OUR history
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Amazing Grace Church building in 20s and 30s. Click to read Union Bulletin article on 100 Year Celebration
Revival meeting in 1931
Amazing Grace Church's campus today.
Worship Center in 2017
Gathering Grounds in 2017
AG's Core Values
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Walla Walla First Church of the Nazarene (today Amazing Grace Church) was formed in 1909 during a tent revival held on the corner of 2nd and Poplar Streets in Walla Walla. This makes the congregation one of the oldest organized churches in our denomination and a piece of Walla Walla history.
Amazing Grace is part of the Northwest District. The Northwest District of the Church of the Nazarene is unique. Organized in December 1904, the Northwest District had already held four annual district assemblies before the Church of the Nazarene as a denomination was officially organized at Pilot Point, Texas in 1908. The original boundaries of Northwest District included churches in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. In its 15th district assembly (1919), the Northwest District reported 23 churches with 795 members. By the time the district had been in existence for 25 years it had been divided into five districts. In all, eight districts have been formed out of the original geographical boundaries. The Church of the Nazarene, from its beginnings, has confessed itself to be a branch of the “one, holy, universal, and apostolic” church. It embraces the people of God through the ages, those redeemed through Jesus Christ in whatever expression of the one church they may be found. It receives the ecumenical creeds of the first five Christian centuries as expressions of its own faith.
While the Church of the Nazarene has responded to its special calling to live the sanctified life, it has continued to nurture identification with the historic church in its preaching of the Word, administration of the sacraments, concern to raise up and maintain a ministry that is truly apostolic in faith and practice, and teaching of disciplines for Christlike living and service to others. Read our Historical Statement. As a local Nazarene church in Walla Walla, Amazing Grace is trusting and following God boldly into the 21st century. We are focused on Creating Christward Community. This means we are making disciple-makers through what we call Lifeshaping. In many ways, our current reality and mission is moving back to an early church model - making disciples, who make disciples! We gather together for simple worship, prayer, edification, giving, and hearing God's Word preached. We desire to follow Jesus with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. A few years ago, Amazing Grace Church was called to plant a new church and the Walla Walla Valley Cowboy Church was born. They are now a thriving congregation on their own ready to build their first building! Awesome job guys! Amazing Grace is very proud of the Cowboy Church, Pastor Ron, and their mission to reach the western heritage culture in the Walla Walla Valley! We invite you to join us as we gather together as God's people called to create Christward community. "Nazarenes" were particularly influenced by the Wesleyan revival of the 18th century. In the 1730s the broader Evangelical Revival arose in Britain, directed chiefly by John Wesley, his brother Charles, and George Whitefield, clergymen in the Church of England. Through this movement many men and women turned from sin and were empowered for the service of God. This spiritual awakening was characterized by lay preaching, testimony, discipline, and circles of earnest disciples known as “societies,” “classes,” and “bands.”
In October 1895, Phineas F. Bresee, D.D., and Joseph P. Widney, M.D., with about 100 others, organized the Church of the Nazarene at Los Angeles, CA. They held that Christians should follow Christ's example, live-out their faith, and preach the gospel to the world. They believed unnecessary elegance did not represent the spirit of Christ but the spirit of the world, and expenditures of time and money should be given to Christward ministries for the salvation of souls and the relief of the needy. They organized the church accordingly. The Church of the Nazarene spread chiefly along the West Coast, with scattered congregations east of the Rocky Mountains as far as Illinois.
Today, we have established 30,574 churches with 2,471,553 members across the world. We currently have over 70 missionaries serving in 150 world areas. The Church of the Nazarene is truly a global church on a global mission for Jesus.
We value relevant teaching and education. Since our beginning, education has been a central part of our commitment to discipleship making. Today, we are blessed with the resources of and responsibility for 5 Graduate Seminaries, 14 Liberal Arts Institutions, 31 Undergraduate Bible Colleges, and 3 Specialized Training Colleges, which provide education to 53,000 students in more than 120 world areas. Northwest Nazarene University is our church's award winning university based in Nampa, ID.
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check out OUR Nazarene archives
Hallelujah march, October 1908
Pilot Point, Texas
