Nazarenes Today

Today, the Church of the Nazarene is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the United States. At the end of 2010, the Church of the Nazarene had 2,059,261 members in 26,353 churches in 156 different “world areas”. Most members of the Church of the Nazarene are found in the United States and Canada (663,375), 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.

The 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 today supports 54 undergraduate and graduate educational institutions in 35 countries on six continents around the world. Since September 15, 2008, the headquarters of the denomination is the Global Ministry Center (GMC) located at 17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, Kansas. Sixty- five percent of Nazarenes and over 80 percent of the church’s 439 districts are outside the United States. An early system of colleges in North America and the  British Isles has become a global network of  institutions. Nazarenes
support 14 liberal arts institutions in Africa, Brazil,  Canada, Caribbean,  Korea, and the United States, as well as 5 graduate seminaries, 31  undergraduate Bible/theological colleges, 2 nurses training  colleges, and  1 education college worldwide.

Currently, there are 702 missionaries and volunteers serving in various countries around the world. Each week, Nazarenes worship in 212 languages or tribal languages, with literature produced in 90 of these. The church also operates 33 hospitals and medical clinics worldwide.