The Legacy of Bresee

3 min. read

The tribe in which I was ordained has been around for over 100 years. Phineas Bresee is the little-known man credited as heading up our tribe. This movement stems from the Methodist movement, which grew from the work of John Wesley. 

I’m not much for celebrating movements of organized religion, nor setting up markers at the feet of institutionalism. But I do value the individuals who introduce (or re-introduce) a new trajectory in thought and practice.

Here are some quotes from the individual my tribe generally considers our founder, Phineas F. Bresee:

Let the Church of the Nazarene be true to its commission; not great and elegant buildings; but to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and wipe away the tears of sorrowing, and gather jewels for His diadem. Our church is a missionary church. It knows no difference between home and foreign fields – in these days all fields are near. We were convinced that houses of worship should be plain and cheap, to save from financial burdens, and that everything should say welcome to the poor…We went in poverty, to give ourselves – and what God might give us – determined to forego provision for the future and old age, in order to see the salvation of God while we were yet here…We would be glad to do much more, yet hundreds of dollars have gone to the poor, with loving ministry of every kind, and with it a way has been opened up to the hearts of men and women, that has been unutterable joy. The gospel comes to a multitude without money and without price, and the poorest of the poor are entitled to a front seat at the Church of the Nazarene.

Let it sink in … Wait for it …

Do you sense something of profound loss, or despair, or grief over what the institutional church has become juxtaposed with the above statements?

I do.

It’s why I’ve been on a journey of change for some years. It’s why I want to honor the movement (and the individuals) that formed me and trained me to think and live in the ways of justice.

I consider Bresee my spiritual grandfather. He was rejected by the establishment of his Methodist tribe. His rejection culminated in the formation of a new tribe about 10 years later.

Solidarity with Outcasts

He was rejected because he wanted a Christian life that was not just about words. Bresee not only believed that ministry to the urban poor was important, he intentionally stood with the poor in solidarity. He and those around him defended the poor, advocated against the injustices that fueled poverty, and developed spaces of belonging and access in which the poor were, not only welcome, but at home. 

Bresee and the early Nazarenes challenged social injustices. They urged their church organization to move from merely talking about a holiness of heart to expressing holiness of life — in the physical, ordinary, and mundane — as solidarity with the disenfranchised. This is in the direct line of my spiritual great-grandfather, John Wesley.

Because of the poor, Bresee called for radical simplicity of church facilities, not only because ostentatious styles were off-putting for the poor, but the sheer cost of unnecessary embellishments was poor stewardship of resources.

Resources should be used to serve the poor, not build impressive structures.

Likewise, words, dress, and lifestyle were to be simple, because of the implications for the poor.

Bresee once wrote:

The first miracle after the baptism of the Holy (Spirit) was wrought upon a beggar. It means that the first service of a Holy (Spirit)-baptized church is to the poor; that its ministry is to those who are lowest down; that its gifts are for those who need them the most. As the Spirit was upon Jesus to preach the gospel to the poor, so His Spirit is upon His servants for the same purpose.

And so Bresee was rejected by his church establishment for challenging Christians to live like Jesus.

He was rejected for being Jesus to the disenfranchised and seeing Jesus in them.

He was rejected for not becoming like the ones who already called themselves Christians.

He was rejected for suggesting church resources should be used for something other than maintaining an institution, a building, an flawed paradigm.

He was rejected for moving beyond a stale, useless, faith.

I feel a kinship with him in this.

Bresee was rejected, just as Jesus was. Jesus’ primary persecutors were the most “religious” people of his day. Just like Bresee.