, to be administered to believers and declarative of their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and full purpose of obedience in holiness and righteousness.”

Today we join with over 18,000 Nazarene congregations in baptizing new believers. I welcome now the Centennial Class of believers who present themselves for baptism.

As these fellow believers are baptized this morning they are professing a new way of life and a commitment to a new way of living. They are claiming Christ as Lord of their lives and Forgiver of their sins.

Family members and significant friends are invited to stand during each believer’s baptism. I encourage everyone to pledge your support for believers as they emerge from

61 the water. Some of you will want to applaud, and others may want to call out their names as a way of saying, “I’m with you. You can count on me for support.”

Pastor (to each baptism candidate): Do you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, and do you realize that He saves you now?

Response: I do.

Pastor: Do you commit yourself to obedience to God’s will and His commandments?

Response: I do.

Pastor: ______(name), I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

62 THE LORD’S SUPPER

I. Centennial Lord’s Supper Ritual

The Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene confirm the Lord’s Supper as “a New Testament sacrament, declarative of His sacrificial death, through the merits of which believers have life and salvation and promise of all spiritual blessings in Christ.”

One hundred years ago under a tent at Pilot Point, Texas, the charter groups who joined forces to form the Church of the Nazarene celebrated the Lord’s Supper together in their opening service. Today we join with over 1.6 million Nazarenes around the globe on every inhabited continent in receiving the Lord’s Supper. Though separated by 24 time zones and by space, through the bread and cup we are one as we affirm our common faith in Christ our Savior.

If optional responsive readings are used, duplicate and distribute them to the congregation in your worship folder or as a handout, or project them on media screens. If your congregation has access to Sing to the Lord hymnals, reference the page numbers before beginning to read together.

B. Optional responsive reading

The Lord’s Supper

I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.

They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink;

63 For they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?

And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?

I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,

“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Jesus said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” Sing to the Lord, 752

C. Lord’s Supper Ritual

II. Formal option

The Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene confirm the Lord’s Supper as “a New Testament sacrament, declarative of His sacrificial death, through the merits of which believers have life and salvation and promise of all spiritual blessings in Christ.”

One hundred years ago under a tent at Pilot Point, Texas, the charter groups who joined forces to form the Church of the Nazarene celebrated the Lord’s Supper together in their opening service. Today we join with over 1.6 million Nazarenes around the globe on every inhabited continent in receiving the Lord’s Supper. Though separated by 24

64 time zones and by space, through the bread and cup we are one as we affirm our common faith in Christ our Savior.

You who do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, are in love and charity with your neighbors, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, walking from henceforth in His holy ways: Draw near with faith, take this Holy Sacrament to your comfort, and make your humble confession to Almighty God.

(Prayer) Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who of Your tender mercy did give Your only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption, who made there, by the one offering of himself a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, and did institute and in His holy gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of His precious death until His coming again:

Hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly entreat You. Bless and sanctify with Your Word and Holy Spirit these gifts of bread and drink, that we receiving them according to Your Son’s holy institution in remembrance of His passion, death, and resurrection may be partakers of the divine nature through Him, the Lord Jesus, who:

“. . . on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’

“In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”

Duplicate and distribute these unison words to the congregation in your worship folder or as a handout, or project them on media screens.

(Pastor and people together) O Lord, our heavenly Father, we, Your humble servants, desire Your goodness mercifully to accept our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; we humbly implore You to grant that, by the merits and death of Your Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in His blood, we may obtain forgiveness of our sins and all other benefits of His passion.

Here we offer and present to You, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice to You, humbly requesting of You that all we who are partakers of this Holy Communion may be filled with Your grace and heavenly benediction. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory be to You, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen.

65 (Pastor breaks the bread and lifts the cup.) The gifts of God for the people of God.

(The bread is given.) The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for you, preserve your soul and body to everlasting life.

(The cup is given.) The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you, preserve your soul and body to everlasting life.

III. Serving Options

Choose one or more of the following to create a particular emphasis:

A. Serving Communion at one or more stations where participants receive the bread and dip it into a common cup of juice (intinction) rather than drinking from individual cups can emphasize the communal aspect of the Lord’s Supper. Each person partakes immediately after dipping the bread in the cup.

B. Offer the opportunity for those who need Christ’s forgiveness to come forward to kneel and pray, where you will serve them the Communion elements when they have finished praying.

C. As space allows, serve families together at the altar.

D. With appropriate explanation, lead participants in breaking the Communion bread or wafer before eating, signifying Christ’s broken body sacrificed for us.

