The story of the Church of the Nazarene in Lacombe begins in the neighbouring communities of Blackfalds and Joffre.

Following outreach ministries conducted by students of Canadian Nazarene College (then located in Red Deer), in August 1952, a new Nazarene congregation with 11 charter members was organized in the Joffre area. They began meeting in a country school building that they had purchased.

A few years later, in January 1957, another new Nazarene congregation was organized in Blackfalds with 11 charter members. Rev. Chris Cornish was the first pastor of the Blackfalds Church.

Both congregations worshiped and ministered in their respective communities for the next several years.

Services for the Church of the Nazarene were started in Lacombe on February 28, 1965, as a missional venture launched by the Joffre and Blackfalds congregations. From the beginning, attendance, and interest were strong. The fledgling congregation met in various locations around town, including the Royal Canadian Legion Hall. Within a little less than two years, both the Blackfalds and Joffre congregations decided to sell their buildings and merge with the Lacombe congregation.

The First Baptist Church building on 53 St. (presently the Lacombe Community Food Bank) became the congregation’s first home in late 1966. A service of initiation was held there on November 6, 1966, under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Benjamin Kaechele.

The new church thrived, particularly with ministry to children and teens. The church was soon overcrowded, and the purchase of a house next door was negotiated to provide more space for these burgeoning ministries. But the need for a larger facility was soon evident to all.

On April 29, 1990, a decisive move was made to address this need. Following the morning service that day, a cavalcade of cars progressed through ankle-deep snow in a spring blizzard to the new property in Bruns Park for a sod-turning ceremony. A building program was launched, and on June 2, 1991, services began in the beautiful new church at 4930 Woodland Drive.

And we’ve been worshiping and ministering here ever since!

We are grateful to God for the sacrificial giving of time, energy, talents, resources, and prayer, which have been poured out by congregation members all these years – a rich legacy indeed.