Nazarene Archives

04/22/2026

The First General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene was held in Chicago, Illinois, USA at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene from October 10th to October 17th, 1907.

The denomination was known then as the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, having taken their name from the two regional holiness bodies that united earlier that year, the east-coast based Association of Pentecostal Churches of America and the west-coast based Church of the Nazarene. The General Assembly in Chicago was the first occasion on which these two groups met together.

Much of the time in the assembly was spent in worship and celebration. Nearly one thousand people gathered for the opening service. An eyewitness report from Robert Pierce expresses his experience of the service:

"The flood of holy joy that swept on during the opening service was a tide of blessed triumph. In the singing of that wonderful hymn, 'The Home of the Soul,' the congregation seemed to be filled with rapture and to be in the very presence of the loved ones in heaven. As they took one another by the hand, so filled were they with holy joy, that for many minutes it was impossible to restrain it. The waving of nearly a thousand handkerchiefs, and the repetition of chorus after chorus, was a scene the better of which we do not expect to witness this side of the pearly gates."

The delegates elected Phineas F. Bresee, Pastor of Los Angeles First Church of the Nazarene, as the first general superintendent of the denomination. They elected Hiram F. Reynolds, Foreign Missions Secretary of the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America, as the second general superintendent.

At the time of the union, the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene consisted of ninety-nine local churches, with a combined membership of just over six thousand people.

One hundred and twenty years later, the Thirty-First General Assembly and Conventions of the Church of the Nazarene will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, from June 25th to July 2nd, 2027.

02/25/2026

We loved hosting Dr. Darin Tuck, Associate Professor of History, and a wonderful group of students from his Public History course at MidAmerica Nazarene University today. Many of these students have an interest in history, library and archival science, and information technology. It was a pleasure to introduce them to our work!

02/23/2026

The Pentecostal Collegiate Institute and Bible Training School, the educational institution of the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America, opened on September 25, 1900 in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was located there for only its first two years. The school eventually relocated to Quincy, Massachusetts and became known as Eastern Nazarene College.

Pictured here are several of its faculty in Saratoga Springs.

We continue with gratitude for the privilege of stewarding ENC's rich history and honoring its enormous contributions to the story of the Church of the Nazarene.

02/03/2026

Eugenio R. Duarte was elected the thirty-seventh General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene at the twenty-seventh General Assembly in Orlando, Florida, USA, on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

Duarte was the first citizen outside of the USA/Canada Region elected to the Board of General Superintendents.

01/28/2026

This parliamentary gavel was used by General Superintendent Phineas F. Bresee at the 1908 General Assembly in Pilot Point, Texas, USA.

It was used again at subsequent General Assemblies through 1964.

It is currently on display at the Global Ministry Center of the Church of the Nazarene in Lenexa, Kansas, USA.

01/22/2026

The 29th General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene | Indianapolis Convention Center | Indianapolis, Indiana, USA | June 25-30, 2017

01/21/2026

Our office was recently gifted a 1905 Manual of the Church of the Nazarene. This group, with churches primarily populating the United States west coast, merged with two other regional holiness bodies in 1907 and 1908 to form the denomination known today as the Church of the Nazarene.

We are most grateful to the donor for helping us fulfill our mandate within the office of the General Secretary "to collect historic material related to the rise and development of the denomination" (Manual 2023, Paragraph 327.1).

Gifts like this help us preserve and tell the Nazarene story for generations to come.

01/02/2026

12/18/2025

The students and faculty of Eastern Nazarene College, 1932-1933

12/17/2025

"The local church is where the action is - that's where lives are being changed."

- Paul G. Cunningham, following his election as the 30th General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, 1993