The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th-century Holiness movement in North America. With its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes, it is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of September 2011, the Church of the Nazarene had 2,136,122 members in 27,524 churches in 157 different "world areas". Most members of the Church of the Nazarene are found in the United States and Canada (663,901), Haiti (116,000), Bangladesh (65,000), and India (59,039). The denomination has the highest per capita population in the nations of Cape Verde, Samoa, Barbados, Haiti and Swaziland.
Since its inception, the Church of the Nazarene has indicated that its mission is "to respond to the Great Commission of Christ to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19)". In December 2006, this was expressed more succinctly as "to make Christlike disciples in the nations". This frames the global mission of the denomination. In 2009 the General Assembly indicated in its revision of Article XI of the Manual the means for accomplishing its mission: "making disciples through evangelism, education, showing compassion, working for justice, and bearing witness to the kingdom of God." Since 2001, the three “core values” of the Church have been identified as “Christian, missional, and holiness.”
The Church of the Nazarene supports 53 undergraduate and graduate educational institutions in 35 countries on six continents around the world, with an enrollment of 49,547 students in 2011.
While for decades the denominational headquarters was in Kansas City, Missouri, the Global Ministry Center (GMC) has been located at 17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, Kansas since September 15, 2008. The Nazarene Publishing House has been located in Kansas City, Missouri since 1912.
Read more about Church Of The Nazarene: Memberships and Affiliations, Statistics, History, Denominational Name, Doctrine and Beliefs, Worship and Rituals, Polity and Leadership, Higher Education, Ministries, Notable Nazarenes
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