The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections.

 The United Methodist Church identifies four documents as the "doctrinal standards" of the denomination. The Articles of Religion and Confession of Faith (see below) provide the foundational framework for United Methodist doctrine. All United Methodists are expected to teach in accordance with the statements of these two documents.

The other two documents fill out some detail about more specific matters. John Wesley developed his set of "Standard Sermons" (which United Methodists identify as Sermons 1-52 in Thomas Jackson's numbering of Sermons on Several Occasions) as sermons to be preached verbatim by those still learning Christian doctrine and how to preach. His Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament offers brief commentary on the New Testament.  

 The Articles of Religion were edited and adapted by John Wesley from the Articles of Religion of the Church of England (1563). John and Charles Wesley were priests in the Church of England, and many of the first Methodists were members of it. The Methodist Episcopal Church slightly adapted them in the early years of the denomination (before 1808) for use in the United States of America.  

 The Confession of Faith from The Evangelical United Brethren Church contains 16 articles. They are similar to the Articles of Religion, on which they are largely based. The Confession of Faith also includes perspectives unique to the heritage of the Evangelical United Brethren. United Methodist interpret the Articles of Religion and the Confession of Faith as complementary and not as contradictory. 

 In his day, John Wesley was a popular preacher. He often published sermons in inexpensive tracts, many of which were quite popular. He also published collections of sermons he titled Sermons on Several Occasions. Much of what we know of Wesley’s theology is contained in these sermons.

His Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament are a verse by verse tool to help us interpret the Bible. They alert us to Wesley’s deep understanding of Scripture, including his knowledge of the original languages and the thinking of early church writers.

The General Rules of the Methodist Church

The General Rules are Methodism's guidance about how to live as faithful disciples of Jesus, fulfilling the vows of baptism. These, with the Articles and Confession, have been protected from any alteration by a General Conference by restrictive rules that require a 2/3 vote of the General Conference plus supermajorities of votes of all annual conferences worldwide. For the Articles and Confession, a 3/4 supermajority is required. For the General Rules, a 2/3 supermajority is required. It is unlikely that such supermajorities will be achieved to enable any further alterations.   

The original title of this document was "General Rules for Our United Societies" because they were designed for use in the class meetings of the Methodist Societies John and Charles had organized throughout England, Ireland, and British colonies in North America. They were adopted as continuing guidelines within the Methodist Episcopal Church when it organized in 1784.  

There are just three rules, under each Wesley gives a variety of examples. The rules are (1) to do no harm, (2) to do good and (3) to attend upon all the ordinances of God, including worship, searching the scripture, personal and family prayer, fasting, and the sacraments. Practicing these means of grace empowers us to live as United Methodist Christians.

 The Bible

The Bible is the primary source for Christian faith and life. In both the Articles and the Confession, United Methodists clarify how they understand the role of the Bible. In the words of the Confession, the Bible "reveals the word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation." The Articles state, "The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation." Both make it clear that United Methodists understand the Bible to be a "salvation book," not a science book, a history book, or a book with guidance for specific forms of civil government. Its value is to teach us about the salvation offered by God's grace through Jesus Christ.

 The Historic Creeds 

The Articles of Religion of the Church of England included an article asserting that the Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds "ought to be thoroughly received and believed." John Wesley omitted this article when he edited them for use by American Methodists. Instead of using them as doctrinal standards, Wesley showed how to use them in worship. He edited the 1662 Book of Common Prayer for use by Methodists. There, he retained the Apostles Creed for morning and evening prayer and at baptism. He omitted the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds entirely. Today, United Methodists continue to use the Apostles Creed at baptism, and for Sunday worship may choose from a variety of affirmations of faith, including the Apostles and Nicene Creeds among others. 

 Methodism began because of John Wesley, his brother Charles, and others’ desire to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. Together they pursued “holiness of heart and life,” which Wesley described as “universal love filling the heart, and governing the life” (Advice to a People Called Methodist). The dual emphasis on both what we believe and how we live, is essential to United Methodism today.

 Scripture teaches that we are incapable of achieving holiness under our own power. Instead, we receive it as a gift because of God’s great love for each and every one of us. Christians use the word grace to describe the gift of God doing for us what we cannot do on our own. 

Wesley taught that God's grace is with each of us throughout our lives. By grace God prepares us, justifies us, and then continues grow us as followers of Jesus Christ. 

 Wesley taught that God loves everyone and invites all of us to be in right relationship with him. Because we are unable to do this on our own, God prepares our hearts and minds to accept Jesus’s invitation to follow him before we are even aware of it. As we read in the Bible, “But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

By God’s grace, we recognize our brokenness, long for something more, and learn from Christians who show us God’s love by word and example. Wesley called this prevenient grace, which simply means the grace that “comes before” we know or love God.

