Imperial Valley press., 1933-10-28
NAZARENEs To
HOLD SILVER
JUBILEE HERE

Although comparatively young
IN years, the Church of the Naz-
arene, which tomorrow begins the
celebration of its silver Jubilee an
niversary, has a record of out
standing achievement since the
merger a quarter of a century ago
at Pilot Point, Texas, of the Pen
tecostal Churches of America. rep
resenting the eastern section of the
country, and the Holiness Church
OF Christ, representing the South
ern states, with the Nazarene
church, which represented the west.
So, for five Sundays, Nazarene
churches all over this country, as
we'll as those in foreign lands. will
have special programs. Tomorrow
Will be rally day." eliminating
with an attendance of 100000 in
the Sunday schools, according to
the Rev. M. M. Summers, pastor
! of the Nazarene church.
After the union of the three
bodies now composing the Church
OF the Nazarene, the total member
ship amounted to 10,4l4. with COG
ministers and 228 churches. Now
the membership is we'll over 100000
there are 1885 ministers and
1861 churches.
The first Nazarene church was
founded by the late DR.. Phineas
F. Bresee at Los Angeles, Calf.
in October, 1895. DR.. Bresee, born
December 81, 1888 at Franklin,
Delaware county, New York, was
the son of a Hugenot refugee. His
parents were devout Methodists and
their teaching led him to seek the
ministry when he was II years
DID, When his parents moved to
Iowa, DR.. Bresee's first preaching
was on circuit in Iowa county.
Following several years of hard
ship building churches in a sparse
ly settled district, DR.. Bresee was
sent to Des Moines, where he re-
mained during the years of the
Civil War. Until 1883, DR.. Bresee
served in various pastorates in
Iowa, including Council Bluffs,
Red Oak, Clarinda, Charlton and
Creston. He began work in Cali
i fornia at Los Angeles as pastor
of the First Methodist Episcopal
church.
His zeal as a revivalist and evan
gelist, however, became known
throughout Southern California
! after he had served in other pas
torates elsewhere. DR.. BreSee de-
sired to start a church in the
heart of Los Angeles, where he
could preach to the poor. The
Methodist Conference declined to
give him permission to conduct
that work as a member of the Con-
ference, but he continued his work
at the Peniel Mission. In October,
1895, DR.. Bresee and group of
friends rented a hall on South
Main street and it was here that
the Church of the Nazarene was
born.
From this small beginning the
church grew until a general assem-
bly, held at Chicago in October,
1907, ratified the union of the
Associated Pentecostal churches of
America with the NaZarene church.
But it was not until the next year
that the Holiness Church of Christ
came in. At both OF these general
assemblies, DR.. Breseee presided.
The founder died in 1915.
At the services tomorrow morn
ing, the Reverend. M. M. Summers
will outline the program of the
Jubilee anniversary. Each of the five
Sundays will be devoted to some
phrase of religious work. Noyem-
Der 5 will be Church Appreciation
Day with emphasis on the aims
and development OF the church. The
program will close November 20,
designated as Thanksgiving Jub-
lice Anniversary" at which time
a contribution of a dollar from
each member will be used as a
fund for foreign missions and
other purposes.