Church of the Nazarene beliefs: what the Church of the Nazarene tradition teaches
The Church of the Nazarene is a Wesleyan-Holiness church that exists to preserve "the doctrine and experience of entire sanctification as a second work of grace." It teaches that God's grace is freely given to all, that believers can be "sanctified wholly" and filled with perfect love, and that holiness is Christlikeness lived out in love, compassion and justice.
Worship: Warm evangelical worship with hymns and contemporary songs, preaching that calls people to salvation and holiness, and the Lord's Supper as a sacrament.
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Church of the Nazarene
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Read more
- What We Believe (Articles of Faith) — Church of the NazareneFree online
The Nazarene Articles of Faith, short enough to read in one sitting.
- Manual of the Church of the Nazarene — Church of the NazareneFree online
The full Manual, with the Articles of Faith and how the church lives them out together.
- A Plain Account of Christian Perfection — John WesleyFree online
Wesley explains the holiness teaching that the Nazarene church grew out of.
Confessions and statements from Church of the Nazarene churches
Figures and practice companions
Image credit Phoebe Palmer
1807–1874 · Holiness (Methodist)
New York Methodist laywoman whose Tuesday Meetings and The Way of Holiness (1843) spread the Holiness movement.
Read: The Way of Holiness
Image credit Catherine Booth
1829–1890 · Holiness (Salvation Army)
Preacher and co-founder, with her husband William, of the Salvation Army; wrote Female Ministry (1859).
Read: Female Ministry: Woman's Right to Preach the Gospel
Practices associated with Church of the Nazarene churches
The class meeting
Meet weekly with two or three friends who follow Jesus. Each answers one question honestly: how is it with your soul? Listen without fixing, pray for one another and keep it confidential. Wesley believed growth happens best together, and an hour a week is a good start.
Small weekly groups of about a dozen under a leader, begun in Bristol in 1742, where each person shared how it was with their soul.
Source: C. T. Winchester, John Wesley the Methodist, ch. IX (Wesley Center Online)“This was the method of the class meeting, which was first adopted at Bristol in 1742.”
Seeking God at the altar
At the end of a service, or in an empty church, go forward and kneel. Bring to God what you need: forgiveness, healing, His Spirit's power. Take your time. Ask someone you trust to pray with you, and leave room for God to meet you there.
The altar call and "tarrying" at the front of the church, carried from Methodist and Holiness camp meetings into the Azusa Street revival of 1906, where people prayed at the altar three times a day.
Source: The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles, 1906)“People are seeking three times a day at the altar”
Compare Church of the Nazarene teaching by topic
Church of the Nazarene coverage: 20 of 31 questions. Review status and scoring
Church of the Nazarene · 20 topics available
No official position scored: Which is closest to what you think about creeds and confessions (written summaries of what a church believes)? Which is closest to what you think about ordination in an unbroken line from the apostles? Which is closest to what you think about how often a church should share the Lord's Supper? Which is closest to what you think about gifts like prophecy, tongues and healing today? Which is closest to what you think happens to believers when they die, before the final resurrection? Which is closest to what you think about the saints in heaven? Which is closest to what you think about Mary, the mother of Jesus? Which kind of service feels most like worship to you? Which music helps you worship most? How much should the church year shape worship? In worship, what do you most hope for?
Read the positions and sources
Scripture and authority
When Christians disagree about what to believe, which is closest to what you think should settle it?
Teaches: “The Bible comes first, read together with the church's historic creeds and with reason and experience.”
Some hold: “The Bible alone has the final word. Creeds, councils and teachers are all tested by it.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene, What We Believe (nazarene.org): Core Values, A Christian People“We look to Scripture as the primary source of spiritual truth confirmed by reason, tradition, and experience.”
Which is closest to what you think about creeds and confessions (written summaries of what a church believes)?
Teaches: “The historic creeds matter, and our confessions guide us, but they leave room to read some things differently.” or “A short statement of faith keeps us united, and the Bible itself is what we really stand on.”
Makes room for: “A full confession of faith binds our pastors and teachers, because it faithfully sums up what Scripture teaches.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to how you see the Bible's truthfulness?
Teaches: “The Bible is fully trustworthy in everything it teaches about God, salvation and how to live.”
Some hold: “The Bible is without error in everything it affirms, including what it says about history and the world.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. IV“inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation”
Salvation and grace
When God puts a sinner right with Himself, which is closest to what you think happens?
