Confirmation Part 4/10: People Called Methodists
This is part of a series of mix-and-match curriculum resource for UMC Confirmation Classes and Teachers
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What's a Methodist?
John Wesley put it this way: "A Methodist is one who loves the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength."
John Wesley was an ordained Anglican priest from England. At a prayer meeting in London in 1738, he had a powerful spiritual experience which inspired the rest of his teaching. Wesley described the moment this way:
"I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
Today, Wesley's life and teaching carry special meaning for United Methodists:
A goal of being faithful disciples of Jesus Christ — not just believing the right things, but living as followers
An example of sharing God through missions — Wesley preached in fields, barns, mines, and anywhere people gathered
Concern with social problems — Methodists have always believed that faith without action isn't really faith
Belief in the grace and forgiveness of God's love — grace comes first, before anything we do or earn
Openness to ecumenism — cooperation and respect among Christian traditions
What Is the United Methodist Church?
The United Methodist Church is grounded in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Early Christians: Methodism traces its history from the early Christian Church, through Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation.
John Wesley: After his experience in 1738, Wesley set out with his brother Charles to form Bible societies, which came to be called "Methodists" because of their rigorous daily religious observance. Wesley served and died claiming to be an Anglican priest — though his decision to ordain ministers for America in 1784 strained that claim considerably.
In America: Itinerant lay preachers spread the gospel and Wesley's teachings to settlers. After the Revolution, a separate church formed — the Methodist Episcopal Church — along with other Wesleyan denominations. The full story of how Methodism grew, divided, and came back together is told in Part 7.
1968: The Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.
2008: The UMC's General Conference approved the full admission of the Protestant Methodist Church of Côte d'Ivoire (EPMCI), bringing roughly 700,000 French-speaking Ivorian Methodists into the denomination. The EPMCI grew from British Methodist missionary activity in the context of Côte d'Ivoire's colonial and post-colonial history. Unlike the 1968 merger, the 2008 admission did not result in a new name or symbol for the denomination.
The Structure of the UMC
The UMC is organized for ministry at and between several settings and "levels." These levels maintain "connectional" links with one another. Both clergy and laity are elected to serve on the governing bodies of the church. The UMC has a democratic government with executive, legislative, and judicial branches at the most general level, plus many committees, agencies, and local church governing bodies.
The Local Church — Nurturing ministries, education, worship, stewardship, outreach, compassion, advocacy, evangelism, membership care, spiritual formation, leadership training, community resources, congregational organization, and age-level ministries.
Episcopacy (Executive) — Bishops are elected to lead.
Conferences (Legislative) — Clergy and laity participate in conferences at several levels: General, Regional/Jurisdictional, Annual, District, and Charge.
Judicial Council (Judicial) — A nine-member body of lay and clergy members.
Boards and Agencies — General boards handle missions, discipleship, church and society, and higher education. Commissions address Christian unity, religion and race, and the role of women.
This is part of a series of mix-and-match curriculum resource for UMC Confirmation Classes and Teachers
