CLEARLAKE – The local Church of the Nazarene will join 18,000 churches worldwide in a celebration heralding the 100th anniversary of the denomination.

Founded in 1908 in Pilot Point, Texas, Nazarene churches now span the globe serving 151 world areas. Local Nazarenes plan a special day of service and celebration and invite the community to join in.

Preparations for the day began in 2004 with the writing and translation of materials sent to all Nazarene churches. The plan is that all 1.6 million members of the church will hear the same sermon, celebrate with the same music, and participate in the same readings in 24 time zones on the same day.

 

“Our congregation is excited to celebrate this anniversary with all of our Nazarene family around the world,” said Richard Bean, pastor of Clearlake Nazarene Church. “At the same time, we want to emphasize that the family never stops growing, and there is plenty of room for all. In our society today, it seems that relationships often don’t last very long. We’re inviting our community to join us on Oct. 5 to see relationships that have remained strong for 100 years.”

 

The Oct. 5 anniversary celebration in Clearlake will begin at 10:45 AM. The church is located at 15917 Olympic Drive, the intersection of Olympic and Highway 53.

The Church of the Nazarene has its roots in Methodism, drawn from the teachings of English evangelist John Wesley (1703-1791). The denomination was established in October 1908 in Pilot Point, Texas, the culmination of mergers of several like-minded groups. The mission of the Church of the Nazarene is to make Christlike disciples in the nations.

With a long history of mission work and 20th- and 21st-century advances in communication and transportation, the Church of the Nazarene has deliberately decided to steer an international course.

“A century ago, the Nazarenes were an American family with relatives in other countries,” wrote Stan Ingersol, the denomination’s archivist, in a brief history of the group. “Today we are an international family of districts and congregations planted on each of Earth’s inhabited continents. No single language, race, or nationality claims a majority of our members.” (http://nazarene.org/)

Attesting to the success of the denomination’s international initiative, the Church of the Nazarene now includes graduate theological seminaries in North America, Central America, and Asia-Pacific; liberal arts colleges in Africa, Canada, Korea and the United States; nearly 40 theological schools worldwide; hospitals in Swaziland, India and Papua New Guinea; radio broadcasts in 30 languages; and printed materials in 103 languages. At the Church of the Nazarene’s quadrennial general assembly in 2001, 42 percent of delegates either spoke English as a second language or did not speak the language at all.

The denomination has been headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, since 1912.

The Clearlake church was founded in 1970 when local resident Geneva Rowe began to pray for a Nazarene church in her community. It wasn’t long before she met a man who had knocked at her door, an insurance salesman and Nazarene pastor. The soon-developed small congregation of 10 met at each other’s homes and, as the congregation grew, eventually rented space from the local Adventist Church.

In 1986 the current church building was dedicated with a congregation of more than 80 individuals. The Clearlake Nazarene Church today offers worship service on Sunday mornings and Friday evenings with a variety of faith-related programs and missions throughout the week, including Adult, Youth and Children’s ministries.

Call the church at 994-4008 for more information.

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