In a setting of listening, encouraging, and challenging, General Superintendent J. K. Warrick met with 21 ethnic ministry leaders who recently gathered in Kansas City for the Leader's Edge retreat. The retreat is part of a continued strategy to recruit, develop, empower, and deploy leaders who live out a passion to reach all people where they are with the gospel.

The group represents the future in ethnic ministry leadership in the Church of the Nazarene. In addition to Dr. Warrick, other denominational leaders addressing the group included Tom Nees, department director of USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism, and Oliver R. Phillips, director of Mission Strategy USA/Canada.

Within the Church of the Nazarene in the USA/Canada, growing numbers of ethnic congregations include:

    •  More than 350 Hispanic congregations
    •  145 congregations serving Black communities
    •  75 congregations ministering to Haitians
    •  58 Korean congregations
    •  45 congregations among Native American communities

In all, the USA/Canada Mission Strategy office has developed 21 Strategic Readiness Teams to implement strategies for reaching specific people groups with the holiness message.
In addressing the ethnic leadership, Dr. Warrick stated: “The gospel is an incredible message that meets us where we are but never leaves us where we are. We live in a world in which cultural differences may be paramount, but the gospel is the great equalizer.”