We are a Bible-believing, evangelical church: that is, we believe
that God's message in the Bible, particularly in the life and teachings
of Jesus Christ, is good news for all people, and should be shared with
the world. While we applaud the best of what is human, we confess that
ultimately all hope is in God.
Methodists, from the start, have cared deeply about the moral and social
condition of humanity, particularly those at the margins of society which
Jesus identified as "the least of these." Jesus said that many of these
which the world calls "least" shall be greatest in the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, our faith is not private but expresses itself outwardly in active
care for the disadvantaged, diseased, dispossessed, and the spiritually
lost. Wherever there is need, there are Methodists, involved in mission
and ministry around the world. Some of the institutional expressions of
our care are listed under the topics "FACTS" and "ORGANIZATION" later in
this document.
Our commitment to social witness and care led to an official statement by the 1908 General Conference of American Methodism. It became our "Social Creed," which exists in an updated form today. The Social Creed stimulates our thinking about social issues, and says to the world that Methodists care about issues like equal rights and justice, poverty, crime and morality. This does not tell us what to think on every social issue but gives helpful guidance, challenging us to a higher standard than the "secular world". The UM Board of Global Ministries, the Board of Church and Society, the Commission on the Status and Role of Women, the Commission on Race and Religion, among other UM Boards and Agencies, are involved politically and practically in our world as an expression of our faith.
The United Methodist Church is a diverse and inclusive community, encompassing
all races and nationalities. We stand for the empowerment of women, the
protection and education of children, and equality among ethnic groups.
We support the universal principles of democracy, human dignity, justice
and mercy.
By percentage, the Alabama-West Florida Conference is the fastest growing conference in Methodism. Our Conference boasts the fastest growing church in American Methodism, Frazer Memorial UMC.
Our Conference has over 140,000 members, including about 600 active and retired pastors serving about 700 churches.
United Methodists support a variety of colleges, seminaries, hospitals, children's homes, and retirement/nursing homes. The AWF Conference boasts Huntingdon College, the Methodist Children's Home, Wesley Manor, Epworth House, Wesley Gardens and Wesley Terrace homes for the aging, and an affiliation with Birmingham-Southern College in the North Alabama Conference.
Our Conference has Campus Ministries (the Wesley Foundation) in almost all of the colleges within our boundaries.
Our missions include: Pastoral Counseling, Care and Training (PCCT), Hispanic Ministries, Blue Lake Assembly Grounds, Dumas Wesley Community Center, Mobile Inner City Mission, Nellie Burge Community Center, Noah's Ark Beach Ministry, the United Methodist Foundation, and the Christian Advocate magazine.
Our Conference has some of the most active groups of UM Men, UM Women
(UMW), UM Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM), Emmaus and Chrysalis Communities,
and United Methodist Youth Fellowships (UMYF).
Methodists emphasize grace, the free gift of God's love, from which
comes the abundant Christian life, the communion of saints, the forgiveness
of sins, the resurrection and life everlasting. We believe in conversion
(sometimes called justification or salvation) and the new birth, which
comes from faith in Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. We look to the Holy
Spirit for guidance, spiritual growth and sanctification. We teach the
importance of good works not as a means to salvation but as an act of gratitude
for what God has done for us. We believe in the importance and value of
the individual, but also in the essential need for fellowship, growth and
service via the Church, ecumenical and connectional. We hold Scripture
as our primary guide, rule book, inspiration and revelation of God's Word,
Will and Plan.
Historically and specifically, United Methodists believe...
I. in one living, true and eternal God, infinite in power, wisdom and goodness, Creator of all things. God reveals God's self as the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, distinct but inseparable.
II. in Jesus Christ, truly God and truly human, the Word and Son of the Father. We believe that divine Godhead and bodily Human were joined together in one person, Jesus Christ, who lived, suffered and died on the cross to reconcile us to God.
III. in a physical resurrection: that Jesus was buried, rose from the dead, and ascended to Heaven until He shall return in triumph. He is Savior, Mediator, Friend and Judge.
IV. in the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, as the leading, comforting, empowering and guiding presence of God in the world.
V. in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, the "canonical" books of the Old and New Testament, and we believe the Scriptures describe all things necessary for salvation, and the true rule and guide for faith and practice. Whatever is not revealed therein is not to be taught as essential to salvation.
VI. that the Old Testament is not contrary to the New, but that the Mosaic law, whenever it refers to human ceremonies and rites and temporary civil laws, is not binding upon Christians. Yet, while we are saved by grace through Jesus Christ, the moral commandments of the Old Testament still apply to all Christians.
VII. that Sin is a state of imperfection and rebellion against God. "Original Sin" means that fallen, sinful state of the world inclines us toward sin and imperfection, and VIII. thus our Free Will is limited. But through the grace of God, we may choose between right and wrong (i.e. responsibility).
IX. in Salvation by Faith: we are accounted righteous before God only by the merit of Jesus Christ, by faith, and not by our own works. This gift of justification is both an essential and comforting teaching.
X. that Good Works are Fruits of faith, but do not and cannot earn our salvation or remove our sin. Good works spring from our gratitude for Christ's saving grace.
