The Nazarene Church traces its roots all the way back to Jesus and His original 12 disciples. It split off from Methodism, one of the main branches of Protestant Christianity, as a result of a 19th century Wesleyan religious movement that began in England. By the early 20th century that Holiness movement was sweeping America, creating fertile soil for what would become the Nazarene Church.
The name of the Nazarene Church is derived from the city of Nazareth in present-day Israel. The birthplace of Jesus, the name connotes the image of walking in His footsteps.
Today’s Nazarene Church can be directly traced back to the year 1908, when its Second General Assembly concluded in the small city of Pilot Point, Texas.
Two churches merged at this assembly, which today’s Nazarenes consider a marriage. One was the Holiness Church of Christ, itself representing the merger of several other churches. The other was the Pentecostal Nazarenes. This merger laid the foundation of the modern Nazarene Church, giving it a starting number of 10,034 members spread across 228 congregations.