A United Methodist is someone who does mission by putting faith and love into action. We believe that God loves all people, and we share in expressing that love. So the United Methodist tradition emphasizes God's grace and serving others. Wesley describes such as "love governerning the heart and life, running through all our tempers, words, and actions."
The Methodist movement was started by John Wesley, an 18th-century ordained priest in the Church of England. In his Larger Minutes, Mr. Wesley described the mission of the Methodists "to reform the nation and, in particular, the Church; to spread scriptural holiness over the land." His use of lay-led small groups played a major role in the Great Revival of England and America.
In 1771 Wesley appointed Francis Asbury to minister to the methodist peope in colonial North America. During the Revolutionary War, British preachers returned to England-- all but Asbury, who worked tirelessly and risked to keep the American methodists together. In 1784, on Christmas Eve, Mr. Asbury was elected and ordained the first Bishop of the newly constituted Methodist Episcopal Church in America.
Lesser known, yet important, figures include Philip Otterbein and Martin Boehm who built up methodism among Pennsylvanian German emigres. American-Germans would eventually form the Evangelical United Brethren church, predecessor to the United Methodist Church (UMC).
The teachings of both German and English Methodists centered upon practical divinity, laying the groundwork for merger in 1968 and the making of the UMC. Our inherited theology is held forth in the UMC's Articles of Religion, Confesion of Faith, Wesley's Sermon Notes, and General Rules. Other principles and opinions are earnestly explored and studied through Outler's guide of "scripture, tradition, expierence, and reason".
For a further explanation, see Our Theological Task.
Below is footage from the 1968 founding conference between the United Brethren (EUB) & the Methodist Church (MC). The Union was created upon the memorial handshake of Bps. Wicke & Mueller with the words, “Lord of the Church, we are united in Thee, in Thy Church and now in The United Methodist Church.” Also recorded is Rev. Albert Outler's fameous conference address, "The Unfinished Business of an Unfinished Church".
The footage provides a happy perspective about the same decade when our congregation moved from the downtown to the other side of El Camino Real, on Lincoln St., near the new Civic Center. The UMC's making was a remarkable event in American history, carrying a great promise at a time of noteable post-war optimism.
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