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Written by Kelvin Mulenga for Nazarene Journal
We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.
Hebrews 12.1
There are days that change everything.
October 16 1907 was one of those days.
A morning marked by unity.
An afternoon marked by mission.
An evening marked by identity.
It was on this day in a quiet room in Chicago Illinois that what we now call the Church of the Nazarene began to rise not as a single voice but as a chorus of believers stretching coast to coast hand in hand spirit to spirit all committed to the cause of holiness unto the Lord.
When Unity Was More Than a Word
The Association of Pentecostal Churches of America and the Church of the Nazarene two bodies with hearts ablaze for the same mission chose not to compete but to converge.
They had churches in Nova Scotia Iowa San Diego Seattle and even as far as Calcutta and Cape Verde. But on this day their reach wasn’t their power. Their oneness was.
They voted. They wept. They worshiped.
And in that sacred space the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene was born.
A Morning of Leadership
That morning Phineas Bresee was elected as the first general superintendent not by rivalry but by acclamation. The body didn’t need more ballots. They needed a shepherd. And they had found one.
By the afternoon Hiram F Reynolds was elected as the second general superintendent on the third ballot. A man whose vision for global missions would take this church far beyond its own borders.
That evening a name was chosen.
Pentecostal. A word that then meant holiness in its purest most passionate form.
This wasn’t about fireworks and frenzy. This was about power for purity and strength for service. That’s what Pentecost meant to our founders.
What Does This Mean Today
It means we are a church of unity. Birthed not in division but in merging mission fields and merging hearts.
It means we are a church of courage. Where indigenous missionaries in Cape Verde and servants in India stood alongside voices from North America and dreamed of a shared future.
It means we are a church where leaders rise not to rule but to rally. To gather the saints and move forward together.
So Today We Remember
We remember the faith of Bresee.
We remember the vision of Reynolds.
We remember the sacrifice of churches that gave up independence for impact.
We remember the Holiness Church of Christ who sat in the room observed and later said
Let’s meet again in the South.
And one year later they did. At Pilot Point Texas where the church became truly national.
A Church Born from Holy Collaboration
Today we’re not just a church because of founders.
We’re a church because of followers. Those who followed God’s leading when it meant releasing control merging identities and becoming something greater together.
Let this be a reminder to us.
The Holy Spirit still unites what the world tries to divide.
The mission of holiness is still worth our surrender.
And leadership is still about serving the mission more than self.
To those carrying the mantle today may we continue in their footsteps with courage conviction and collaboration.
And to our founders thank you for dreaming together so we could live the legacy today.
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