The United Methodist Church is part of a Wesleyan movement that now claims a total of 18 million members of various Methodist churches around the world.  There are 8.5 million United Methodists in the United States and one million members of the denomination outside the United States.

The United Methodist is part of the church universal.  All persons, regardless of race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition are welcome to attend services, receive Holy Communion, and after taking vows, be baptized and admitted into membership.

Denominational practices and standards are set by General Conferences that meet once every for years.  Delegates to the conference are elected by clergy and lay representatives from local churches gathered in various regional (annual) conferences.

In 1729 in England, a small group of Oxford University students were ridiculed as the "Holy Club" and "Methodists" because they spent so much time in methodical prayer and Bible reading.  Led by John and Charles Wesley, the students held their ground against jeering students and went out to preach and pray with those considered being the underbelly of English society.

The United Methodist Church is the result of the 1939 merger of three Methodist bodies (Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South, and Methodist Protestant churches), and a 1968 union of the Evangelical United Brethren and The Methodist churches.

Our Beliefs

Scripture

The Holy Bible is our primary source for Christian doctrine.  Biblical authors testify to God's self-disclosure in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as in God's work of creation, in the pilgrimage of Israel, and in the Holy Spirit's ongoing activity in human history.

Tradition

Our attempt to understand God does not start anew with each generation or each person.  Our faith also does not leap from New Testament times to the present as though nothing could be learned ongoing process.  

We believe God reaches out to the repentant believer in justifying grace with accepting and pardoning love.

Sanctification and Perfection

We hold that the wonder of God's acceptance and pardon does not end God's saving work, which continues to nurture our growth in grace.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to increase in the knowledge and love of God and in love for our neighbor.

Faith and Good Works

We see God's grace and human activity working together in the relationship of faith and good works.  God's grace calls for human response and discipline.  Faith is the only response essential for salvation.  However, salvation evidences itself in good works.  Both faith and good works belong within an all-encompassing theology of grace, since they stem from God's gracious love.

Personal salvation always involves service to the world.  Personal faith, witness to that faith, and social action are mutually reinforcing.

The Sacraments

We believe there are two sacraments, ordained by Christ as symbols and pledges of God's love for us - Baptism and Communion.

Baptism

Entrance into the church is acknowledged in Baptism and may include persons of all ages.  Baptism is followed by nurture and the awareness of the baptized of Christ's claim upon their lives.  For persons baptized as children, this claim is ratified by the baptized in confirmation, where the pledge of Baptism are accepted.

Communion

We believe the Lord's Supper is a memorial of the suffering and death of Christ, and a symbol of the union Christians have with Christ and with one another.  All persons, regardless of age and regardless of church affiliation, are invited to the table of our Lord.

One Universal Church

With other Christians, we declare the essential oneness of the church in Christ Jesus.  Our unity with other Christian communities is affirmed in the historic creeds as we confess one holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic church.

We are initiated into this community of faith by Baptism and through the celebration of Holy Communion.

Service to the World

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, said there was not religion except for social religion.  In his name and in his spirit the United Methodist church reaches out to establish peace and justice in the world.

OUR MISSION

The Heart of Christian ministry is Christ's ministry of outreaching love.  All Christians are called to minister wherever Christ would have them serve and witness in deeds and words that heal and free.