PazNaz is a unique worshipping community that has been gathering in Pasadena for over 100 years. We are intercultural, intergenerational, and missional. Our beginnings and roots belong to a peculiar people called the Nazarenes. Throughout this series, we will lean into our “Big Tent” heritage and celebrate the values that make up our shared history and story. 

The image used for this series is from the Second General Assembly which met in Pilot Point, Texas, from October 8-14, 1908, and expanded the new denomination’s numbers, making it truly national by reaching deep into the (U.S.) South. 

When choosing the official anniversary date for the church, the founders, at the Sixth General Assembly in 1923, chose the Second General Assembly as the benchmark for observing “this great spiritual marriage” that brought unity to the church across the country.

It was during the Second General Assembly that Phineas F. Bresee, committed to uniting the regional churches, secured concessions from the Southerners and his own group. On October 13, at 10:40 am, the vote to merge the denominations was taken, followed by scenes of great joy and a “Hallelujah March” around the meeting tent.