What Does the United Methodist Church Think About . . . Beliefs?
Why are you a member of a United Methodist Church?
If you are not a member, why are you taking part in this study in a United Methodist Church?
What, do you think, distinguishes the United Methodist Church from other denominations?
What does the UMC do right? Where could we improve?
What does the United Methodist Church think about a person’s personal beliefs?
Leave a reply below, and let us discuss
these questions on-line together!
I was born and raised in FUMC. I think what distinguishes UMC from other denominations is our willing to consider other faiths, beliefs and compromises. For example, baptising by sprinkling is the norm…but if you want to be immersed, I have seen where this has been done. I think that we DON”T believe we are the only church going to heaven while other churches think they are IT! When growing up, we visited other denominations, visited with their clergy and allowed them to tell us what they believed. I think many other churches are “afraid” of this type of information. However, the most important thing I think we do is our bible study and discussion of the bible, beliefs and our constant “growing” of our understanding of the bible, Jesus, Logos, Paul, John…I could go on and one. I love, LOVE that we think, discuss and are willing to change or (I prefer) grow in our understanding of the Word. I am always excited to see when others in our group discover this process too!
“When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me” John Wesley
Thanks Be To God!
Why did God give me two ears and one mouth? So that I will hear more and talk less”
Leo Rosten
The UMC offers the opportunity to “think and let think”, another legacy from John Wesley. Just as we all have different gifts of the Spirit, we all process knowledge and personal growth at varying depths and times. Praise Be To God for the variation!
Methodism goes way back in my family, through my paternal Grandmother to Savanah, Georgia. My immediate family has been members of Methodist Churches since they were christened as babies. So I am sure that my Methodist leaning is mainly because that is how I was raised. But I have to add that in the early years of my college life, like so many, I decided I knew too much to be stuck with the Church thing so I dropped out, much to the chagrin of my Mom. A year or so later, I decided to do an “in depth” study of the Christian religion as represented by the Churches of Lubbock, where I was in college. Visiting and studying many of the small and large churches around the Tech campus put me in a pretty good way to study their beliefs and what they did with those beliefs. I studied several in great detail, including the Methodist Church across the street from my dorm. That in depth study and later confering with the director of the Texas Tech Wesley Foundation put me back firmly in the UMC. I think the beliefs as expanded in the Book of Resolutions pretty well bring the teachings of the Holy Bible into the 20th and 21st Century. Thank God for helping me understand……………………a work in progress!
I joined FUMC when a pastor told me ” We have a very rich tradition, but we invite you to bring your tradition and further enrich us.” I have recently joined another church also that is more inclusive, but I still need the studies and things I can learn from the Methodist Church.
My thinking has been expanded to consider seriously a greater variety of oppinions than ever before because of Open Door Sunday school and classes with Troy. Thank You!