Logo White Asheville First Church of the Nazarene Church in Asheville, NC

Church of the Nazarene

“Let the Church of the Nazarene be true to its commission; not great and elegant buildings; but to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and wipe away the tears of sorrowing, and gather jewels for His diadem.”

— Phineas F. Bresee

About Asheville First Church of the Nazarene

Here at ashnaz, we want to know jesus and make jesus known.

 

We are a Church of the Nazarene.

 

If you are not familiar with our tradition, then it’s quite easy to explain who we are in 3 simple words:

Christian, Holiness, Missional.

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Asheville First Church of the Nazarene Statement of Mission

The mission of the Asheville First Church of the Nazarene is to make Christlike disciples in the nations.


We are a Great Commission church. As a global community of faith, we are commissioned to take the Good News of life in Jesus Christ to people everywhere and to spread the message of scriptural holiness across the lands.


The Asheville First Church of the Nazarene bonds together individuals who have made Jesus Christ Lord of their lives, sharing in Christian fellowship, and seeking to strengthen each other in faith development through worship, preaching, training, and service to others.


We strive to express the compassion of Jesus Christ to all persons along with our personal commitment to Christlike living. While the primary motive of the church is to glorify God, we also are called to actively participate in His mission — reconciling the world to himself.


The statement of mission contains historical essentials of our mission: Evangelism, Sanctification, Discipleship, Compassion. The essence of holiness is Christlikeness. Nazarenes are becoming a sent people-into homes, work places, communities, and villages as well as other cities and countries. Missionaries are now sent from all regions of the world. God continues calling ordinary people to do extraordinary things made possible by the person of the Holy Spirit.

Our Staff

Rev. Bobby Forest

Senior Pastor

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Rev. Alyssa Forest

Executive Pastor

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Dennis Corn

Church Board Secretary

Marilyn Harmaning

Administrative Assistant

Lisa Conti

Church Treasurer

Rev. William K. (Ken) Harmaning, Ed.D.

Tech and Media Administrator

Statement of Beliefs

Asheville First Church of the Nazarene

TRINITY

SCRIPTURE

SINFUL NATURE

ETERNITY

SALVATION

SANCTIFICATION

THE HOLY SPIRIT

CHRIST'S RETURN

Core Values

A Christian People

The Church of the Nazarene is explicitly Christian and Identifies with the history of the Christian tradition. While we have our unique identity within the Christian faith we are only one member of the larger body of Christ. As Christians we proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord and that he has brought about God's Kingdom on earth.

A Holiness People

The Church of the Nazarene's unique identity is in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition which began with John Wesley's emphasis on sanctification and living a holy life. We are not "Holy-Rollers," but we do seek to be a holy people set aside for God's work in the world. At the core of our Holiness identity is God's love. Living a holy life is as simple as allowing God's love to wholly transform and wholly use you . God is always seeking a people to reveal his steadfast love to the world. We try to be those people. 

A Missional People

We at Asheville First are a people on a mission. Our primary mission  is to manifest the love of Christ in all that we do both individually and corporately. Everything we do is in an effort to know, grow, and share Christ's love with all people. We believe this will lead people to become disciples who strive to follow Christ as closely as they can.  

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Asheville First Church of the Nazarene history

Serving the Asheville, NC community for 15 years

  1. Founded in 2004 by Pastors Will and Leslie Solomon, with a small group of family and friends
  2. Gathered around town until 2006 when we purchased our first building
  3. By 2009 we outgrew our first building, and moved into our second building
  4. Due to exponential growth, we started a building construction project in Summer of 2016
  5. Moved into new building in Fall of 2017

Our Local Church Mission Statement:

KNOW JESUS AND MAKE JESUS KNOWN