A Brief History
Following the fall of communism in Romania in December 1989, members of the Church of the Nazarene in many parts of the world were prayerfully looking for opportunities to respond to the needs of Romanian Christians who had faced persecution just a few years earlier. In the autumn of 1991, leaders of the Romanian Evangelical Alliance participated in a Nazarene Compassionate Ministries conference in Germany. They were impressed with how the Church of the Nazarene balances the holiness message and compassionate ministries. As a result of this meeting, the Evangelical Alliance invited the Church of the Nazarene to join them in carrying out new initiatives in Romania.
In 1992, Nazarene missionaries Jon and Margaret Scott arrived to begin the work of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania. In that same year, the Evangelical Christian Organization for Aid and Development “Nazarineanul” (abbreviated as OCEAD Nazarineanul) was established with the help of the Evangelical Alliance. Throughout the 1990s, hundreds of Nazarenes – missionaries, volunteers, mission teams, and groups of university students – came to Romania to work alongside members from many Evangelical churches in Romania in a wide variety of ministries. In Bucharest, compassionate ministries focused on the isolated elderly at the geriatric hospital and the abandoned children in the orphanages. Nazarenes from the USA, UK, Germany, and the Netherlands began to send shipments of material aid that were distributed to individuals and institutions in different parts of the country still recovering from communism.
Alongside compassionate ministries, OCEAD Nazarineanul offered regular educational courses in theology, computers, and business through partnerships with universities in the USA, Germany, and Romania. These compassionate and educational ministries, alongside evangelistic and church-planting efforts, gave the Nazarene team many opportunities to share the Gospel in practical ways. This resulted in new believers being discipled, growing in their faith, and being equipped for ministry. The first Nazarene congregation in Romania was established in Bucharest in 1993 with Jon Scott as pastor.
Nazarene missionaries in Bucharest faced a challenge shared with missionaries from other denominations – providing quality English-language education for their own children. In 1993, Margaret Scott joined with other missionary families to establish a homeschooling co-op. What began in a single classroom hosted in the Nazarene ministry center has since grown into Bucharest Christian Academy, an accredited international Christian school in Bucharest for children in preschool through grade 12.
Beginning in January 1992, Eastern Nazarene College (ENC), located near Boston USA, sent several short-term groups of students to Romania. In the fall of 1993, the college established a program under the direction of Professor Dorothy Tarrant that gave students the opportunity to study in Romania for an entire semester while also volunteering in the compassionate ministries in Bucharest. In the summer of 1995, ENC’s program moved to Sighisoara where the Church of the Nazarene was preparing to launch a new ministry.
In Sighisoara, ENC students began compassionate ministries focused on poor street children, abandoned children at the orphanage, and the isolated elderly. The actions of the ENC students and the collaboration with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries led to the establishment of the Veritas Sighisoara Foundation in 2001, with Dorothy Tarrant as its first director. Professional Romanian staff – Christians from Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches – continued the work begun by ENC students. In the following years, Veritas began offering accredited social services for children, teenagers, special needs adults, and the elderly, along with a campaign against domestic violence. Additionally, through its educational services, community activities, and café in the historic citadel, Veritas expanded its presence and influence in the town as an ecumenical Christian organization. Since 2006, Veritas has been recognized as a Nazarene Child Development Center and maintains a partnership with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries.
As Veritas was forming, so was the Sighisoara Church of the Nazarene. The American students met each week for a Bible study that they invited their Romanian friends to attend. Young people were attracted to the church through the various youth activities like coffee house and ecology club. In time, the parents of several teenagers also began to attend the church services. Many of the elderly ministered to by the weekday Elderly Club also joined the church. Soon, an inter-generational congregation was being formed. Nazarene missionary Roberta Bustin served as pastor until Relu Cristurean became the church’s first Romanian pastor in 2012.
In the spring of 2002, a new Nazarene ministry began in Tigmandru, a village near Sighisoara with a mixed Romanian, Hungarian, and Roma population, many of whom were living in poverty. Roberta Bustin worked closely with Magda Cini, a member of the Sighisoara church who was originally from Tigmandru. In addition to establishing a local congregation, they sought to improve the quality of life in the village by intentionally ministering to the whole person. A child development center was established to care for the holistic needs of children. The church has offered instruction to the adults in the village on topics including literacy, health, nutrition, parenting, and other practical skills. The desire to provide vocational training in sewing and carpentry workshops resulted in the establishment of Ateliere Nazarineanului (Nazarene Workshops) in 2012. In 2013, Magda Cini officially became the church’s pastor.
In the fall of 2002, a group of Romanian church members from the Bucharest Central Church of the Nazarene planted a new church in a different section of the capital city. From the very beginning, the Blessing Church of the Nazarene has been led by Romanians. Cristian Boseff has pastored the church since 2005. After a few years, the remaining members of the Central Church joined the Blessing Church to form a single reunited church in Bucharest, spanning multiple generations. Over the years, the Blessing Church has prioritized worship, prayer, and Bible study while continuing to emphasize compassionate ministries in an urban context.