Teaches: “God forgives us and counts us righteous for Christ's sake, crediting His righteousness to us. We receive this by faith alone.”
Makes room for: “God brings us into a right relationship with Him, and that new life means following Jesus every day with His people.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. IX“full pardon of all guilt and complete release from the penalty of sins committed, and acceptance as righteous, to all who believe on Jesus Christ”
Which is closest to how you think God usually gives people His saving grace?
Teaches: “When a person hears the gospel and personally trusts Christ. Baptism and the Lord's Supper then show it.”
Some hold: “Through His Word preached and the sacraments, which the Holy Spirit uses to create and strengthen faith.”
Source: Manual of the Church of the Nazarene 2023 (official PDF linked from nazarene.org/manual), Art. IX, 9.3 (2023)“are received by faith, preceded by repentance”
Which is closest to what you think about whom Christ died to save?
Teaches: “Christ died for every person, so that anyone who turns to Him can be saved.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. VI“it is sufficient for every individual of Adam's race”
Which is closest to what you think about God's choosing and our choice?
Teaches: “God's grace goes before everyone and frees us to respond. God chooses in Christ those He knows will believe.”
Makes room for: “God calls everyone and gives His grace first. We freely cooperate with it, and it never forces us.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. VII“the grace of God through Jesus Christ is freely bestowed upon all people, enabling all who will to turn from sin to righteousness”
Which is closest to what you think: can a true believer fall away and be lost?
Teaches: “Yes. A believer can turn away from Christ and be lost, but while we live His grace keeps calling us back.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. VIII“all persons may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, be hopelessly and eternally lost”
Which is closest to what you think about knowing where you stand with God?
Teaches: “The Spirit gives an inner witness that I'm God's child, and I keep walking with Him so I don't drift away.”
Makes room for: “I trust God's mercy today and hope for heaven, as I keep holding to Christ to the end of my life.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. IX“to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness”
Which is closest to what you think about how God makes believers holy?
Teaches: “After conversion God can, in a moment, cleanse the heart from the sin within and fill it with perfect love.”
Makes room for: “God calls us to perfect love in this life. We press on toward it, and for most of us it's a lifelong path.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. X“Entire sanctification is provided by the blood of Jesus, is wrought instantaneously by grace through faith”
The church
Which is closest to how you think the church should be led?
Teaches: “By bishops or superintendents who oversee a connection of churches and help place their pastors.”
Some hold: “By elders, pastors and lay elders together, with local churches joined in regional and national assemblies.”
Source: Manual of the Church of the Nazarene 2023 (official PDF linked from nazarene.org/manual), Historical Statement / Church government (front matter)“In polity it is representative—neither purely episcopal nor wholly congregational.”
Which is closest to what you think about who may be ordained as a pastor or priest?
Teaches: “Both men and women may be called by God and ordained as pastors.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene, Women Clergy statement (Manual)“affirms the historic right of women to be elected and appointed to places of leadership within the Church of the Nazarene, including the offices of both elder and deacon”
Which is closest to what you think about ordination in an unbroken line from the apostles?
Teaches: “What matters is that ministers hold to the apostles' teaching and are rightly called and ordained by the church.”
Makes room for: “Each congregation recognizes and calls its own leaders by their gifts. No outside line of ordination is needed.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think about Christians, war and oaths?
Teaches: “Christians should work for peace, and each believer may follow conscience about serving in the military.”
Some hold: “Christians may serve in the military for a just cause and may take an oath when the law asks for one.”
Makes room for: “Christians should not fight in war or use violence, but taking an oath in court is fine.”
Source: Manual of the Church of the Nazarene 2023 (official PDF linked from nazarene.org/manual), ¶ 923“it does not endeavor to bind the conscience of its members relative to participation in military service in case of war”
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Which is closest to what you think about who should be baptized?
Teaches: “Believers, and young children too when their parents ask for it. Either is fine, by the family's choice.”
Makes room for: “Only people old enough to understand the gospel and confess faith in Christ for themselves.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. XII“young children and the morally innocent may be baptized upon request of parents or guardians”
Which is closest to what you think happens in baptism?
Teaches: “A sign and seal of God's promise. God uses it to mark us as His, though grace isn't tied to that moment.”
Some hold: “It's a believer's pledge before God and the church to follow Jesus, and a sign of being cleansed from sin.”
