Every organization that endures over time is based on a deeply shared combination of purpose, belief, and values. So it is with the Church of the Nazarene. It was founded to transform the world by spreading scriptural holiness. It is both a Great Commission church and a Holiness church at the same time. Our mission is to make Christlike disciples of all nations.

The present and future life of the Church of the Nazarene is defined by participation in the mission of God. It is therefore an expression of the Church of Jesus Christ and an organization made distinct not just by what it believes but by how it goes about contributing uniquely to the kingdom of God.

In the early years of this new millennium, it is appropriate for the Church of the Nazarene to identify those distinctives that we joyfully embrace and celebrate. Our most precious treasures-our mission, calling, beliefs, and highest values-we gladly offer as a gift to the generations.

We pray that our core values will continue to serve as a guiding light for those who must make their way through the light and shadows of the decades that lie ahead.

We Are a Christian People
As members of the Church Universal, we join with all true believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in embracing the historic Trinitarian creedal statements of Christian faith.  We value our Wesleyan-Holiness heritage and believe it to be a way of understanding the faith that is true to Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.

We Are a Holiness People
God, who is holy, calls us to a life of holiness. We believe that the Holy Spirit seeks to do in us a second work of grace, called by various terms including "entire sanctification" and "baptism with the Holy Spirit"-cleansing us from all sin; renewing us in the image of God: empowering us to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves; and producing in us the character of Christ. Holiness in the life of believers is most clearly understood as Christlikeness. 

We Are a Missional People
We are a sent people, responding to the call of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to go into all the world, witnessing to the Lordship of Christ and participating with God in the building of the Church and the extension of His kingdom (2 Corinthians 6:1). Our mission (a) begins in worship, (b) ministers to the world in evangelism and compassion, (c) encourages believers toward Christian maturity through discipleship, and (d) prepares women and men for Christian service through Christian higher education.

Wesleyan H eritage

 Recognizing that the right and privilege of persons to church membership rest upon the fact of their being regenerate, we would require only such avowals of belief as are essential to Christian experience. We, therefore, deem belief in the following brief statements to be sufficient. 

We believe:

In one God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

That the Old and New Testament Scriptures, given by plenary inspiration, contain all truth necessary to faith and Christian living.

That man is born with a fallen nature, and is, therefore, inclined to evil, and that continually.

That the finally impenitent are hopelessly and eternally lost.

That the atonement through Jesus Christ is for the whole human race; and that whosoever repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is justified and regenerated and saved from the dominion of sin.

That believers are to be sanctified wholly, subsequent to regeneration, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That the Holy Spirit bears witness to the new birth, and also to the entire sanctification of believers.

That our Lord will return, the dead will be raised, and the final judgment will take place.

—Nazarene Manual 2005-2009