OVERVIEW

Organized October 8, 1908, in Pilot Point, Texas, the Church of the Nazarene has made its headquarters home in Kansas City, Mo., since 1919.  The headquarters complex is located at 6401 The Paseo at the intersection of 63rd Street and The Paseo.  The Nazarene Publishing House is located about five miles north of denominational headquarters at 2923 Troost Avenue.

Nazarene Headquarters provides support services to more than 1.1 million members worshipping in more than 11,000 churches in the United States, Canada, and 108 other world areas.  This includes maintaining ministerial credentials and church records, coordinating the support and sending of missionaries, developing Sunday school and discipleship curriculum, providing retirement support programs for pastors, encouraging the planting of new churches, developing radio programs for outreach to all parts of the globe, and much more.

Founded in 1911, the Nazarene Publishing House is thelargest publisher of Holiness literature in the world. Products include Sunday school curriculum, music, periodicals, and books.  In addition, many kinds of merchandise items are carried for the convenience of local churches in fulfilling their mission.  NPH prints more than 600,000 books annually, in addition to a wide variety of periodicals and other publications.  It is the largest mailer of second-class materials in Kansas City.

Nazarenes support ten liberal arts institutions in the United States, Canada, and the British Isles, as well as four seminaries and 35 Bible colleges.  The church operates three hospitals, 35 medical clinics, three nurses training colleges, one teacher training college, and more than 370 primary and secondary schools outside the United States and Canada.

The Church of the Nazarene holds denominational membership in both the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and the Christian Holiness Association (CHA).

THEOLOGICAL TRADITION

The Church of the Nazarene is the largest denomination in the Wesleyan-Arminian (Holiness) theological tradition. Considered a denomination in the mainline evangelical tradition, we believe:

1. In one God--the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
2. That the Old and New Testament Scriptures, given by plenary inspiration, contain all truth necessary to faith and Christian living.
3. That man is born with a fallen nature, and is, therefore, inclined to evil, and that continually.
4. That the finally impenitent are hopelessly and eternally lost.
5. That the atonement through Jesus Christ is for the whole human race; and that whosoever repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is justified and regenerated and saved from the dominion of sin.
6. That believers are to be sanctified wholly, subsequent to regeneration, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
7. That the Holy Spirit bears witness to the new birth, and also to the entire sanctification of believers.
8. That our Lord will return, the dead will be raised, and the final judgment will take place.  (Source: Manual, Church of the Nazarene, Paragraph 24)

The doctrine which distinguishes the Church of the Nazarene and other Wesleyan denominations from most other Christian denominations is that of entire sanctification (no. 6 above).  Nazarenes believe that God calls Christians to a life of holy living which is marked by an act of God which cleanses the heart from original sin and fills the individual with love for God and man.  This experience is marked by entire consecration of the believer to do God's will and is followed by a life of seeking to serve God through service to others.  Like regeneration, entire sanctification is an act of God's grace, not of works.  Our pursuant service to God is an act of love whereby we show our appreciation for the grace which has been extended to us through the sacrificial death of Jesus

Christ.

CHURCH GOVERNMENT

The government of the Church of the Nazarene is a combination of episcopacy and  congregationalism.  Six elected representatives serve on the Board of General Superintendents.  The Board of General Superintendents is charged with the responsibility of administrating the worldwide work of the Church of the Nazarene.  They also serve as the interpreters of the denomination's book of polity, the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene.

The General Assembly of the church serves as the supreme doctrine-formulating, lawmaking, and elective authority of the Church of the Nazarene, subject to the provisions of the church Constitution.  Comprised of elected representatives from all of the denomination's regular districts, the General Assembly meets quadrennially.

Among other things, the General Assembly elects the members of the Board of General Superintendents.  It also considers legislative proposals from the church's 334 districts.  Topics under consideration may range from the method of calling a pastor to bioethics.

The General Assembly also elects representatives to the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene.  The General Board carries out the corporate business of the denomination.

A TRADITION OF SERVICE TO OTHERS

Nazarenes are a compassionate people.  They believe in serving others.  This is expressed locally through the services of members to their communities.  Contributions from Nazarenes make possible the administration of a Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Fund. This fund has been used to provide assistance to persons in communities hard hit by disaster or famine.  In recent years, Nazarenes have been instrumental in assisting those hurting in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo, Hurricane Andrew, the San Francisco and Los Angeles earthquakes, the Philippines Earthquake, and in the aftermath of flooding in southern Ohio, Georgia, Houston, and California.

More than 80 full-time compassionate ministry projects are operated by Nazarenes, ranging from health and food services for the indigent in New York City and job-training in Memphis, Tenn., to a center for persons with addictions in Mahlow, Germany, and a home for the children of parents who have been killed in civil strife in Chicaj, Guatemala.

The worldwide network of Nazarene churches makes it possible for the denomination to serve as a conduit of assistance to hurting nations.  Nazarenes provide money for food, medical supplies, clothing, and other items to persons in a number of countries where there are needs.  The denomination’s missionary infrastructure is often used by World Relief and other agencies when they need assistance in getting supplies to the people of countries such as Rwanda and Mozambique.  Nazarenes also offer their time and services on Work & Witness teams and Youth In Mission teams to build churches, schools, clinics, and to reach others for Christ in countries outside the United States and Canada.

Nazarenes are involved in outreach to persons around the world through the power of radio.  The denomination regularly produces and funds the airing of broadcasts in more than 40 languages through the high-powered facilities of Trans World Radio.  The Church of the Nazarene is presently working with TWR to provide production facilities in Moscow for broadcasting Christianity to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Nazarenes are concerned about making a difference in their world.  This means taking the Good News around the globe.  We currently have almost 600 missionaries serving in 108 areas outside the United States and Canada.  This missionary enterprise is made possible by the contributions of Nazarenes around the world through free will offerings. Closer to home, Nazarenes are engaged in planting new churches and in making their communities better places in which to live.

View the Core Values of the Church of the Nazarene

We Are a Christian Church * We are a Holiness Church * We are a Missional Church