Throughout its history, there have been several groups that separated from the Church of the Nazarene to form new denominations. One of the first groups to withdraw from the denomination consisted of seven congregations in Colorado that had comprised the People's Mission Church under the leadership of William Lee, which had united with the Church of the Nazarene in April 1911.Smith, Called, 180, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2501-2600/HDM2593.PDF However, on 6 January 1912, Lee and his preachers wrote to Bresee indicating their desire to withdraw as they had found the "distinctively congregational form of government" in the Church of the Nazarene was not suitable for a work so "pioneer and aggressive" in character as theirs had been."Smith, Called, 181, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2501-2600/HDM2593.PDF Despite efforts to address their concerns, "only a small band in Colorado Springs remained 'loyal to the church."Smith, Called, 182. In 1925 the People's Mission merged with the Pilgrim Holiness Church.Paul Westphal Thomas and Paul William Thomas, The Days of our Pilgrimage: The History of the Pilgrim Holiness Church (Wesley Press, 1976):98.
