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What we are about
At Calvary Church of the Nazarene, we are learning to do three things: Connect with God, Connect with One Another and Connect with Our Community.
Calvary exists to call people to become authentic and thoughtful followers of Jesus and to join God in the renewal of all things.
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We understand ourselves as being a group of people who are trying to live our lives oriented to God and his purposes in our world. We do this through worshiping, praying and studying scripture together.
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We are committed to sharing our lives together. Whether it be through a shared meal at someone’s house, a fellowship gathering at the church or a group of people gathered together to study Scripture, we believe that building relationships with one another is vital to our faith.
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We believe that God has called us to be the “church” inside and outside of the four walls of this building. Our faith goes beyond the hour and a half that we meet together in worship. We are called to be salt and light to the world around us. To that end, we are involved in ministries within our community. We also understand that in every home, in every place of work and even while picking up groceries, we are the people of God and that God is making His appeal through us
(2 Corinthians 5:20).
Our Beliefs
We are a Great Commission church. As a global community of faith, we are commissioned to TAKE THE GOOD NEWS OF LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST to people everywhere and to spread the message of scriptural holiness across lands.
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WE BELIEVE in one God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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WE BELIEVE that the Old and New Testament Scriptures, given by plenary inspiration, contain all truth necessary to faith and Christian living.
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WE BELIEVE that human beings are born with a fallen nature, and are, therefore, inclined to evil, and that continually.
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WE BELIEVE that the finally impenitent are hopelessly and eternally lost.
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WE BELIEVE 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.
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WE BELIEVE that believers are to be sanctified wholly, subsequent to regeneration, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the new birth, and also to the entire sanctification of believers.
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WE BELIEVE that our Lord will return, the dead will be raised, and the final judgment will take place.
Our Values
our core values are the essence of our identity and support the vision of our denomination and help shape our culture.
A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE
As members of the Church Universal, we join with all true believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in affirming the historic Trinitarian creeds and beliefs of the 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 united with all believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We believe that in divine love God offers to all people forgiveness of sins and restored relationship. In being reconciled to God, we believe that we are also to be reconciled to one another, loving each other as we have been loved by God and forgiving each other as we have been forgiven by God. We believe that our life together is to exemplify the character of Christ. We look to Scripture as the primary source of spiritual truth confirmed by reason, tradition, and experience.
Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Church, which, as the Nicene Creed tells us, is one, holy, universal, and apostolic. In Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit, God the Father offers forgiveness of sin and reconciliation to all the world. Those who respond to God’s offer in faith become the people of God. Having been forgiven and reconciled in Christ, we forgive and are reconciled to one another. In this way, we are Christ’s Church and Body and reveal the unity of that Body. As the one Body of Christ, we have “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” We affirm the unity of Christ’s Church and strive in all things to preserve it (Ephesians 4:5, 3).
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.
Because we are called by Scripture and drawn by grace to worship God and to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves, we commit ourselves fully and completely to God, believing that we can be "sanctified wholly," as a second crisis experience. We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts, cleanses, fills, and empowers us as the grace of God transforms us day by day into a people of love, spiritual discipline, ethical and moral purity, compassion, and justice. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that restores us in the image of God and produces in us the character of Christ.
We believe in God the Father, the Creator, who calls into being what does not exist. We once were not, but God called us into being, made us for himself, and fashioned us in His own image. We have been commissioned to bear the image of God: "I am the LORD . . . your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44).
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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 (Matthew 28:19-20; 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.
What is a
Nazarene?
Jesus grew up in a town called Nazareth. The Bible contains a story in the Gospel According to John about two friends - one named Philip and the other Nathanael. Philip had already decided to follow Jesus and was trying to convince Nathanael to follow him as well. In making his case Philip said, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus, Joseph's son, from Nazareth.” Nathanael responded, “Can anything from Nazareth be good?”
(John 1:45-46 CEB)
In that day, Nazareth was "on the wrong side of the tracks." It was a place where the poor lived, the impoverished, diseased, outcasts - the not-good-enoughs. This is why Nathanael responded the way he did, because what he knew of Nazareth was that there wasn't a lot of good there.
However, Jesus had a way of turning the tables on our expectations -- even down to his humble hometown. Christ spent much of his ministry helping others see the "upside down" kingdom he claimed to be ushering in -- a kingdom in which the first shall be last and the last shall be first, a kingdom where leaders must become the servants of all.
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This is where we get our name - Nazarene. The Church of the Nazarene began in inner city Los Angeles in 1908, reaching out to the poor, impoverished, diseased, and outcasts - the not-good-enoughs. We took seriously and continue to take seriously what Jesus the Nazarene taught when he said, "I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me. Then those who are righteous will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.'" (Matthew 25:34-40 CEB)
Today, we are taking this call as seriously as ever. There is no one undeserving of the transforming love of Christ, and we believe the grace of God goes before us in our mission to share this love with the entire world. You should join us!*
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If you would like more information about the Church of the Nazarene and many of our core beliefs, click here.
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*From Scott Daniels, General Superintendent Church of the Nazarene
Women in
Ministry
The Church of the Nazarene supports the right of women to use their God-given spiritual gifts within the church and 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.
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The purpose of Christ’s redemptive work is to set God’s creation free from the curse of the Fall. Those who are “in Christ” are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). In this redemptive community, no human being is to be regarded as inferior on the basis of social status, race, or gender (Galatians 3:26-28). Acknowledging the apparent paradox created by Paul’s instruction to Timothy (1 Timothy 2:11-12) and to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:33-34), we believe interpreting these passages as limiting the role of women in ministry presents serious conflicts with specific passages of scripture that commend female participation in spiritual leadership roles (Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:17-18; 21:8-9; Romans 16:1, 3, 7; Philippians 4:2-3), and violates the spirit and practice of the Wesleyan-holiness tradition. Finally, it is incompatible with the character of God presented throughout Scripture, especially as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.
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For more information about Women in Ministry:
“Love is the essential inner character of holiness, and holiness does not exist apart from love.”
-Dr. Mildred Bangs Wynkoop
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