Who Are the Nazarenes?

The Church of the Nazarene is a Protestant denomination that was created by the merger of three independent holiness sects and organized in its present form at Pilot Point, Texas in 1908.

The original Church of the Nazarene was founded in Los Angeles in 1895.  Its merger with an eastern holiness sect, the Association of Pentecostal Churches in America, in Chicago (1907), resulted in the formation of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene.  In 1908, at Pilot Point, the Holiness Church of Christ, a southern group, joined the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene to give the denomination substantially its present form.  The name of the denomination was changed to Church of the Nazarene in 1919.  The international headquarters of the church is in Kansas City, Missouri.

Members of the church adhere particularly to those articles of faith espoused by the British theologian John Wesley.  Their chief doctrine is that of entire sanctification, or Christian perfection.  Other tenets include the Second  Advent of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the Last Judgment.  The sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper (Eucharist) are recognized.  The Bible is revered as the sole religious guide.

Currently their are 1,342,252 members of the Church of the Nazarene worldwide in 12,375 organized churches (source:  www.nazarene.org).

For more information about the International Church of the Nazarene, go to "Articles of Faith".