The Church of the Nazarene is a conservative, evangelical, Christian church in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. It is headquartered in the United States of America with nearly 3 million members worldwide. Church governance, as well as statements of the church's beliefs, are found in a book called The Manual of the Church of the Nazarene. This dictates: "The General Assembly shall meet every fourth year…”
The Church of the Nazarene also hosts other conventions and conferences that support the mission of the church and provide resources to pastors and laity across the globe. Each division under the Church could host a convention per their individual constitutions. Most notably is the convention for Nazarene Youth which began hosting a conference in 1958. Each geographical sub-region, or District, is required to host an annual assembly to report on the status of the church within those geographical boundaries.
The Manual also says: “The general superintendents and said commission shall also have power, in case of an emergency, to change the time and place of the meeting of the General Assembly." Which was the case for postponing the 2021 General Assembly to 2023 due to complications of travel visas, and vaccination requirements and social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The General Assembly and Conventions of the Church of the Nazarene (General Assembly, or GA) is the premier convention of the Church of the Nazarene, as it is provided for the supreme legislative body of the Church of the Nazarene. Since 1985, the General Assembly has been held in the year following the United States presidential election. General Assemblies offer workshops, networking, seminars, and praise and worship services for all delegates and guests.
The General Assembly comprises elected and ex officio delegates from around the world. The General Assembly elects six general superintendents and a General Board, in whom authority is vested between General Assemblies.
The general superintendents are assigned jurisdictional authority over the districts, regions and other institutions of the Church of the Nazarene, and are given authority to ordain qualified women and men into the ministry. (Article 304.5)"
The Church of the Nazarene announced in February 2007 that instead of a global convention to celebrate the centennial, each local church will participate in a global telecast on Sunday October 5, 2008. [1]
In the mid-quadrennial year, the USA/Canada region of the Church of the Nazarene hosts a conference which focuses on missions and evangelism for the United States and Canada Region. Commonly referred to as M and the numeral of the year it takes place in. (i.e. 2011 was called M11). The most recent Missions Conference held was in Kansas City, Missouri.[8]
In 1958 the first Nazarene Youth Conference or NYC was held in Estes Park, Colorado. Originally called the "International Institute," it was the brain child of the Nazarene Young Peoples Society (now Nazarene Youth International) to celebrate the 50 anniversary of the founding of the Church of the Nazarene. NYC is for high school aged students attending Nazarene churches. The near week long event, is a mix of seminars, workshops, praise and worship, concerts, Bible quizzing, and inspirational key note addresses.
Held in the off-quadrennial to the General Assembly the selection of the NYC Host City is done by the NYI Council, and typically announced 2 years prior to the event.
NYC has been hosted in four countries, the United States, Switzerland, Mexico, and Canada, making it the first Nazarene convention to be held outside the United States. Starting in Houston, NYC 2003 was designated for the USA/Canada region of the church.
↑ This is the First General Assembly of the P-CotN (Now CotN); 47 churches belonged to the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene
↑ This was the 13th for the Church of the Nazarene (Bresee), and Pentecostal Churches of America, 4th for the Holiness Church of Christ, and 2nd for the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene (National) In 1919 P-CotN will change to just CotN
↑ Kansas City First Church at the corner of 24th Street and Troost Avenue.
↑ The term "Church of the Nazarene" is officially adopted.
↑ Construction of the Lucas Oil Stadium created the need for the GA Commission to move the location of the 27th General Assembly from Indianapolis to Orlando Florida
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