|
 Methodists?
Founded by John Wesley, the Methodist theology is based on scripture, tradition, experience, and reason.
Methodists believe that "all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God." We believe that the written Word of God is the only and sufficient rule both of Christian faith and practice in our lives.
Methodists are people who have the love of God in their hearts. This is the gift of God's Holy Spirit; and the same Spirit causes Methodists to love God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength.
As members of Utica United Methodist Church, we have promised to be loyal to the United Methodist Church, to uphold it with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service. Our support is important and makes the ministry of Wesley possible. We give because we want to share God's blessings. Our support is prompted by commitment to our ministries. We realize that our church can only be as vital and strong as our commitment as members allow us to be.
Please visit The United Methodist Church - UMC.org for more information on the beliefs and mission of the United Methodist Church.
HISTORY: John Wesley, an ordained Anglican priest in London, received an inspiration at a prayer meeting in 1738 which led him to become the first teacher of "Methodism." That night his heart was changed- “My heart was strangely warmed.” He and his brother Charles set out to form societies of "Methodists" who followed a daily routine of religious observance and social work, passionate preaching, daily discipleship and lives changed through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In America several denominations of "Wesleyans" were formed, but in 1968 the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church joined to form The United Methodist Church - America’s second largest Protestant denomination.
OUR FAITH: As United Methodists we put our whole trust in the grace of Jesus Christ, our Savior, and promise to serve him as our Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations and races. We accept the freedom and power that God has given us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they may present themselves. We vow to be loyal to the Church and strengthen its ministries through our participation in prayer, worship, the sacraments, the study of scripture and in the
Christian actions of giving, discipline and teaching Christ’s truth.
THE LORD'S PRAYER: Although we use the following version, please feel free to speak the words with which you are familiar:
"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by the name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
HOLY COMMUNION: Open communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month and at other special services. It is open to all Christians who wish to celebrate the presence of Jesus Christ in their lives.
BAPTISM: Baptism is the sacrament of initiation that joins us with the church and with Christians everywhere. Infants through adults can be baptized. Baptism is a symbol of a new life and a promise of God’s saving love and forgiveness. Water is the special symbol of baptism, and Utica United Methodist Church baptizes by sprinkling or pouring.\
A brief history of Methodism
'Methodists' was originally a nickname applied to a revival movement in 18th century Britain, based within the Church of England, and led by, among others, the brothers John and Charles Wesley.
Childhood home
Born into the large family of Samuel Wesley, Rector of Epworth in Lincolnshire, John [1703-1791] and Charles [1707-1788] owed a great deal to their remarkable mother Susanna, as well as to the Puritan background of both parents.
Oxford and America
Both brothers studied at the University of Oxford (at Christ Church) and John went on to become a Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. In the early 1730s, a small group of students met regularly for Bible study and prayer, received Communion frequently, and undertook works of charity; such devout behavior was unusual in those times and they were soon ridiculed. Among others in the 'Holy Club' (another nickname) was George Whitefield who would become the greatest preacher of the time. The Wesleys, Whitefield and other leaders were mostly ordained clergy of the
Church of England. The 'Methodists' in Oxford were a short-lived group, but they set a pattern for the 'Evangelical Revival'.
In 1735 the Wesleys responded to an invitation to serve as chaplains to American colonies; this was unsuccessful, and both had returned to Britain by 1738. Although neither returned to America, some 50 years later their followers (such as Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke) did, and so Methodism spread in the 'New World'.
Aldersgate
Influenced by the Moravians the Wesleys joined in a 'Religious Society' in London, and in May 1738 both underwent a profound spiritual experience. John famously described this in his Journal for 24 May 1738
"In the evening I went unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther and preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter to nine, while he was describing the change that God works in the heart through faith in Christ, 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."
Three days earlier, following his own 'conversion', Charles had written a hymn:
Where shall my wondering soul begin
How shall I all to heaven aspire?
