Happy 100th birthday Nazarenes!
(I come from a Nazarene background)
Some facts:
- The denomination was founded in 1908, in Pilot Point Texas.
- The denomination started through the merger of 15 small Holiness denominations.
- Nazarenes are Wesleyan Arminian in orientation
- The church has always permitted the ordination of women. In 1925, 12% of the ordained ministers were women. Currently the number is about 2%. source
- The church has always been racially integrated (whites and blacks).
- The church currently has 1.7 million members, 640,000 in the USA.
- The founder was Phineas F. Bresee. Bresee came from a Methodist background, and was active in the Los Angeles community.
- Some of the better known theogians include: H Orton Wiley, Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, and J Kenneth Grider
Challanges for Nazarenes (my opinions)
- Liberal trends: The belief in the infallibility of the Bible is under attack
- Slowed growth in the USA
- closing of churches in the USA (the small ones are being closed, while the big ones are getting bigger)
- Ministering to postmodern society
- Ministering to minorities, adjusting to changing racial demographics in our communities
- The encroach of Calvinistic concepts
- Decreased emphasis on Holiness
- There seems to less focus on world missions.
- “Silo” of the denomination, Nazarenes need to work more with other groups who have closely related theology (like Assembly of God, Wesleyan, Methodist, Free Methodist, Church of God, etc)
Wesleyan Arminian 
Happy B-Day!I didn’t realize the big city :) of Pilot Point was the start.The Nazarene church here has just got a new minister. I look forward to working with him.The challenges you bring up are for all denoms or non-denoms to consider.Thanks!Mike
I didn’t know the Church of the Nazarene started in 1908. I always thought it started in the mid to late 18 hundreds. Thanks for the information. And have a blessed weekend!!!I was never Methodhist, but I was a member of the Wesly foundation in college. Does the Church of the Nazaren have a highschool or college equivalent to the Wesly foundation?JNORM888
Hey Mike, yeah it’s quite the metropolis. And only a short drive from Lovington. :)Hey Jnorm, I’m unaware of any Nazarene oriented societies in high schools or colleges. The denomination is probably too small for that. However, there are a some associuated liberal arts colleges. I went to one of them – NNU. NNU is also home of the Wesley Center for applied theology (An excllent Arminian resource).
God bless John Wesely! He truly loved the truth. May everyone know what he did that a Christian (one who has been born again) can turn away from Jesus and go back to sin. If he is in that state at the time of his death, he goes to hell. “. . .if any draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him . .” Hebrews 10:38