Two central themes illuminate the Nazarene story.

The first is "unity in holiness."

"A mission to the world" is the second primary theme in the Nazarene story.

In 1908 there were churches in Canada and organized work in India, Cape Verde, and Japan, soon followed by work in Africa, Mexico, and China. The 1915 mergers added congregations in the British Isles and work in Cuba, Central America, and South America. There were congregations in Syria and Palestine by 1922. As General Superintendent H. F. Reynolds advocated "a mission to the world," support for world evangelization became a distinguishing characteristic of Nazarene life. New technologies were utilized. The church began producing the " Showers of Blessing " radio program in the 1940s, followed by the Spanish broadcast " La Hora Nazarena " and later by broadcasts in other languages. Indigenous holiness churches in Australia and Italy united in the 1940s, others in Canada and Great Britain in the 1950s, and one in Nigeria in 1988.

As the church grew culturally and linguistically diverse, it committed itself in 1980 to internationalization-a deliberate policy of being one church of congregations and districts worldwide, rather than splitting into national churches like earlier Protestant denominations. By the 2001 General Assembly, 42 percent of delegates spoke English as their second language or did not speak it at all. Today over 60 percent of Nazarenes and 80 percent of the church's 425 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 with 3 graduate seminaries in North America, Central America, and the Asia-Pacific region; 11 liberal arts colleges in Africa, Canada, Korea, and the United States; and 37 theological schools worldwide.

• World Mission areas received 50,161 new Nazarenes for a total of 852,269 members.
• The six world regions reported 601 new churches for a total of 8,641.
• Nazarene Compassionate Ministries responded to needs on every world region. The Child Sponsorship program assists 60,000 children around the globe through feeding, education, and training programs in 69 countries with the help of 5,621 sponsors.
• Volunteers on 643 Work and Witness teams involving 10,475 volunteers were deployed in 2004. Nazarenes in Volunteer Service reported 505 participants.
• Harvest Partners sponsored 254 JESUS film teams, which have been involved in showing the film in 152 languages and in 99 world areas.
• World Mission Literature translated, published, and distributed 42 new titles in 2004.
• Youth in Mission (YIM) and YouthServe completed their first year of being under the World Mission umbrella. YIM sent 23 teams into 20 world areas. An estimated 3,000 Nazarene youth participated in YouthServe projects in 2004.
• World Mission Communications includes World Mission Broadcast, World Mission Video Magazine, World Mission Internet Services, and coordination of the six regional communications center.

See what the Church of the Nazarene is doing around the world....

Missions Reading Books

Streaming audio version of missions reading books for 2006 - 2007 reading books. Discover what is happening in the lives of missionaries around the world.