101 United Methodism

United Methodism 101

History
In the days of King Henry VIII of England, the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church. John Wesley was ordained as a priest in the Church of England in the early 1700s. But the movement he started was so different that a new denomination, Methodism, began.
The late 1700s saw the foundation of Methodism in America. In the 1800s, the church split into various branches ... primarily based along racial and lay involvement reasons. But in the 1900s, some of those branches merged together so that today's United Methodist Church formed in 1968 is made up of the Methodist Church (which merged in 1939 from the north and south divisions of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Protestant Church) and the Evangelical United Brethren Church.

Click to see Timeline
of UM Development

Overall Church Structure
     The United States is divided into five jurisdictions (the Central Conferences are those UM churches outside of the U.S.). Each jurisdiction contains about a dozen annual conferences. Annual Conferences are the basic organizational unit of the Church. Decisions for the conference are made at an annual meeting, which is attended by equal numbers of clergy and lay delegates.
     In Louisiana, the annual conference follows the same boundaries as the state (although it is not always done that way). A bishop is over each area (which may include one or more annual conferences). Each annual conference is comprised of a number of districts, led by a District Superintendent. Several dozen churches are contained in each district.
     There are agencies covering different areas of ministry at the national level, usually with corresponding bodies at the conference, district, and local levels.

Local Church Structure
In 1996, the General Conference gave local churches some autonomy in deciding how they will be structured. Some churches retained the model whereby a Council on Ministries handled programming and an Administrative Board made administrative decisions. Many churches now use the Church Council structure to make programming and administrative decisions. Various areas of ministry are included, but fall under general areas of nurture, outreach, and witness.

Beliefs: Check out UMC.org for more details on these areas of Belief:

Scripture
Tradition
Experience
Reason

These first 4 are sometimes called the Wesley Quadrilateral and are the often considered the main 4 areas we tend to look to for guidance ... with scripture predominant.

A Triune God - the Lord is three in one ... God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit
Prevenient Grace - the gift of grace is freely offered to all
Justification and Assurance - we are justified by faith (not works) and we can be assured of our salvation through Jesus Christ
Sanctification and Perfection - we are all on on a lifelong journey to strive towards being perfect as a Christian
Faith and Good Works - although good works isn't a requirement for salvation, it should result as proof of faith
Nurture and Mission of the Church - the Church must reach out to the world; since Wesley's example, we have reached out in mission through education, healthcare, women's rights, publishing, and other social concerns
Mission and Service - The United Methodist Church plays an active role in mission, both at home and abroad

Cross & Flame
The United Methodist Church's official symbol is a cross linked with double flame. This symbol relates our church to God by way of Christ (the cross) and the Holy Spirit (the flame). The flame reminds us of Pentecost when witnesses saw "tongues as of fire." The duality of the flame was meant to represent the merger in 1968 of two denominations: The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church.

Source: About the UMC

Clergy
The bishop appoints UM pastors to UM churches once a year at Annual Conference. In the beginning, pastorates were limited to 2 years on a charge. But today pastoral tenures are often longer.
To be ordained, pastors go through seminary and become ordained as deacons and elders. But the UM Church allows for local pastors ... people called to ministry that go through a special course of study. Some local pastors are part-time and some are full-time.

Laity
Since the days of John Wesley, the importance of the ministry of lay persons has been recognized. Although the level of involvement caused division in the 1800s, we now see clergy and laity as partners in ministry. Although we have several hundred pastors in Louisiana, we have over 125,000 lay members ... think of the great ministries we can accomplish if we all take an active role in the Church.

Note: I will be adding more to this page as the month goes along

LINKS:
Relevant Books for Further Study:

• Methodist Doctrine: The Essentials

• Why I Am a United Methodist

• Questions and Answers About the United Methodist Church

• Meet the Methodists

• The Book of Discipline

Relevant Videos for Further Study:

• Reconnecting

Links to Explore:

• About the UMC

• History