The USA/Canada Regional Office announced Kansas City, Missouri, as the site for Mission 2015 (M15), the region's mid-quadrennial conference. M15 is the denomination's largest gathering between general assemblies and will take place February 9 through 11, 2015. The conference theme, "Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future," will set the trajectory for the event.

After being declared a mission field in 1997, the U.S. and Canada became one of six global regions in the Church of the Nazarene in 2009.

"As opposed to being the 'sending church,' we now are considering what it means to be a region in the Church of the Nazarene," said Bob Broadbooks, USA/Canada regional director. "At M15, we are asking local, district, and regional leaders to help us cast a missional future for our region. I pray this event will help bring forth the insights, practices, and innovations needed to enable transformational ministry across the United States and Canada."

In 1906, Phineas Bresee, the denomination's co-founder, clarified the vision for early Nazarenes when he said: "Our church is preeminently a missionary church. It knows no difference between home and foreign fields — in these days all fields are near."

Broadbooks indicated that this viewpoint would inspire the planning and execution of M15.

"Bresee's conviction is even truer now than in his day," he said. "The USA and Canada has become more culturally diverse, pluralistic, and multicultural as a result of immigration and other social trends. M15 will focus on the ways mission and ministry must change in order to reach people for Christ across our region."

The region's five strategic priorities — leadership development, church renewal, theological identity, missional outreach, and new church development — will also drive plenary, mega-seminars, and workshop sessions.

"These priorities continue to shape how we think and do ministry across our region," Broadbooks said.

Organizers believe M15 will stand apart from past events due to a larger focus on laity and lay ministry. The recent inclusion of Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International staff into the USA/Canada Regional Office will help in considering how to enable laity to play a larger role across the region and its ministries.

A conference website with information on registration, speakers, workshops, and registration costs is forthcoming. Currently, the M15 Facebook page page will provide the most up-to-date information that is available.

For information on publicizing M15, please contact Conference Marketing Coordinator Bryon McLaughlin at bmclaughlin@nazarene.org. Other M15 questions may be directed to Event Coordinator Loretta Cloud at lcloud@nazarene.org.
--Church of the Nazarene USA/Canada Region