The Bible teaches, “You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith” (Ephesians 2:8). This means salvation is not something we deserve or earn, but something that God has done for us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

When we recognize our sinfulness (which Wesley taught happens by God’s “convicting grace”) and repent, we receive God’s forgiveness and are called to live a new life of following Jesus by loving God and our neighbors. We receive this gift out of what Wesley called God’s justifying grace, because we are “made right” with God. Our relationship is restored.

 The moment of justification is the beginning of a wonderful journey with Jesus toward holiness of heart and life. As we participate in God’s work in the world through acts of piety like worship and prayer and acts of mercy like serving others and working for justice for our neighbors, we make ourselves available to God who forms us into the likeness of Jesus.

Wesley sometimes said that God “perfects” us by his grace, but he never intended that to mean we would never make a mistake. Instead, Wesley taught that by God’s grace we would stop sinning intentionally when made perfect in both our love of God and neighbor. We do not wish to harm either of those relationships. 

This process, which we might call spiritual growth today, is not something we do. Instead, it is God who lovingly works in us and for us. Wesley called this sanctifying grace—the grace by which God makes us holy in heart and life.

 One branch of our United Methodist roots was nurtured in the soil of the Church of England. John Wesley, his brother Charles, and a host of others formed societies throughout England to help people grow in their Christian faith. In the late 1760s Methodist societies began to gather in America. 

 On Christmas Eve 1784, the Methodist preachers in the United States came together at Lovely Lane Chapel. Over the next 10 days, they founded the Methodist Episcopal Church and Francis Asbury was ordained elder and then elected bishop at this gathering known as the Christmas Conference.

 Another branch of United Methodism grew in the soil of the German Reformed Church and the Mennonites. As Methodism was growing in the United States among English speakers, a similar movement was happening among the German-speaking population.

Around 1767, German Reformed pastor Philip William Otterbein heard a sermon by Mennonite pastor Martin Boehm. Although their two churches did not look kindly on one another, Otterbein announced to Boehm, "We are brethren."

In 1800, the movements each of these leaders started within their respective denominations came together to form the Church of the United Brethren in Christ with Otterbein and Boehm as their first bishops. Asbury, Boehm, and Otterbein knew one another and often shared in ministry together.

 In the late 1700s, a German Lutheran lay person named Jacob Albright joined a Methodist class in Pennsylvania. When the class named him as a lay preacher, he began sharing the gospel throughout central Pennsylvania. In 1803, Albright was ordained and a new denomination was formed that in 1816 took the name Evangelical Association. 

 In the early years of the 19th century, a group within the Methodist Episcopal Church became dissatisfied with the leadership of the bishops and lobbied to have lay members at both annual conferences and General Conference. In 1830, they separated from the Methodist Episcopal Church and formed the Methodist Protestant Church, a denomination without bishops that included laity their decision-making bodies.

Lay representatives were added in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in 1866 and Methodist Episcopal Church in 1872.

 At the 1840 General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, James O. Andrew was elected bishop. Andrew owned slaves, despite the Methodist Episcopal Church's antislavery stance since its founding. 

 At the following General Conference in 1844, the issue of a bishop owning slaves was an important debate. When the General Conference failed to come to agreement, a Plan of Separation was adopted that described how to divide the church. Two years later, the churches in the states where slavery was legal formed the Methodist Episcopal Church, South a separate denomination. 

 In the 1880s, early evidence of dissension was emerging in the Evangelical Association. Rivalries between leaders and disagreements over the role of bishops seemed to create irreconcilable differences. In 1887, all of this energy was focused on who had authority to set the place for the 1891 General Conference.

Although the General Conference voted to give that responsibility to the Board of Publication, others wanted to keep the decision with the East Pennsylvania Conference who had historically made the selection. When neither side yielded, two General Conferences were held in 1891 and the church was effectively divided. In 1894, the East Pennsylvania group met in Illinois and formed a new denomination, the United Evangelical Church.

 A little more than 25 years later, the Evangelical Association and United Evangelical Church came back together to form the Evangelical Church. 

 Discussions to reunite the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, began as early as 1869, but proceeded slowly. In 1884, the two churches celebrated the centennial of the Christmas Conference together. Then in 1898, they formed the Joint Commission on Federation that developed a common hymnal, catechism, and order of worship. By 1910, the Methodist Protestant Church joined these efforts.

The first attempt at unification was voted down by both churches in 1924, but the work to bring them together continued especially when the Methodist Protestants joined the discussion. Finally on April 26, 1939, the Uniting Conference began in Kansas City, Missouri, to bring together the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant Church to form the Methodist Church.

Regrettably, the Methodist Church created the Central Jurisdiction that segregated African-American congregations, conferences, and clergy.

 On November 16, 1946, the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and the Evangelical Church came together to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church.

 Finally, in April 1968 in Dallas, Texas, the Uniting Conference brought together this family of churches that shares so much history. The Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church joined to form The United Methodist Church. The merger dissolved the Central Jurisdiction, and all congregations were grouped geographically.

 Today's United Methodists share a rich history. Through our steps and missteps God continues to work in and through us to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.