Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who was the founder of the United Methodist Church?
A: John Wesley was a teacher at Oxford and a priest in the Church of England. He joined a group of students and teachers at Oxford that met on a regular basis for prayer, study and community service. Others on campus made fun of them for being so dedicated and disciplined in their faith that they began calling them “Methodists.” In 1735 John and his brother Charles (also a priest) set out as missionaries to Georgia. Their mission ended in dismal failure and the two returned to England. John Wesley’s faith was shattered and he went through a period of spiritual crisis. One evening, while attending a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street, Wesley experienced the movement of the holy spirit, which he described as “suddenly my heart was strangely warmed.” Because John Wesley’s preaching style from that point on became much more passionate and enthusiastic, the brothers began preaching in the streets and fields and attracted many of the “poor and forgotten.” John Wesley never intended to found a new denomination. Until his death in 1791, he remained a priest in the church of England.
Q:What is the symbol of the United Methodist Church and what does it mean?
A: The symbol for the church is the cross and flame. (See top left of webpage.) The signia’s birth came in 1968 when the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church joined together to become the United Methodist Church. The flame not only signifies the Holy Spirit as mentioned in Acts 2:3, but it also echo’s John Wesley’s experience when his heart was “strangely warmed.” The flame is two-fold, which represents the joining of the two denominations.
Q: What is the “Wesley Quadrilateral”?
A: John Wesley firmly upheld the Holy Scriptures. He also encouraged people, when making decisions and questioning issues of faith, to base their thinking on four things: scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. This has become known as the Wesley Quadrilateral.
Q: What does the church believe about baptism?
A: United Methodists are the only denomination to embrace all three types of baptism: sprinkling, pouring, and emersion. Our denomination does engage in infant baptism for those who choose it. If you should join the United Methodist Church from another denomination, “re-baptism” is not required. We believe that baptism is recognized by God, regardless of the denomination which administered the sacrament.
Q: What does the church believe about Salvation?
A: The United Methodist Church embraces Jesus Christ as the son of God. We further believe that he willingly sacrificed himself for us on the cross, that we might understand the magnitude of God’s love, grace, and forgiveness. We believe that the process of salvation is a “burning bush” experience for some and a lifetime journey for others.
Q: What does the church believe about Holy Communion?
A: Communion is the celebration of bread and juice as a commemorative act that allows us to remember Christ’s gift to us on the cross. United Methodists observe an open communion table, so a person does not have to be a particular age, a church member or even a United Methodist to eat the sacraments with us. Communion is also sometimes call the Eucharist.
Q: What are “Apportionments”?
A: In the Old Testament book of Exodus, God instructed the Israelites to tithe 10% of what they had back to the Lord. The United Methodist Church upholds the discipline of tithing 10% of our individual resources as well as 10% of our church’s resources to the denomination at-large. Thus, approximately 10% of what our church spends each year goes toward our United Methodist Ministry on a global scale.
Q: What does PPR mean?
A: PPR stands for Pastor-Parish Relations. This committee is responsible for making sure the relationship between the minister and the congregation is healthy and effective. If a church member is upset with the Minister, this committee works as a liaison group between the pastor and the congregant. This committee meets approximately 4 times a year to review the pastor’s effectiveness, the church’s ministerial needs, the minister’s salary, and the future leadership needs of the congregation.
Q: What is a District Superintendent? A: Every United Methodist pastor is supervised by a minister who has been appointed by the Bishop as a District Superintendent. That minister oversees all the churches and pastors in his/her district and meets with each church a minimum of once a year, usually in the fall, at the Annual Charge Conference.
Interesting Facts
- Our denomination has a church in every time zone on earth.
- We are the only denomination that has a church in every US city of 10,000 or more people.
- The United Methodist Publishing House is the oldest and largest producer of religious books, curriculum and teaching resources.
- We operate more colleges, children’s homes, skilled care facilities and hospitals than any other denomination.
- In three out of every four world disasters, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the first agency to respond. UMCOR was the first agency to respond to Hurricane Katrina & Rita, Sudan’s Darfur, and the Tsunami in 2004.
- The United Methodist Church has 12 million members.
- Female clergy have had full rights within the church since 1956. Methodists were the first mainline denomination to recognize women as equal leaders.
- There are 42,471 United Methodist church congregations in the world.
Famous John Wesley Quotes:
“I look upon all the world as my parish.”
“Gain all you can; save all you can; give all you can.”
“Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
“We can agree to disagree. But, meantime, let us hold fast to the essentials of the faith. If it does not strike at the very root of our beliefs, we should think and let think.”
“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergy or lay, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.”