History
We are a part of the Church of the Nazarene, a denomination with over 30,000 churches across the world. You can find out more at their website here.
History of the Church of the Nazarene
John Wesley, an English cleric in the Church of England, led a revival of faith in the 18th century, where he believed in not only social efforts but that a person could be cleansed from sin and filled with divine love for God and neighbour. To nurture this transformation, Wesley encouraged people to live a life of holiness. It was from there that the Holiness Movement bloomed in North America. Wesleyan-Holiness denominations sprang up and three of these joined together to form the Church of the Nazarene in the 20th century.
From a fledgling movement, led by people like Phineas F. Bresee, the Church of the Nazarene now exceeds 2.1 million members and ministers in 135 countries around the world. We, the Church of the Nazarene, are committed to Kingdom work and are an international family of congregations. We believe that human nature, and ultimately society can be radically and permanently changed by the grace of God. We have an irrepressible confidence in this message of hope, which flows from the heart of our holy God.
Core 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 neighbours 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 (2 Corinthians 6:1). Our mission begins in worship, ministers to the world in evangelism and compassion, encourages believers toward Christian maturity through discipleship, and prepares women and men for Christian service through Christian higher education.
Statement of Belief
These are the beliefs Nazarenes hold to be true:
We believe in one God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe that the Old and New Testament Scriptures, given by plenary inspiration, contain all truth necessary to faith and Christian living.
We believe that man is born with a fallen nature, and is, therefore, inclined to evil, and that continually.
We believe that the finally impenitent are hopelessly and eternally lost.
We believe 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.
We believe that believers are to be sanctified wholly, subsequent to regeneration, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the new birth, and also to the entire sanctification of believers.
We believe that our Lord will return, the dead will be raised, and the final judgment will take place.