Basic beliefs and teachings of the United Methodist Church
     Methodism is a main offshoot of the Protestant branch of the Christian family tree.  It began almost 275 years ago as a spiritual revival movement during the First Great Awakening in the 18th century in England.  Initially it was a labor of love and discipleship of two brothers, John and Charles Wesley.  Their father Samuel was a priest in the Church of England, and their mother Susanna was a woman of powerful faith and energy.  Both John and Charles became priests in the Church of England as young men.  John was the organizational, administrative and theological genius of the young movement.  Charles' theological insight and spiritual intensity were equally bright, and found unique expression in the many hymns and poems he composed.  Many of his hymns are still sung today by Christians of all denominations around the world.
     Methodists stand in a heritage of theology and liturgy that extends back through the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church to the beginnings of Christianity, and so rightfully takes its place among the so-called "mainline" denominations.  Its basic beliefs about a trinitarian God, Jesus the Christ as the resurrected fulfillment of messianic hope, the centrality of Scripture, and the nature and role of the Church as a fellowship of believers guided by the Holy Spirit and a supportive community for learning and practicing the living of the Kingdom of God are classically orthodox.
     The Wesleys brought to their thinking and their living discipleship an emphasis on grace over judgment; possibility and hope over surrender and despair; healing and forgiveness over brokenness and bitterness.  Wesleyan spiritual life encourages growth and mutual responsibility as active, committed members of the larger Body of Christ.  Because of what Jesus Christ has done, we can draw nearer to doing God's will, also.  In this movement and growth toward spiritual maturity and perfection, we are all connected, and God expects us to be supportive of one another.  This notion of the personal and corporate "connection" lies close to the heart of Wesleyan theology and practice.
Click on these links
to learn more:
     Methodists believe that God offers salvation to all the world through Jesus Christ.  We practice our faith guided by four authorities.  This so-called Methodist Quadrilateral has never formally been codified as indisputable or immutable, but nevertheless has come to be a reference point for many in the Methodist tradition:
 
     ~ the HOLY SCRIPTURES of the Hebrew and Christian traditions, which reveal a truthful witness of God's relationship to humankind since the very beginning (We don't try to re-invent Truth);
 
     ~ we apply REASON as a critical test of our faith and practice -- the nature and glory of God surpass our imagination and rational comprehension, yet we are convinced that what God asks us to do is both possible and logical (even when we don't completely understand it, we trust and know that God's will ultimately and consistently makes sense);
 
     ~ we examine our doctrine and practice of faith in light of our EXPERIENCE, which allows incorporation of contemporary insight and prevents the fatal disconnection of faith from knowledge (Christ calls us to confront reality faithfully, not to dismiss a reality staring us in the face which we cannot fit into our traditional understanding -- blind denial of our human experience is no more helpful than unexamined faith; worse than both is the stubborn refusal to come to terms with reality when we are not, in fact, blind!);
 
     ~ the TRADITIONS and teachings of the Church as the Body of Christ enable us to acknowledge, benefit from and appreciate the thinking and experience of those who have gone before us in faith (we may be committed to building a better car, but we try to avoid re-inventing the wheel...).