Join Church of the Nazarene in Celebrating Centennial

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – The Church of the Nazarene International is celebrating its Centennial in Knox County on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. with a special service in the R.R. Hodges Chapel/Auditorium on the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

As a global event on Oct. 5, the Centennial will occur in 151 world areas, across 24 time zones in every local church. According to the Church of the Nazarene Web site (www.nazarene.org ( http://www.nazarene.org/ )), “The Centennial Celebration affords us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate holiness in a way that no Nazarene generation has yet been privileged to do. From the most spacious sanctuary to the open-air shade tree, in every language, in every culture, every Nazarene deserves to celebrate the Centennial.”

The local event will feature a combined service all of Nazarene churches in Knox County: First Church, Lakeholm, Fredericktown, New Life, Apple Valley Shepherd’s House and West Side. The service will celebrate where the Church of the Nazarene has been and dream about its future. The Nazarene Church has been in Knox County since 1922. The denomination has been headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., since 1912.

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.”

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.

All Knox County community members are invited to attend this event for the whole family. Childcare up to age four will be available.

For more information, contact Rev. Kevin Peterson of West Side Church of the Nazarene at (740) 392-3197.