History of Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene, often referred to as the Nazarene Church is an evangelical Christian denomination that began in the Wesleyan tradition of the 19th century Holiness movement. Its mission is "to respond to the Great Commission of Christ to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19)," or, more succinctly, "to make Christlike disciples in the nations." This frames the global mission of the denomination. Since 2001, the three “core values” of the Church have been identified as “Christian, missional, and holiness.”
As of 2007, the church had 1,733,772 members in 20,958 churches in 151 different "world areas" (nation-like geographical units). Membership of 642,523 in the United States constitutes the largest for one country, although there are more total members outside the U.S.A. with 1,077,822 non-US church members in 2007. A total of 1,032 new churches were organized in 2007, and 170,045 new Nazarenes were reported in 2007 (a net increase of 111,049 church members). However, most of that growth took place outside of the U.S.A. (108,553 net increase in church members in 2007).The denomination has the highest percentage presence in the nations of Cape Verde (where its members constitute 2.5% of the population); Samoa (1.88% of the population); Barbados (1.0% of the population); Haiti (0.99% of the population); and Swaziland (0.96% of the population). The nations with the most Nazarenes are the United States of America; Haiti (over 95,000 members); and India.
The Church of the Nazarene also supports 56 educational institutions around the world. As is common for an evangelical denomination, the Nazarene church holds revivals and is highly active in missionary work. It is currently a member of the World Methodist Council and the National Association of Evangelicals. Global Headquarters for the Church of the Nazarene is in Kansas City, Missouri, where the Nazarene Publishing House is also located. In 2005, the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene decided to relocate the headquarters complex to Lenexa, Kansas, and name the new facility the Global Ministry Center (GMC).
