the church of the nazarene was founded as the original western group before the merger on october 13, 1908.
when was the church of the nazarene founded as the original western group before the merger?
october 13, 1908
the first general assembly held in chicago, illinois from 10–17 october 1907 brought together the eastern and the western streams. the western group was the church of the nazarene founded in october 1895 in los angeles, california by dr. phineas f. bresee, a minister in the methodist episcopal church, and dr joseph pomeroy widney, a methodist physician, and the second president of the university of southern california. the eastern group was the association of pentecostal churches of america, a denomination formed on 13 april 1897 through the merger of two older bodies: the central evangelical holiness association (organised 13–14 march 1890) and led by fred a. hillery and c. howard davis; and three churches organised by william howard hoople since january 1894, and formed into the association of pentecostal churches of america. on 12 november 1896, these two groups met in brooklyn, agreed upon a plan of union, which included retaining the name and manual of hoople's group. prominent leaders included hiram f. reynolds, davis, and hoople. at the time of its merger with the church of the nazarene in 1907, the apca existed principally from nova scotia to iowa and the northeastern united states. the name of the united body adopted at the first general assembly was pentecostal church of the nazarene, and bresee and reynolds were elected the first general superintendents.
history of the church of the nazarene
in 1907, bresee led the church of the nazarene into a union with another wesleyan-holiness denomination, the association of pentecostal churches of america, a similar group that originated in new england and extended from nova scotia, down new england and the middle atlantic states, and westward to iowa. the association of pentecostal churches of america wanted the church of the nazarene to be called the pentecostal church of the nazarene. meeting in chicago for their first general assembly, the two groups formalized their merger, adopting the name pentecostal church of the nazarene and electing two general superintendents (bishops)—one from the western group and one from the eastern body. bresee was the first general superintendent elected, and he was soon joined by h. f. reynolds of brooklyn as the second one. the following year, at pilot point, texas, the second general assembly of the pentecostal church of the nazarene was held and a southern body, the holiness church of christ, merged with the pentecostal nazarenes. e. p. ellyson of texas was elected to join bresee and reynolds on the board of general superintendents. bresee served as the senior general superintendent of the church until his death in 1915.
phineas f. bresee