Who We Are
Each local congregation of the Church of the Nazarene is a faith community, ready to greet you in Jesus’ name. With over 30,000 congregations worldwide and over 2.5 million members, our vision and mission embraces the entire world.
The Church of the Nazarene was founded 1908 to transform the world by spreading the message of Christ-like living. Our mission is to make Christ-like disciples of all nations.
The Church of the Nazarene believes you may discover forgiveness, peace, joy, purpose, love and meaning in life and the promise of heaven when life is over by entering and experiencing a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
We believe that there is a deeper level of life for the Christian in which there is victory over sin, power to witness and serve, and a richer fellowship with God. This happens for the Christian by the sanctifying (purifying) fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Our Beliefs
These are the beliefs Nazarenes hold to be true. They are common to Christians world–wide:
- We believe in one God who has expressed himself in personal ways. We know God’s personality as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- We believe the Bible communicates God’s saving message and is our reliable authority in all matters related to faith and Christian living.
- We believe that all humankind struggles with a downward pull.
- We believe that unless we experience God’s help and salvation through a faith commitment to Jesus Christ, our future is one of eternal separation from God and all that is good.
- We believe the love and grace of God is extended to every person in the provision Jesus Christ made in his death and resurrection. By turning from our own selfishness and trusting Jesus Christ, we experience a new life, being freed from the old patterns of self–destructive acts called sin.
- We believe our new life in Jesus Christ is the gateway to transformation. Following our moment of faith in Jesus, we believe there is another moment in which we present our life completely to Christ in order to live under his authority and to experience his transforming power.
- We believe that Christian experience is more than a change of mind. It is accompanied by assurance that is grounded in both the Scriptures as well as the inner witness of God’s Spirit.
- We believe that all who live for Jesus Christ have an eternal future. Our belief in such a future includes both the fulfillment of God’s creative purpose as well as the accountability of all persons endowed with the power of choice.
Our Values
We Are a Christian People
As members of the Church Universal, we join with all true believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in embracing the historic Trinitarian creedal statements of Christian faith. We value our Wesleyan–Holiness heritage and believe it to be a way of understanding the faith that is true to Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.
We Are a Holiness People
God, who is holy, calls us to a life of holiness. We believe that the Holy Spirit seeks to do in us a second work of grace, called by various terms including “entire sanctification” and “baptism with the Holy Spirit”—cleansing us from all sin; renewing us in the image of God: empowering us to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves; and producing in us the character of Christ. Holiness in the life of believers is most clearly understood as Christlikeness.
We Are a Missional People
We are a sent people, responding to the call of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to go into all the world, witnessing to the Lordship of Christ and participating with God in the building of the Church and the extension of His kingdom. Our mission (a) begins in worship, (b) ministers to the world in evangelism and compassion, (c) encourages believers toward Christian maturity through discipleship, and (d) prepares women and men for Christian service through Christian higher education.
If you’d like to know more about Nazarenes, including our Articles of Faith and founding as a denomination, we encourage you to check out nazarene.org or our Nazarene Articles of Faith.