Hardy C. Powers (1900–1972) was an American minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. [1] [2]
A native of Texas, Dr. Hardy C. Powers was converted to Christianity in the Alhambra, California Church of the Nazarene, and took theological training for the ministry at Pasadena College in Pasadena, California. After 12 years in the pastorate and 8 years as superintendent of the Iowa District, Dr. Powers was elected to the general superintendency in 1944, [3] and served in this capacity until his retirement in 1968. He was general superintendent emeritus until his death in 1972.
Dr Powers was married to Ruby Mae; they had five children. [4]
The Church of the Nazarene is a Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas. With its members commonly referred to as Nazarenes, it is the largest denomination in the world aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement and is a member of the World Methodist Council.
Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS) is a Nazarene seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. The seminary was established by the Eleventh General Assembly in June 1944 and started its first school year in 1945 with 61 students. It moved to its current location in 1950. The seminary offers master's degrees in Divinity, Christian Education, Intercultural Studies, and Theological Studies as well as a Doctor of Ministry degree (D.Min.) and non-degree programs.
Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is a private Christian liberal arts college with its main campus on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California, United States. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene.
Phineas F. Bresee was the primary founder of the Church of the Nazarene, and founding president of Point Loma Nazarene University.
The U.S. Center for World Mission, later known as the Venture Center, was a collaborative Christian mission base in Pasadena, California from 1976 until 2019. The center sought to connect other like-minded organizations around prayer, research, innovation, media, education, strategy, and mobilization with a continued focus on unreached people groups.
Mildred Olive Bangs Wynkoop was an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, who served as an educator, missionary, theologian, and the author of several books. Donald Dayton indicates that "Probably most influential for a new generation of Holiness scholars has been the work of Nazarene theologian Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, especially her book A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism." The Wynkoop Center for Women in Ministry located in Kansas City, Missouri, is named in her honour. The Timothy L. Smith and Mildred Bangs Wynkoop Book Award of the Wesleyan Theological Society also jointly honours her "outstanding scholarly contributions."
Westlake Taylor Purkiser was an American preacher, scholar, and author in the Church of the Nazarene.
Hiram F. Reynolds (1854-1938) was a minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene.
Edward F. Walker was a minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene.
John W. Goodwin (1869–1945) was a minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene.
Daniel Isom Vanderpool (1891-1988) was a minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. Born September 6, 1891, in Missouri, Dr. Daniel Isom Vaderpool was converted in a Free Methodist Church and began preaching in country schoolhouses within three months. Joining the Church of the Nazarene in 1913, Dr. Vanderpool was educated at John Fletcher and Pasadena (Nazarene) colleges. Nineteen years as district superintendent preceded his election to the general superintendency in 1949. He served in this position until 1964. After retirement in that year he became general superintendent emeritus. Death came on March 21, 1988, with burial in Greenwood/Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona.
Hugh C. Benner (1899–1975) was a minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. He started the history department at the Eastern Nazarene College in 1921, and Benner Hall and Benner Library on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University are named after him. Dr. Benner was born near Marion, Ohio. Dr. Benner was ordained in 1923 by Nazarene General Superintendent Roy T. Williams. After serving the Church as a college professor and later as a pastor at Santa Monica, California; Spokane, Washington; and Kansas City First Church, Dr. Benner was elected the first president of the Nazarene Theological Seminary in 1944. He was elected general superintendent in 1952 and served in this position until retirement in 1968. He was general superintendent emeritus until his death in 1975 in Leawood, Kansas.
Orville Wesley Jenkins was an American minister and emeritus general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene.
Jim L. Bond is a minister and emeritus general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. He was elected at the 24th General Assembly in San Antonio, Texas, in June 1997 and served until retirement in July 2005.
Donald Dean Owens is an American general superintendent emeritus in the Church of the Nazarene, and also a retired ordained minister, missionary, professor, and seminary and college president. Owens is the founding president of the forerunner of Korea Nazarene University, and Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary in Taytay, Rizal, Philippines (1983–1984), and served as the pioneer missionary for the Church of the Nazarene in the Republic of Korea (1954–1966), and as a missionary for four years in the Philippines (1981–1985), where he was the first Regional Director of both the Asia Region (1981–1985) and the South Pacific Region (1981–1983) of the Church of the Nazarene. Owens was the 2nd President of MidAmerica Nazarene College in Olathe, Kansas, for 4 years from 1985. In June 1989 Owens was elected the 28th General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene, and after being re-elected in 1993, served until his retirement in June 1997.
Floyd William Nease (1893–1930) was an American minister and the president of the Eastern Nazarene College until his death in 1930. He is the grandfather of Floyd William Nease II, as well as Linda Nease Scott.
Eugenio Duarte is an ordained minister and 37th General Superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. Born in Cape Verde, Duarte was the first African elected to the General Superintendency in the Church of the Nazarene. His election occurred in the centenary year of the denomination. Duarte was elected June 30, 2009 at the 27th General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene.
Haldor Lillenas was "one of the most important twentieth-century gospel hymn writers and publishers" and is regarded as "the most influential Wesleyan / Holiness songwriter and publisher in the 20th century". Additionally, Lillenas was an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, author, song evangelist, poet, music publisher and prolific hymnwriter, who is estimated to have composed over 4,000 hymns, the most famous being Wonderful Grace of Jesus. In 1931 Lillenas was the producer of Glorious Gospel Songs, the first hymnal for the Church of the Nazarene. In 1982 Lillenas was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
The history of the Church of the Nazarene has been divided into seven overlapping periods by the staff of the Nazarene archives in Lenexa, Kansas: (1) Parent Denominations (1887–1907); (2) Consolidation (1896–1915); (3) Search for Solid Foundations (1911–1928); (4) Persistence Amid Adversity (1928–1945); (5) Mid-Century Crusade for Souls (1945–1960); (6) Toward the Post-War Evangelical Mainstream (1960–1980); and (7) Internationalization (1976-2003).
Seth Cook Rees was a leading figure in the “holiness movement," co-founding the International Holiness Union and Prayer League, and, following a schism with the Church of the Nazarene, founding the Pilgrim Holiness Church, a forerunner of the Wesleyan Church.