Our Story at ChillNaz 1st

At Chillicothe First Church of the Nazarene, we are quickly approaching our 100th year as a church! Organized on June 25, 1929, our church was formed from a tent revival at our city park with Bud Robinson (Uncle Buddy) and Perry Rood. In 1929, the District Superintendent was Charles Gibson and our First Pastor was A.J. Laird.

In 1929, there were 18 charter members. The original church building was on Monroe Ave. in Chillicothe, Ohio...just behind where our current church building sits! In 1964, our current building was built at 781 Madison Ave. in Chillicothe, Ohio. The cornerstone date for this building was January 24, 1964. 

As of 2023, there have been 29 pastors (including Interim Pastors) and 25 Senior Pastors throughout the 90+ years as a church. Our current Co-Lead Pastors, Pastor Ed Simons and Pastor Jeremy Schinkle were installed as Co-Lead Pastors by District Superintendent, Dr. Sam Barber in March 2023. 

We live in and love on our Chillicothe and Ross County, Ohio community. Keep an eye on our website and social media for announcements of events such as our annual community Trunk or Treat event for the kids in October, or our annual community Easter Egg Hunt in the spring, or our annual First Responder's Breakfast for all the hard working man and women in our police and fire departments, or maybe even the free community meal hosted by our Compassionate Ministries (every second Monday of the month!). You might even find some of our church members singing Christmas carols to our church neighbors around Christmastime or catch our ChillNaz Iron Men's Small Group at their annual Chillicothe Paints baseball game outing!

Our Mission

Our mission is simple: to LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE, & LOVE LIVED. But what does that mean? We're glad you asked! 

As a community of faith, we love God (that's self explanatory); we love our people: our neighbors, and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ; and we are called to live a life of love empowered by the Holy Spirit and His transformational work of God in us.

Core Values of the Church of the Nazarene

We Are a Christian People

We join with all true believers in proclaiming the lordship of Jesus Christ. We are especially called to preach holiness and to remain faithful to the principal Wesleyan-Holiness teachings: God's prevenient grace and the means of grace, repentence, faith, the new birth, justification, entire sanctification, assurance, the Christian community, and its disciplines, and the perfection of LOVE. 

We Are a Holiness People

We believe that the Holy Spirit seeks to do in us a second work of grace, called by various terms including "entire sanctification," and "baptism with the Holy Spirit," cleansing us from all sing, renewing us in the image of God, empowering us to love God and our neighbors, and producing in us the character of Christ. 

We Are a Missional People

We are a sent people, responding to Christ's call 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, worshiping, evangelizing, discipling, and preparing for service. 

Nazarene Beliefs  

1. The Triune God

2. Jesus Christ

3. The Holy Spirit

4. The Holy Scriptures

5. Sin, Original, and Personal 

6. Atonement 

7. Prevenient Grace

8. Repentance

9. Justification, Regeneration, and Adoption

10. Christian Holiness and Entire Sanctification

11. The Church

12. Baptism 

13. The Lord's Supper

14. Divine Healing

15. Second Coming of Christ

16. Resurrection, Judgment, and Destiny  

Fun Facts about the Church of the Nazarene

• There are over 30,000 Nazarene churches! 

• 2.58 million members

• 51 colleges, seminaries, and universities in 120 world areas

• 1.04 million members of Nazarene Mission International