Denton Church of the Nazarene

History

Our Story

Denton Church of the Nazarene began January 21, 1941, by Rev. Lemuel Savage, a Nazarene minister, who drove through Denton and decided to start a Mission church in West Denton.  He announced a starting date for the small group of unattached Christians to officially meet. 

The first Sunday and for sixteen years after, this small group of people met in a rented building, that was a former sewing factory, in the back part of West Denton.

1957 - The official board of the local church decided to purchase property.  The Denton Cemetery Association had a home for sale on Rt. 404 directly across from the Denton cemetery.  This home was bought and converted into a church. 

The new property had enough land to build a building in the future.  It was hoped that the renovated home was only temporary, and the new edifice would materialize soon. 

1965 - A new white concrete block structure was completed on the side of the older home.  This building served the congregation until it was outgrown.  It was then purchased by the Baptists.

1972 - New land was purchased anticipating the need for a larger building.    The church decided on three and a half acres on Rt. 313 on the North side of Denton.

1976 - On July 11, 1976, a new structure was officially dedicated by Dr. Roy E. Carnahan, a district superintendent for the Washington District Church of the Nazarene.

The new brick structured edifice was completely air conditioned and had partial facilities for the handicapped to worship.

In 1985, Pastor Shaffer was Senior Pastor,  we added our fellowship hall and upstairs classrooms.

2003 while Pastor Hal Parry was with us, we remodeled the sanctuary.  With the growth of the church, we found we needed to add another classroom off the Fellowship Hall and also increased the size of the nursery.

Senior Pastor is Rev. Paul Merritt and his family arrived in 2012. Since then, we have purchased the property next to the church and are working on the existing house. It is being remodeled to be used as a youth center for our teens.