Our History

Before the turn of the twentieth century, a small group of New Yorkers had a big dream: “to preach holiness evangelism to a new and rapidly developing part of the city”.

This community of 32 became the initial seed plant that merged with the Church of the Nazarene in 1907. On that historic occasion, witnesses later said that “the rafters shook with the demonstration of joy.”

Today, the Metro New York District Church of the Nazarene touches lives from across the globe. Over 120 churches across the New York metropolitan area, from a multitude of cultures, live out that “holiness experience” in their homes, at their jobs, and within their churches.

We celebrate this grand mosaic of the Church and dream of the possibilities yet to come.

Our Values

We Are a Christian People

As members of the Church Universal, we join with all true believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and embracing the historic Trinitarian creedal statements of Christian faith. We value our Wesleyan-Holiness heritage and believe it to be a way of understanding the faith that is true to Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.

We Are a Holiness People

God, who is holy, calls us to a life of holiness. We believe that the Holy Spirit seeks to do in us a second work of grace — cleansing us from all sin, renewing us in the image of God, empowering us to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves, and producing in us the character of Christ. We understand this as “Christlikeness.”

We Are a Missional People

We are a sent people, responding to the call of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to go into all the world, witnessing to the Lordship of Christ and participating with God in the building of the Church and the extension of His kingdom (See: Matthew 28:19-20 and 2 Corinthians 6:1). Our mission begins in worship, ministers to the world in evangelism and compassion, encourages believers toward Christian maturity through discipleship and prepares women and men for Christian service through faith-based education.

Our Team

District Leadership

Rev. Dr. Samuel & Angela Vassel

District Superintendent
(516) 561-8614
samvassel@mnynaz.com

Rev. Bruce Barnard

President, Manhattan Initiative
Director of Operations and Finance
(516) 561-8614 EXT: 7670
pastorbruce@mnynaz.com

Rev. Althea Taylor

Executive Director, Tom Nees Center for Compassion, Justice, and Immigration
Acting Director of Clergy and Congregational Life
(516) 561-8614
althea@mnynaz.com