Every four years Nazarenes from around the world - 159 nations to meet in one place to celebrate, to learn, to worship, and to govern the church (through elections and policy decisions). This is General Assembly. I'll be here for 8 days, and I'll be blogging every day.
Registration of delegates began yesterday (Tuesday, June 18). Today was the first official day of business, seminars, and meetings. General Assembly always begins with the meetings of the auxiliary institutions (Nazarene Youth International, Sunday School & Discipleship Ministries, and Nazarene Missions International).
These first days are a mixture of dozens of workshops, regional caucuses, and legislative meetings. Today's menu included:
These first days are a mixture of dozens of workshops, regional caucuses, and legislative meetings. Today's menu included:
- Loads of Youth Ministry Workshops (e.g. Intergenerational Youth Ministry, Building God-centered Self-Esteem, Vision Casting, and Engaging Youth in Compassion, Sexual Purity)
- Committee meetings for NMI delegates
- International Board of Education Nominations
- Global Consortium for Graduate Theological Schools
- Regional Caucuses for NYI delegates
Also, a little known but very important element of General Assembly is side meetings. Simply having a huge number of decision makers in one place at the same time is a huge strategic opportunity. Under normal circumstances, the only options for good group discussion are confusing email chains, phone or video conferencing (fraught with technical and schedule based difficulties), or extremely expensive and time-consuming travel. It's hard to get important things accomplished like this.
