Denominational Profile

Notes

The Church of the Nazarene is a Holiness church founded in 1908 by Phineas Bresee, a former superintendent in the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was founded as the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, and the word "Pentecostal" was dropped in 1919 to avoid confusion with the "speaking in tongues" sects.

Membership Data

Year	Clergy	Churches	Members
1925	2,920	1,486	59,767
1929	3,091	1,774	77,662
1933	-	1,974	109,984
1935	3,809	2,170	127,649
1937	-	2,341	140,291
1940	-	2,612	165,532
1942	-	2,898	180,243
1944	-	2,965	187,082
1946	-	-	201,487
1947	-	3,316	209,277
1950	4,552	3,480	226,684
1951	4,673	3,616	235,670
1952	4,785	3,710	243,152
1953	4,886	3,826	249,749
1954	5,027	3,970	260,551
1955	5,188	4,090	270,576
1956	5,269	4,169	277,618
1957	5,317	4,225	281,646
1958	5,497	4,309	291,036
1959	5,593	4,418	300,771
1960	5,736	4,458	307,629
1961	5,807	4,486	315,647
1962	6,242	4,509	323,491
1963	6,304	4,849	342,032
1964	6,058	4,569	337,033
1965	6,194	4,580	343,380
1966	6,273	4,623	350,882
1967	6,364	4,652	358,346
1968	6,386	4,674	364,789
1969	6,481	4,662	372,943
1970	6,585	4,636	383,284
1971	6,774	4,654	394,197
1972	7,195	4,861	404,732
1973	7,055	4,717	417,732
1974	7,130	4,727	430,128
1975	7,223	4,733	441,093
1976	7,286	4,727	449,205
1977	7,485	4,730	455,648
1978	7,590	4,719	462,724
1979	7,745	4,831	474,820
1980	7,841	4,853	484,276
1981	7,945	4,888	492,203
1982	8,043	4,902	498,491
1983	8,223	4,931	507,574
1984	8,439	4,973	516,020
1985	8,494	4,989	522,082
1986	8,667	5,018	530,912
1987	8,811	5,080	543,762
1988	8,988	5,129	552,264
1989	9,138	5,158	561,253
1991	9,363	5,172	573,834
1993	-	5,161	591,134
1994	9,628	5,156	597,841
1995	9,741	5,135	601,900
1996	-	-	608,008
1997	9,907	5,118	619,576
1998	9,998	5,101	627,054
2000	9,898	5,070	636,564
2002	9,877	4,983	643,649
2003	10,271	4,922	621,048
2004	10,310	4,868	631,253
2005	9,355	5,225	636,296
2006	9,226	4,814	640,027
2007	9,385	5,096	642,523
2008	9,391	5,090	645,048
2009	10,926	5,063	645,846

Data were taken from the National Council of Churches' Historic Archive CD and recent editions of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. Denomination descriptions provided by Dr. J. Gordon Melton, Director, Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR). [More information on data sources]