Makes room for: “It's a public act of obedience that pictures what Christ has already done in the believer.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. XII“a sacrament signifying acceptance of the benefits of the atonement and incorporation into the Body of Christ”
Which is closest to what you think about how baptism should be done?
Teaches: “Pouring, sprinkling or immersion are all fine. The water and the name of the Trinity are what matter.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. XII“Baptism may be administered by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion.”
When the church shares the bread and cup, which is closest to what you think?
Teaches: “Christ is truly present by His Spirit, and believers feed on Him by faith, while the bread stays bread.”
Some hold: “We remember Christ's death, proclaim it and look for His return, with the bread and cup as signs.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. XIII“The Lord's Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit.”
Which is closest to what you think about how often a church should share the Lord's Supper?
Teaches: “Regularly, perhaps monthly or quarterly. It's special, but it isn't part of every service.”
Makes room for: “Every Sunday, as the high point of worship, and on many other days too.” or “Every Sunday, because the first Christians broke bread on the first day of each week.” or “A few times a year, with careful preparation and self-examination in the days before.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. XIII“invited by Christ to participate as often as possible”
Which is closest to what you think Christ gave His church to keep as lasting rites?
Teaches: “Two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, through which God gives His grace.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Arts. XII-XIII“the Communion Supper instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament”
The Holy Spirit’s gifts
Which is closest to what you think about gifts like prophecy, tongues and healing today?
Teaches: “They can still happen, but the church should test them with care, and they aren't the focus of church life.”
Some hold: “The Spirit gives gifts to every believer for building up the church, and I don't sort them into kinds.”
Makes room for: “All the gifts in the New Testament are for today, and churches should seek them and make room for them.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think about being baptized (or filled) with the Holy Spirit?
Teaches: “It's a second work of grace after conversion that cleanses the heart and fills it with perfect love.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. X“It is wrought by the baptism with or infilling of the Holy Spirit”
When Christians pray for the sick, which is closest to what you think?
Teaches: “God heals, sometimes by miracle and often through medicine. We pray, use both and trust His will.”
Makes room for: “Praying for the sick with laying on of hands is part of every believer's ministry, as Jesus did when He announced the kingdom.”
Source: Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith (Manual), Art. XIV“We also believe God heals through the means of medical science.”
Mary and the saints
Which is closest to what you think about the saints in heaven?
Teaches: “We thank God for the saints and follow their example, but we pray to God alone.”
Some hold: “Every believer, living or dead, is a saint. We remember faithful Christians without special honor for some.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think about Mary, the mother of Jesus?
Teaches: “She was a godly woman God chose to bear Jesus, and an example of faith like other believers.”
Some hold: “She is blessed among women. We honor her as a model of faith, without the later dogmas of her Immaculate Conception and Assumption.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Last things
Which is closest to what you think about Christ's return and the thousand years in Revelation 20?
Teaches: “Christ will return in glory to judge the living and the dead, and I don't think we need a timeline.”
Some hold: “Christ will take His church to Himself before a time of great trouble, then return to reign on earth for a thousand years.”
Source: Manual of the Church of the Nazarene 2023 (official PDF linked from nazarene.org/manual), Art. XV (2023)“He will come again in glory and power to establish fully the kingdom of God”
Which is closest to what you think happens to believers when they die, before the final resurrection?
Teaches: “They go straight to be with Christ, fully forgiven, and wait for the resurrection of the body.”
Makes room for: “They rest in Christ, and the church keeps praying for them as they wait for the resurrection.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Worship
Which kind of service feels most like worship to you?
Teaches: “A long time of singing, then preaching, with freedom for spontaneous prayer and response.”
Some hold: “A set order from a prayer book or hymnal, with Scripture readings, confession, the creed and the Lord's Prayer.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which music helps you worship most?
Teaches: “Hymns with organ or piano, and a choir.” or “A worship band leading contemporary songs.”
Makes room for: “Gospel music, with choir, organ and drums, and freedom to respond.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
How much should the church year shape worship?
Teaches: “A little. We mark Christmas and Easter and plan the rest around preaching series.”
Some hold: “Some. We keep the main seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week and Easter.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
In worship, what do you most hope for?
Teaches: “Clear preaching of God's Word that teaches and convicts, with heartfelt singing.”
Some hold: “Freedom in the Spirit, with raised hands, prayer for one another, and gifts like prophecy.” or “A close church family sharing life, singing together and caring for one another.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.