In 2013, under the leadership of Monica Boseff, a member of the Blessing Church of the Nazarene in Bucharest, the Open Door Foundation opened a ministry for survivors of human trafficking that includes a residential shelter, counseling, and judicial assistance. From the beginning, the Blessing Church has provided the spiritual component of the holistic care for these survivors. Church members intentionally integrate the survivors into the life of the church by developing caring relationships and inviting them to begin new lives in Christ. Open Door Foundation maintains a partnership with the Church of the Nazarene in Romania as well as with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries international.
On several occasions over the years, Nazarenes have led adult Bible studies, children’s and youth activities, compassionate ministries and other initiatives in several towns and villages in different parts of the country. Our long-term goal is to plant new churches that will holistically impact their communities.
In 2022, after completing the necessary studies and other requirements, the largest group of Romanian ministers was ordained, marking significant progress in the development of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania from missionary leadership to Romanian leadership.
The Church of the Nazarene in Romania Today
Today, there are active congregations of the Church of the Nazarene in Bucharest, Sighisoara, and Tigmandru that make up the Romania District. In addition to the activities of these local churches, Nazarene activity in Romania also includes translating and publishing literature as well as partnering with European Nazarene College to offer theological education courses in the Romanian language. A key component of our work remains offering compassionate ministries, which includes long-term programs such as Child Development Centers, short-term emergency initiatives such as responding to the 2022 Ukrainian refugee crisis, and ongoing partnerships with the Veritas Sighișoara and Open Door Foundations.
The Church of the Nazarene occupies a unique place among the churches in Romania. Although we are not one of this nation’s predominant historic churches, we share much in common with our Christian brothers and sisters from these traditions – the ancient Christian creeds and councils with the Orthodox Church, a common history of Western Christianity with Catholic and Protestant churches, and the marks of the Protestant Reformation with the Reformed and Lutheran churches. Additionally, we share many practices and beliefs with other Evangelical and Neo-Protestant churches, such as our forms of worship, an emphasis on evangelism and discipleship, and a saving, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Along with the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, we emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Due to this shared foundation of the Christian faith that we hold in common, we value establishing partnerships with Christians from various churches.
With these shared traits identified, it is also important to note how we are distinct from the established churches in Romania and how our theological heritage has shaped our identity as a denomination. The Church of the Nazarene is part of the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. John Wesley was a priest in the Anglican Church who lived in the 18th century. He followed Arminian theology, taught holiness (Christian perfection), and emphasized compassion to the poor. From a theological perspective, we are closest to the churches and organizations of the Wesleyan tradition, such as the United Methodist Church and the Salvation Army. We also share key aspects of our theology with the Orthodox Church that they do not hold in common with Protestant churches from Reformed or Calvinistic theological traditions.
The Church of the Nazarene in Romania is closely interconnected with the international Church of the Nazarene. We share doctrines, form of government, and leadership with Nazarenes around the world. The Romania District of the Church of the Nazarene is part of the Central Europe Field in the Eurasia Region.
About the name “Nazarene”
Nazareth was the small town in Galilee where Jesus lived. When Philip was first told about Jesus, he asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46) Jesus and the early Christians were often associated with Nazareth as a mark of derision. Pilate ordered that a sign for Jesus' cross should say "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" (John 19:19). In Acts 24:5, the apostle Paul was accused of being “a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” Given this, our denominational leaders decided to choose this name to identify themselves with ministering to the marginalized. Therefore, we are called to follow the example of Jesus the Nazarene in serving the poor and marginalized of the world.
In order to avoid any confusion, it is important to note that the Church of the Nazarene and OCEAD Nazareneanul are not related to the Nazarene Religious Association, founded in 1990, based in Arad, Romania (with roots that go back to an Anabaptist movement founded in Switzerland by Samuel Fröhlich and promoted in Hungary and Transylvania by Lajos Hencsey in the 19th century), nor to the Nazirite oath described in the Old Testament.
The Impact of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania
After more than 30 years, it is hard to calculate the impact of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania. Through the ministry of the local churches, whole families – often spanning multiple generations – have been transformed. Children have been instructed through kids’ clubs and Sunday schools. Teenagers have discovered their identity in Christ in youth groups and summer camps. Adults have been prepared for Christian ministry. Through compassionate ministries, Nazarenes have brought the love of Christ to abandoned children in the orphanages and to the elderly in the geriatric hospital. Clubs for the Elderly and Special Needs adults have provided a renewed sense of value and dignity as beloved people created in God’s image. Marginalized children have received hot meals at a Child Development Center, women and children have found shelter from domestic violence and human trafficking, Ukrainians were offered refuge in Romania as they fled the war in their country, and unskilled laborers have learned job skills. Christians from other churches – Evangelical and Orthodox alike – have grown deeper in their faith as a result of the ministry and devotion to biblical study of Nazarenes. Through educational courses in English, computers, business, and theology, Nazarenes have equipped Romanians for their future, many of whom are now living and serving in different countries around the world. Students from countries around the world have received a primary and secondary Christian education at a school begun by a Nazarene missionary. The lives of American college students who came to study and serve in Romania were often transformed by their experiences in ways that shaped their career choices.
The Church of the Nazarene in Romania may be small in size, but God has used us for advancing His Kingdom in countless ways. We look forward to continuing this legacy into the future.
