The 2017-2021 Manual of the Church of the Nazarene became effective 1 December 2017, marking the first time an electronic version of the Manual was considered the official version.

A traditional, printed version is on track for publication by May as a sales item from Nazarene Publishing House. The red-line PDF version will be available shortly.

Included in the new Manual are key edits on various topics such as the denomination's Articles of Faith, the Church of the Nazarene's statement on Human Sexuality and Marriage, and the outlined process of clergy restoration.

Direct links to changes are provided below for the following topics:

• Articles of Faith
• Articles of Faith: reasons for changes
• Note: In the electronic Manual, additions to paragraphs in the Constitution section are listed in italics and deletions are in [brackets].

• Human Sexuality and Marriage
• Human Sexuality and Marriage: reasons for changes

• Clergy Restoration
• Clergy Restoration: reasons for changes (see 535-567)

Constitutional changes adopted by the 2017 General Assembly are in the process of ratification by the district assemblies.

In June 2017, the General Assembly commissioned the Manual Editing Committee to work on all resolutions that were adopted (or amended and adopted) by the Assembly. According to Manual par. 909, specific legislative language and updates (new or revised) are not deemed “official” until this committee’s assignment has been completed, which was November 2017. Legislation affecting the Manual is now applicable.

A section of the General Assembly website, ga2017.com/resolutions, provided access to resolutions for General Assembly delegates and the general public prior to and during the 2017 General Assembly. This section is still available to anyone who wishes to access it, and no log-in is required.

The page contains folders for each of the original resolutions submitted to the General Assembly (available in English, French, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish). A Calendar of Resolutions was posted to this site in August 2017 identifying the specific action (adopted, amended and adopted, rejected, or referred) taken for each resolution by the 2017 General Assembly. The resolutions are organized into separate folders by committees according to each resolution code.

The electronic version of the new Manual in English is accessible via nazarene.org/manual or by going directly to its website. More information will be provided as other translations (electronic and printed) are completed.