Translating the Manual: A Look Back

It brings me great joy to announce that the first complete and official Romanian translation of the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene is now available in print.

The Manual is the official sourcebook of the Church of the Nazarene. It includes the history, doctrine, rituals, and church government of the denomination. As such, it is an important to have translated into the languages where the Church of the Nazarene is active so the church can develop in healthy ways consistent with the rest of the denomination. The Manual is updated every four years by the denomination's General Assembly, consisting of delegates from districts around the world.

For nearly four years, I have been working on the Manual translation. Here's a look back at the process we've been through.

A long process
In the summer of 2012, an official Manual translation committee consisting of bilingual Romanians and missionaries was formed (which had to be approved by the General Secretary of the Church of the Nazarene) and given the responsibility to accurately translate and faithfully interpret the Manual into Romanian.

First, we had to establish a list of Nazarene terms that are used in the Manual. This includes both theological terms (like “entire sanctification” and “prevenient grace”) and organizational terms (like “District Advisory Board” and “general superintendent”). We also had to clarify the use of certain terms like differentiating between “plurality vote” and “majority vote.”

We weren’t starting the translation from scratch. A significant portion of the 1997 edition of the Manual had been translated, and a smaller portion of the 2005 edition had been translated, although neither had ever been edited or published. So, the first task was to bring these 2 drafts together, while at the same time updating them to the then-current (2009) edition. (Click here to read about the start of this process in my blog post from August 2012.) Early in 2014, after the 2013 edition of the Manual was released, I had to update our files with the 2013 changes.

Working on combining existing
partial translations of the Manual

Once a section of the 2013 Manual was entirely translated, I'd place it on Google Docs for all the Manual translation committee members to view, edit, comment, correct, etc. Once we as a committee agreed on a section, it would go to a Romanian proofreader who would read the translation (without the original English) primarily to find grammatical or spelling mistakes, but also to make note where the translation sounded odd or didn't make sense. Sometimes the proofreader would discover phrases that we as a committee would need to readdress.

Once the translation of the entire Manual was finalized, I was able to work on the layout, Table of Contents, and Index, as well as double-check the paragraph numbering. (They changed multiple times from the 1997 edition to the 2013 edition!) We also added a glossary defining terms not well-known in Romanian.

Delivery of the Manual in July 2016

The electronic version was finished in December 2015 and is available on the Wesleyan Holiness Digital Library. (Click here to view.) The print edition took slightly longer to finish, as it needed the cover artwork and an ISBN before being sent to the printer. Thankfully, someone who attends the Bucharest Blessing Church of the Nazarene works in the printing industry, so she was able to help in these final stages of getting the Manual printed.

Although this is the end of the process of translating the Manual, it is really just the beginning of having it available in Romanian. It is now accessible and can be used by local church pastors and church boards, by the district superintendent and the District Advisory Board, and by ministerial students taking "History & Polity of the Church of the Nazarene."

Along the way…
Although it's been a long process, we've passed several significant milestones along the way.

Manual Translation Summits: I was invited to participate in the Manual Translation Summit in South Carolina, USA, in February 2014. (Click here to read my blog post about it.) These meetings were extremely helpful to me as I was just beginning to take on the responsibilities of literature coordinator; I learned a lot about the literature translation process in general, and the translation of the Manual specifically.

From the Manual Translation Summit in South Carolina came the idea for a Manual Translation Summit for Europe which I helped organize in February 2015. (Click here to read about it.)

Nazarene Seal and Logo in Romanian: After participating in the Manual Translation Summit, we received the new logo of the Church of the Nazarene in Romanian as well as a color version of the denominational seal in Romanian.  (Click here to view.)

A Living Faith

A Living Faith: At the 2014 Romania District Assembly, we distributed a book titled A Living Faith which is essentially the parts of the Manual dealing with the beliefs and lifestyle of Nazarenes along with a brief historical statement. This easily-accessible overview of the church (leaving out the cumbersome sections on governmental structures and administrative policies) was distributed to members. (Click here to read more about it.)

Nazarene Essentials

Nazarene Essentials: In 2015, as we were in the final stages of proofreading on the Manual, we translated Nazarene Essentials into Romanian, which was then distributed at the 2015 Romania District Assembly.  (Click here to read more about this resource.)

What’s Next?

Thankfully, the next edition of the Manual won’t be ready until early 2018, so this gives us plenty of time to work on other literature projects. Since I am still relatively new to this role, I'm still learning all that I need to do. Among other priorities are the creation of a team to help with the different aspects of the translation process and creating partnerships with Christian bookstores to sell the books we translate. As for future translation projects: we are currently in the editing stage of The Upward Call and will soon be starting the translation of The Story of God, the next book from the "Books for Pastors" NMI 90th Anniversary project.