Thank God for the United Methodist Church
Two days before Thanksgiving, I am grateful for many things, and among them is the United Methodist Church. I was born into a Methodist family, baptized in a Methodist Church, confirmed in a United Methodist Church, ordained in a United Methodist Conference, and consecrated by a United Methodist Jurisdiction. My whole life is focused on living as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and the church has been the chief means of God’s grace that has saved me and shaped my life. Thank God for the United Methodist Church!
Every day in my prayer time I offer thanksgiving to God. Frequently that prayer takes this form: “Thank you God for good work to do and good people with whom to do it.”
In this time of re-thinking church, we in the United Methodist Church must also consider who we are, why we exist, what is our
purpose. Those are the topics which fall under the heading of ecclesiology–the doctrine of the church.
I continue to be grateful to my friend Tim McClendon and his blog posted at http://wtmcclendon.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/united-methodist-pope-and-problems-of-consolidation. By raising questions of ecclesiology he is making a significant contribution to our discussion of the adaptive challenge we face. For important information, I would also suggest that interested persons go to www.umccalltoaction.org.
Here is the bottom line. Our Constitution begins with our ecclesiology: “The church is a community of all true believers under the Lordship of Christ. It is the redeemed and redeeming fellowship in which the Word of God is preached by persons divinely called, and the sacraments are duly administered according to Christ’s own appointment. Under the discipline of the Holy Spirit the church seeks to provide for the maintenance of worship, the edification of believers, and the redemption of the world. The church exists in and for the world, and its very dividedness is a hindrance to its mission in that world.”
The rest of United Methodism’s understanding of the Church is contained in several places throughout the Book of Discipline. I summarize them under four headings.
Doctrine
Our Church is clear that we believe in the Bible. Scripture is our authority. Our understanding of what the Bible teaches is contained in our doctrinal standards and all of United Methodist elders are pledged to preach and maintain them: The Articles of Religion, Confession of Faith, General Rules, Wesley’s Sermons and Wesley’s Notes on the New Testament. The core of our doctrine, in addition to the Trinitarian teaching about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the way of salvation: creation in the image of God, original sin, justification by faith, and sanctification. We teach that this is the general tenor of Scripture.
Mission
United Methodism began as a missionary movement. Wesley wrote that its purpose was “to reform the nation, and in particular the
Church, to spread scriptural holiness over the land.” By “scriptural holiness” was meant the way of salvation by which God’s grace makes sinners into disciples. Since 1996 as amended in 2008, our mission is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
Next week I will discuss two other components, conference and episcopacy.