XI. We do not believe that one person's work can save another person's soul, nor should we keep a count of our works but instead serve freely.
XII. that Sin after Justification is both possible and pardonable.
XIII. that the Church of Christ is any fellowship of believers where God's Word is preached, where the Sacraments are administered, and where humble worship of God is enjoyed. We believe that public worship and Christian fellowship are necessary for spiritual growth (Sanctification).
XIV. in the coming kingdom of God, an eternal reward for the saints, and punishment for the wicked who reject God. We do not find Biblical evidence for the doctrine of "Purgatory" nor for the "invocation of saints," but rather believe that all people will stand under the merciful, righteous judgement of Jesus Christ.
XVI.-XIX. in the Sacraments as signs, symbols and marks of the Christian faith. We believe only two Sacraments were ordained by Christ: Baptism and the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion. We believe baptism is a mark of difference and a sign of cleansing/regeneration. Yet, we believe that children may be baptized because they are under the atonement of Christ and are not to be turned away from God's family. We believe the Lord's Supper is a sign of our redemption by Christ's sacrifice of death, a symbol of our forgiveness, and an expression of our communal love, open to all who receive it humbly. We do not believe that the bread and wine changes in substance nor other such superstitious magic, but we do believe in the supernatural power of Christ over sin and death, symbolized in both rites.
XX-XXII. in one "High Priest." We believe Christ is a full and perfect sacrifice for sin. We believe that all Christians are called to be "priests," or ministering servants of God, but Christ alone is our "high priest," the sole mediator between us and God. We "ordain" or set apart specific men and women called of God as ministers for special leadership roles and services in the Church, but they and all Christians may choose to marry if they wish. Further, each particular church may establish the ministries, rites and ceremonies which are most effective and edifying for their place and time, so long as consistent with the Word of God.
XXIV. ff. in Charity and Sanctification. We believe that we are enabled, through grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, to love God with all our hearts, to live morally, to be good and charitable stewards of our wealth, to love neighbor, and to seek humility... and to thus grow spiritually.
(As condensed by Lance Moore from John Wesley's "Articles of Religion,"
with Clarifications from the EUB "Confession of Faith.")
The "Wesleyan Quadrilateral," a framework for understanding God's truth
and will for our lives, consists of four principles:
Scripture: Wesley taught the primacy of Scripture. That is, we cannot trust fully our own ideas. The word of God is both enabling and humbling. All Methodist doctrine can be defended by the whole context of Scripture.
Reason: Scripture, and faith in general, requires use of our God-given brains for its application and interpretation.
Tradition: the learning of 2,000 years of church history serves as a protectant against the abuse of reason. Before we jump on board with some fad, some rash new teaching about the Bible, let us consider the accumulated wisdom of the saints.
Experience: certainly, our own personal relationship with God, our own
life experiences, including our emotional and affective self, gives energy
to our faith. Faith is not purely intellectual or historical, but is personal
and lively.
Our organization begins in the "Local Church," with divisions of
labor and authority ultimately vested in the Charge Conference, and administered
by the Administrative Board or Administrative Council, and the pastor or
pastors, who also help lead the worship service, deliver sermons and administer
sacraments.
The next level of organization is the "District," an area about the
size of two or three counties, supervised by a District Superintendent
and District Council on Ministries to foster cooperation and common mission
and education.
Several districts combine in an area about the size of an average state, called the "Annual Conference" because it meets annually as a representative body, hearing reports and voting. A Bishop is appointed to oversee the program and ministry of each Annual Conference. (Sometimes, two Annual Conferences share a Bishop. Together, they are called an "Episcopal Area.") The Bishop and District Superintendents work with the churches and pastors of their Conference to set pastoral appointments.
Every 4 years, delegates are elected to go to larger representative assemblies, called "Jurisdictional Conference" and "General Conference." A Jurisdiction includes several Annual Conferences in a particular region, like the Southeast or Pacific Northwest. Jurisdictional Conferences elect bishops. The General Conference is a national assembly that meets each quadrennium to decide matters of importance to all United Methodists. It sets church law and doctrine (called the United Methodist Book of Discipline). Also, through our General Conference we are affiliated with the World Methodist Council, the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical agencies.
Various Boards and Agencies are funded by the General Conference, including
the Board of Global Ministry (which sends missionaries around the world),
the Board of Discipleship (which develops educational materials like the
Disciple Bible Study), and the Board of Evangelism. These and other program
agencies are guided in their work by the General Council on Ministries
(a subset of the General Conference).
Methodism started first as a "social holiness" movement composed
of Christian "societies" within the Anglican Church of England. These covenant
classes were organized by priest and theologian John Wesley and his brother,
Charles, the famous hymn-writer. Their dual emphasis on grace and service
made a significant impact on England, reaching both the poor and the privileged
classes. After several years of missionary work in the American colonies,
in 1784 the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in the United States
with Wesley's blessing. In 1844, during the pre-Civil War period, the church
split and the southern churches became the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South.
On May 10, 1939, the M. E. Church, the M. E. Church, South, and the
Methodist Protestant Church all united to form The Methodist Church denomination.
In 1968, The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church
united to form The United Methodist Church.