During the 98th Session of the General Board, members approved a new set of bylaws for Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI).

The bylaws were created by a global SDMI strategy team with representatives from each of the six world regions. The team sought to identify the principles, practices, and behaviors of a local church that effectively makes Christlike disciples. These results were incorporated into the bylaws as five core principles: fervent prayer, compassionate outreach, comprehensive biblical learning, intentional mentoring and equipping, and authentic relationships.

The team also suggested the renaming of Sunday School & Discipleship Ministries International to Nazarene Discipleship International (NDI), which was approved by the General Board’s Local Church Ministries Committee and later the full board.

According to NDI Global Director Scott Rainey, the name change more adequately reflects the focus of the denomination’s global discipleship framework, A Journey of Grace.

“We remain committed to Sunday School as a fundamental enterprise in our Scriptural mandate to make disciples,” Rainey said. “However, the global strategy team wanted our name to reflect our commitment that making disciples is an ongoing journey encompassing all of life. Additionally, we wanted to be sure our name included the word ‘Nazarene’ to communicate our identity within the denomination.”

The change creates continuity between the names of the three local church ministries, Nazarene Missions International, Nazarene Youth International, and now Nazarene Discipleship International.

To read the bylaws in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean, click here.