For the following half-century such hymns flowed from Charles' pen (it is estimated he wrote over 6,000), while John was the organizing genius who turned a spontaneous movement into structured body which became the origin of today's world-wide Methodist Church.
Preaching
In 1739 Whitefield invited John Wesley to preach to crowds of working classes in Bristol in the open air. Since such people were often excluded from the churches, 'field preaching' became a key feature of the Revival, and Wesley recorded addressing gatherings of many thousands. His published Sermons became and remain the doctrinal standard of the Methodist Church.
Societies and classes
Wesley formed converts into local societies, originally modeled upon the 'Religious Societies' and his Oxford group; they were also subdivided into 'classes' which met weekly. Every year, by horse or carriage, John Wesley traveled the country to visit, encourage, and admonish the societies, as well as preaching. He insisted that Methodists regularly attend their local parish church as well as Methodist meetings.
Through the societies, members supported one another spiritually and pastorally, and working people and women often found a status otherwise denied to them.
'Social righteousness'
For the Wesleys, 'works' as well as faith were essential to the whole of Christian living, and caring for the poor, for prisoners, for widows and orphans mattered a great deal. Methodists were not only interested in welfare, they were concerned to remedy social injustice, and John Wesley's last known letter urged the abolition of 'that execrable villainy'; black slavery. The Wesleys were an influence in prison reform and, inspired by Susanna Wesley, they earned a reputation as pioneers in education. John Wesley wrote, edited or abridged some 400 publications.
Hymns
Among Charles' hymns, still sung today, are numbered some of the finest ever written; and through them the Methodists received and expressed their Christian experience and learned their beliefs. His poetic genius drew upon his classical and literary education and an awareness of popular culture, as well as his musical talents. After his marriage in 1749, Charles remained mostly in London and Bristol.
Doctrine
The assurance of the free grace of God was the experience of the early Methodists, which the Wesleys set in the Christian tradition of 'arminianism', emphasizing within human freewill the need for holy living as an outcome of faith leading towards 'Christian perfection'. The Calvinists (such as Whitefield) by contrast stressed the absolute sovereignty of God and believed in predestination.
Separation
Although Wesley declared, "I live and die a member of the Church of England", the strength and impact of the movement, especially after John Wesley's clandestine ordinations in 1784, made a separate Methodist body virtually inevitable.
In the 19th century Methodism in Britain flowed in several channels, including Primitive Methodism, which began with 'camp meetings' in 1807 and was organized into a separate body in 1811. The Methodists grew to be a large, respectable and influential section of society; characterized by the 'nonconformist conscience' and the 'temperance movement' and many members with poor origins became prosperous. The missionary movement also spread the Methodist message around the world.
In 1932 the three main Methodist groups in Britain came together to form the present Methodist Church.
The Methodist Conference and Connection
As the Methodist societies grew at a fast rate, some way of keeping in touch and organizing them was needed. John Wesley had held what became an annual conference of Methodist preachers. In 1784 he made provision for the continuance as a corporate body after his death of the 'Yearly Conference of the People called Methodists'. He nominated 100 people, declared them to be its members, and laid down the method by which their successors were to be appointed.
After his death the leadership passed to the Methodist Conference, and instead of one person exercising leadership for a length of time, the
President of the Conference became for the year of office the representative of the Conference and leading minister of the church. During the nineteenth century there were many factions in the church. Gradually most of these were re-united, the last union being in 1932.
The Methodist Church has a Connectional structure rather than a congregational one. This is where the whole church acts and decides together. It is where the local church is never independent of the rest of the Connection. Everyone who becomes a member
through confirmation is a member of the Methodist Church as a whole, not just his or her local church.
The Methodist Church is part of the whole Church of Christ. It claims no superiority or inferiority to any other part of the Church. All those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and accept the obligations to serve him in the life of the Church and the world are welcome as full members of the Methodist Church.
|
