European Nazarene College (EuNC) recently announced its 10-year vision, including providing theological education to Nazarenes living in highly secularized, postmodern cultures that view themselves as “post-Christian.”

While some view theological education as reserved for clergy, theological formation has never been more critical for the health and strength of the entire local church according to Klaus Arnold, EuNC rector.

“There are many questions being asked today to which Christians do not know how to respond,” Arnold said. “When we look at challenges like immigration, and even sexuality; how do we respond? In the past, all we needed to do was say this is right or wrong, but it doesn’t work in the same way anymore. We need to know how to approach people who think differently. This comes with theological education.”

The executive committee of the board, together with the EuNC leadership, hopes the plan will help the college grow together as a school alongside local churches, grow together spiritually through the transformational aspect of education, and grow together in numbers.

“This growth pushes faculty, students, and local leaders to work together year by year to help us be a little better than before,” Arnold said.

To reach their 10-year objectives, the college will focus on developing five areas: Increasing enrollment at the college’s 17 learning centers in 17 countries, continuing to develop the current learning centers and creating new learning centers, increasing stability in governance, ensuring the programs are accredited and validated, enhancing EuNC’s network with other schools and ministry partners.

As the Church of the Nazarene continues pushing new frontiers and entering new countries – in Eurasia it has entered seven new countries in the past 10 years — EuNC is positioning itself to expand theological education to those whom God is calling by offering education contextualized for their cultural backgrounds and specific needs.

“When we think about opening a learning center, we think on the ways that we, as a school, can help the church in that context,” Arnold said. “When we open new learning centers, we want to do it in coherence with the field and district. As a school, we want to support the field and district and be part of its growth.”

This growth has the potential to extend beyond the borders of the Eurasia Region. For instance, because EuNC serves France, it may also be able to support theological education in other French-speaking countries around the world. One of the most significant challenges is finding quality resources within the Wesleyan-Arminian holiness tradition in languages other than English.

“As the Church grows and we look to grow with the church, we need to have the resources to teach,” Arnold said. 

The next 10 years won’t be possible without the help and support of the district superintendents and the local churches where EuNC learning centers operate, or where they could be opened.

“Together we have the mission to preach Christ,” he said.

--Previously published in November 2019 edition of Where Worlds Meet.