As United Methodists, we have an obligation to bear a faithful Christian witness to Jesus Christ, the living reality at the center of the Church’s life and witness. To fulfill this obligation, we reflect critically on our biblical and theological inheritance, striving to express faithfully the witness we make in our own time.
Two considerations are central to this endeavor: the sources from which we derive our theological affirmations and the criteria by which we assess the adequacy of our understanding and witness.
John Wesley, who began the Methodist movement, believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by Tradition, vivified in personal Experience, and confirmed by Reason.
Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task
United Methodists profess the historic Christian faith in God, incarnate in Jesus Christ for our salvation and ever at work in human history in the Holy Spirit. Living in a covenant of grace under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we participate in the first fruits of God’s coming reign and pray in hope for its full realization on earth as in heaven.
The Sacrament of Baptism
The Sacrament of Baptism celebrates all that God’s love has done, is doing, and will do in our lives. Baptism is our welcome to the family of Christ. One baptism is accepted as valid. Adults as well as infants may be baptized. While adults consciously profess the Christian faith, parents and godparents promise to nurture the child in that faith so that they can come to claim it as their own. Baptism brings a child into preparatory membership in the church. Baptism of an adult is typically followed with their entry into full church membership by Profession of Faith.
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
In the United Methodist Church, Communion is open to anyone who is striving to have a relationship with God. It is a holy meal of bread and juice that symbolizes the body and blood of Christ. Through the sharing of one loaf and one cup, we celebrate the unity of all members of God’s family and recall all that Jesus has done and is doing in our lives.
The Ministry of All Christians
The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Local churches provide the most significant arena through which disciple-making occurs.
Social Principles
The United Methodist Church has a long history of concern for social justice. Its members have often taken forthright positions on controversial issues involving Christian principles. Early Methodists expressed their opposition to the slave trade, to smuggling, and to the cruel treatment of prisoners.
For more information about our United Methodist beliefs and how we practice them, please visit the website of the United Methodist Church:
http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe
http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/basics-of-our-faith
http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/social-principles-social-creed