United Methodist Beliefs

United Methodist Beliefs

The United Methodist Church is the largest of seventy denominations in world-wide Methodism, including such groups as the Salvation Army, the Pentecostal Association, the Wesleyan and the Nazarene Churches. A movement begun in the 1700's in England by students at Oxford University, it was orginally called "The Holy Club". Members agreed to attend their own church regularly (they were from a variety of groups, Roman Catholic as well as Protestant, although most were Anglican or the Church of England), pray and read their Bibles daily, do a good deed for others daily, and attend their Holy Club group (or "class") weekly.

Other students made fun of "Holy Club" members, considering them religious fanatics; among the jibes they made up was "Methodist", because the Holy Club insisted on being so methodical - scheduling daily prayer and Scripture study, for instance. The name stuck.

From the beginning, Methodists did not intend to create a separate church. Their vision was to encourage all Christians to "grow in holiness": to grow spiritually and to put that spiritual growth to practical purpose in making a better world. To this day, Methodists do not think they are part of the only or best church; we believe that all Christians are part of one family of God.

Our basic tenets are shared by most Christians: one God, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Jesus Christ is the Son of God, both human and divine; the Bible contains all things necessary for salvation. We believe that becoming a Christian is not a matter of simply going through a ceremony or believing a certain set of doctrines; rather we enter a relationship through faith with God in Christ, and then open ourselves for a lifelong process of growth in that relationship. One may compare it to marriage: what makes us married is not a wedding (although that's important) or saying we are in love, but a life-long growing commitment to one another, grateful for the gift of love the other person entrusts to us.

We practice baptism in three modes: sprinkling, pouring, and total immersion, leaving it to the person to decide which he or she wishes, and we baptize both children and adults. We accept the baptism of other Christian churches and practice open communion: you need not be a United Methodist to receive eucharist with us.

We believe in "the trained mind and the warmed heart": that is, education is important, but with it must go a personal commitment to God. An uneducated commitment can become bigotry and fanaticism; an uncommitted education can breed immoral monsters. United Methodism has founded over a hundred colleges and universities, has campus ministries at almost every major institution of higher education in the nation, and elementary and secondary schools on Native American reservations, in Appalachia, and in mission stations abroad. We have missionaries on every continent and have created one of the largest Protestant networks of hospitals, childrens' homes, and retirement homes in the world.

We call persons to practice responsible stewardship: of their citizenship by participating in democratic processes; of their world through ecological awareness and action; of their relationships through commitment and caring; of their minds and bodies through, among other things, practicing total abstinence from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and illegal drugs.

The United Methodist Church has a clear set of stances on almost every political issue, from the right of collective bargaining to abortion, homosexuality and racism. These stances are articulated by an elected body of delegates, half lay and half clergy, from all over the world, who meet every four years. If you are interested in our statements on any issue, please check this website:
http://www.umc.org/churchlibrary/discipline/socialprinciples.

This page created 18 January 2001
Last Updated 4 January 2006, 1:41 a.m.

This page maintained by: Adm. Secretary - (eumc@mtco.com)