E. Intersperse appropriate music between the bread and the cup. (See music suggestions, pages 39-40.)

66 RECEPTION OF CHURCH MEMBERS

Port Vila, Vanuatu First Church of the Nazarene congregation

If you have living members of the Charter Class of your local church (those who joined in membership at the organization of your church), you may wish to have them participate in receiving the Centennial Class of members. The Charter Class of members may stand with the pastor facing the Centennial Class or form an honor guard through which the Centennial Class will pass. The Charter Class may join the pastor in shaking hands or by other means congratulate the Centennial Class following their reception.

Through the Articles of Faith, the Church of the Nazarene declares the Church to be “the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, the covenant people of God made

67 new in Christ, the Body of Christ called together by the Holy Spirit through the Word.” Today thousands of believers will stand before pastors in more than 18,000 congregations worldwide to unite in membership with the Church of the Nazarene. We join with them now in the holy unity of God’s Church.

We invite those who have prepared themselves and have shown themselves to be approved to come forward to unite in this sacred and precious fellowship as the Centennial Class of Members in the Church of the Nazarene.

B. Optional Responsive Reading

Christian Unity

I appeal to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you.

And that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope . . .

One Lord,

One faith,

One baptism;

One God and Father of all,

(Unison) Who is over all and through all and in all.

Jesus said, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, so that they may be one as we are one.

“May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

“I am the vine; you are the branches.

68 “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;

“Apart from me you can do nothing. If you remain in me and my words remain in you,

“Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

(Unison) Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; The old has gone, the new has come!

(Unison) May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else.

Sing to the Lord, 676

C. Reception of Church Members Ritual

D. Optional congregational participation

The people standing before you this morning have enthusiastically agreed to be faithful to this local church through their time, talents, and treasures. They have committed to share their faith in Jesus Christ and their love of this church with their friends and family. They pledge themselves to the mission of the Church of the Nazarene: to make Christlike disciples in the nations—disciples who hear, understand, and obey the teaching of Jesus. They believe in this local body of believers and have affirmed their faith in Christ as new members of this growing faith community. If you agree to support them as they take this next step in their journey, please join them in standing and say, “We will.”

(Pastor prays a prayer of blessing and invites the church body to welcome new members through applause, a procession of personal welcome, shaking hands, or whatever works best in your tradition.)

69 CHURCH PLANTING CEREMONY

As the charter groups who joined forces in 1908 to form the Church of the Nazarene brought together congregations in six world areas, today as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Church of the Nazarene, we join with our fellow congregations in 151 world areas in planting new churches to the glory of God.

(The pastor or church official may here give a brief identification of the new congregation, its location, its history to this point, and its pastoral leadership before calling the planting pastor, new congregation, and its leaders to the front.)

On this Centennial Sunday we celebrate the establishment of (name of church). Let us dedicate this pastor, this church, and these people to the glory of God.

Blessing and Charge

(To the planting pastor)

Pastor, we call on God to mold the vision of your heart, strengthen the work of your hands, and guide the spirit of your leadership. May He bring alongside you holy workers eager for the harvest. May you preach the truth and live the example with unwavering commitment so that many may be brought to salvation and the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Hear the Word of the Lord:

2 Timothy 4:2, 5: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. . . . keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

1 Timothy 4:12-14: “Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to

70 preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.”

(To the leadership, if church board or other official leaders have been chosen)

Leaders, may God give wisdom to guide you, grace to equip you for service, and humility to temper you. May your decisions be Spirit-guided in unity with one aim to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission as the mission of the Church of the Nazarene: to make Christlike disciples in the nations—disciples who hear, understand, and obey the teaching of Jesus.

Matthew 28:19-20: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”

(To the congregation)

Church, may God enable you to seek the lost around you, teach them with patience and joy, love them into the family of God, and nurture them in Christian maturity. May you who begin the work and those who come later be one in the Body of Christ.

Romans 12:4-5: “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

Ephesians 4:2-6: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Commission

Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18). I charge you all in the presence of God to lift His beacon of light in a dark world and to carry forth the special calling to holiness into a new century. I commission (name of church) as a Centennial Church Plant in the Church of the Nazarene. May we celebrate God’s blessings on His Church.

71 The commissioning pastor or church official may pray a personal prayer of commissioning and blessing, or this corporate prayer may be read aloud by the church plant pastor and people if duplicated and distributed in advance.

Prayer

Our Father, we praise and thank You for this great work You have begun today. We look forward to all You will do among us in the days ahead, and we are confident of Your blessing and protection. We commit ourselves to remain moldable in Your hands and for Your purpose. Let us be men and women of faith who never waver and who embrace the work before us with joy, hope, patience, and commitment.

In the name of Christ, who loved the Church and gave himself for it. Amen.