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What We Believe
"I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." John Wesley-May 24, 1738What is a United Methodist?
In the words of John Wesley (1703-1791), "A Methodist is...one who loves the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength.
The United Methodist Church is grounded in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Earlier Christians
Methodism traces it's history from the early Christian church, through Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation.
John Wesley
After his experience in 1738, Wesley set out with his brother Charles to form societies of "Methodists," so called because the members followed a daily routine of religious observance and social work. Wesley never intended to break from the Church of England, and died and Anglican preist.
American Methodism
In colonial America, traveling lay preachers spread the gospel and Wesley's teachings to the settlers. After the Revolution, a seperate church was formed, the Methodist Episcopal Church. Other Wesleyan denominations also formed. In 1968, the Evangelical United Brethern Church and Methodist Church joined to form the Uited Methodist Church-this country's second largest Protestant denomination.
What do United Methodists Believe?
They share a Christian commitment.
The distinguishing marks of a United Methodist are probably best illustrated by a commitment to the basics of Christianity and by a Christian lifestyle-rather than by assenting to a particular scheme of beliefs.
They have several sources for their faith:
The BibleJohn Wesley's writings
the Articles of Religion
the Confession of Faith
the United Methodist "Book of Discipline"
theologians and educators.
They share a common heritage with other Christians.
Christians share:conviction that God has mercy and love for all people
belief in a triune God - Father, Son & Holy Spirit
faith in the mystery of salvation through Jesus Christ
celebration of the sacraments.In these and many other ways, Methodism affirms the uity of all Christians in the Body of Christ.
