The Holiness Social Ethic and Nazarene Urban Ministry

"The Project-Thesis is an attempt to describe the social concern of the holiness movement as reflected in the formative period of The Church of the Nazarene (1895-1920), and to relate this heritage to the Washington, D.C., inner-city project initiated by the writer and being supported as a pilot project for urban ministry by The Church of the Nazarene. The argument of the Project-Thesis is that within the holiness movement and The Church of the Nazarene there is a vital social ethic which needs to be reappropriated today. Because the holiness leaders, since 1920, have reacted against theological liberalism and the Social Gospel movement, the holiness churches of the twentieth century have been associated with fundamentalism and have appeared to be uninvolved with the problems of society when not informed of their own tradition and theology. The writer seeks to demonstrate that in a reading of the official periodicals of The Church of the Nazarene during its formative period one finds a significant ethical tradition which can continue to motivate response to social problems of today.The Project-Thesis is an attempt to describe the social concern of the holiness movement as reflected in the formative period of The Church of the Nazarene (1895-1920), and to relate this heritage to the Washington, D.C., inner-city project initiated by the writer and being supported as a pilot project for urban ministry by The Church of the Nazarene. The argument of the Project-Thesis is that within the holiness movement and The Church of the Nazarene there is a vital social ethic which needs to be reappropriated today. Because the holiness leaders, since 1920, have reacted against theological liberalism and the Social Gospel movement, the holiness churches of the twentieth century have been associated with fundamentalism and have appeared to be uninvolved with the problems of society when not informed of their own tradition and theology. The writer seeks to demonstrate that in a reading of the official periodicals of The Church of the Nazarene during its formative period one finds a significant ethical tradition which can continue to motivate response to social problems of today." (Preface)