Any Methodists here?

[Oddish]

Hi, I started going to a Methodist church last week and get a good vibe from it. However, I am not sure what seperates them from other denominations? Anyone want to fill me in?

 

[Nom De Guerre]

I'm not one, but I haven't heard any complaints about them either... I hope you find what you're lookin' for Becky

 

[Oddish]

Thank you. There is a service at 7pm tonight which I want to go to. It is hard to get myself to go to it despite this. Thinking it is Holy Communion tonight and I am not sure if I will be permitted to participate?

 

[Nom De Guerre]

I don't see why you wouldn't be, I've been to many churches I've simply passed through and visited; Catholic churches even, and I did Holy Communion with them.

They were completely unaware I wasn't Catholic

 

[crishmael]

I recently became Methodist and at my church, which is a United Methodist, we have open communion where any Christian can can come to the table. Being new to the church and still learning more about their tradition, I'm hesitant to make affirmative statements about Methodists, but here's a link to the UMC website that has a lot of info about Methodist beliefs.

Beliefs - UMC.org

 

[Qyöt27]

There's a few of us around here.

Methodists typically practice open communion, so being able to participate isn't something you should need to worry about.

If you want doctrinal stances, then you could look at these:
United Methodist Church - Ask InfoServ
The Methodist Church in Britain

Another resource for generally-Wesleyan, but not necessarily Methodist, stances is crivoice.org. Lots of solid essays on there.

Off the top of my head, the thing I'd likely say makes Methodism distinct are the views of grace. This also has ties into the fact that the vast vast majority of Methodists are Arminian (or more precisely, Wesleyan-Arminian), but there are some Reformed Methodists in Wales. It also undercuts a lot of other positions that you might see Methodists take in regard to social or theological issues. Grace is seen as threefold: prevenient (which God gives to all), justifying (essentially, conversion), and sanctifying (growth in faith). Salvation can be lost, but that is generally seen as a result of constant and vehement rejection and unrepentant behavior. Salvation is also likely viewed as being a continual process than a one-time event (this is where sanctifying grace really figures), but one can have assurance of their salvation. Baptism and Communion are recognized as sacraments.

Historically, Methodism was a movement in the Church of England in the 1700s. John Wesley was an Anglican priest who put a higher emphasis on study of Scripture and reaching out into the community - visiting prisons as chaplains, feeding the poor, and so on. Those that followed this example were pejoratively called Methodists, a title which either got reclaimed or eventually just stuck and gradually lost its teeth.

What caused it to split in the late 1700s was politics - both within the Anglican Church, as Methodists were often seen as radicals, and within the British Empire, as the initial schism occurred between the Church of England and American Methodists because there was a shortage of priests due to the American Revolution (and anti-British sentiment on the American side in the wake of that event which wouldn't jive too well with clergy that acknowledge the British Monarch). Despite this, Methodism has stayed rather theologically close to Anglicanism, just without the Calvinist or Royalist parts. The Methodist Articles of Religion are an abridged version of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England that Wesley prepared for those in the Colonies (with a couple of later additions).

Also a little paradoxically, Wesley himself remained in the Anglican Church until he died, and both he and his brother Charles are recognized on the liturgical calendars of several churches in the Anglican Communion (or perhaps the Communion as a whole, but I can't say that definitively). There are also parishes within the Church of England that can likely be described as being Wesleyan.

Later exposition of Wesley's sermons and notes is often seen to point toward a position known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience, where Scripture is primary but the other three are necessary to use as lenses to make sure that the interpretation is correct. Depending on which Methodist you ask, this could be seen as being Prima Scriptura rather than the typical Protestant position of Sola Scriptura.

In many other areas of theology or social/national politics, you can see a large breadth of positions in Methodism. This is partially because there are only a few things (like the use of historical creeds) that Methodists could be seen as dogmatic about, and those things are the general points that all Christians have in common. The Wesleyan influence plays into some positions, but not necessarily all of them, and aside from things that would be seen as distinctively Methodist (like the views of grace or feasibly the Quadrilateral), it's left between the believer and God.

There are a couple of things that you won't see much of in Methodism, though. One of which is a heavy emphasis on the end times - Methodists are far more concerned with the present day and fulfilling the role of steward (as a side point, you probably will not see very many Dispensationalists either, although it can't be completely ruled out due to geographical influence from other churches or parishoners just not being very well-versed in their eschatological views), so end times stuff isn't brought up too often, and when it is, there may not be too much fire and brimstone. The other is that Methodists are not very apt to try and mix national politics and religion - you might see certain social causes advocated since that sort of thing is historically a focus of Methodism (and to wit, the phrase 'social justice' was largely used in reference to Wesleyan attitudes toward social outreach and reform long before it was ever demonized by right-wing pundits), but there will probably not be much in the way of campaigning from the pulpit. Individual Methodists may be political, but the churches themselves tend to be apolitical.

 

[Oddish]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Qyot27, your post has made me more sure that I am attending the right church for me.

 

[kevlite2020]

I went to a Methodist church once and they were totally cool with allowing me to take communion, they basically said anyone that believed in Jesus was welcome to it. And I know nothing of the theology, but I can say that every Methodist I've met has been extremely kind and loving.

 

[Amber.ly]

I've visited a Methodist church a few times when I was looking for a home church. I enjoyed some of their traditions and the theology is pretty sound from a salvation standpoint.

I decided not to continue attending when they accepted a woman pastor into their leadership team and when the denomination as a whole got closer to deeming homosexuality as acceptable.

Still, I think Methodist as a denomination is pretty solid. Just not for me as I have some pretty strict theology boundaries I look for in a church.

 

[Oddish]

I've visited a Methodist church a few times when I was looking for a home church. I enjoyed some of their traditions and the theology is pretty sound from a salvation standpoint.

I decided not to continue attending when they accepted a woman pastor into their leadership team and when the denomination as a whole got closer to deeming homosexuality as acceptable.

Still, I think Methodist as a denomination is pretty solid. Just not for me as I have some pretty strict theology boundaries I look for in a church.

Thanks for your answer. I think that is a good move for a church to make (personally) .

 

[Amber.ly]

Thanks for your answer. I think that is a good move for a church to make (personally) .

Which is why I mentioned it as I know those are issues you would support

 

[Oddish]

I am glad you mentioned it

 

[JCFantasy23]

Hope you continue having great times with the Methodist Church, Eyre. If you have further questions you can also try the Methodist denom area here, there's some great folks there as well. I'm a new Methodist myself

 

[Touma]

Methodists are Arminian in theology, loosely. Being one who is Classical/Reformed Arminian, however, I find some theology to be a bit misplaced and more man centered. However, this is just one of those issues where nerdy people like me nitpick everything. I certainly wouldn't break communion or fellowship with them because of the minor differences, but I don't think I'd be comfortable listening to them preached from the pulpit, personally.

 

[Wren]

I'm not a member of a United Methodist church, yet, but I align myself with that denomination. I love the emphasis they put on social justice issues and that they have a Social Creed.

I also really like that they allow women to preach. Late last year was the first time I have ever heard a woman preach in person. It was in a United Methodist church. It was weird (since I'm so used to men preaching), but awesome. I don't think any other churches in my area have a woman preacher, though that's not too shocking since it's a heavily Catholic and Lutheran area.

And what Kevin said is true for me as well. I have found Methodists to be incredibly warm and welcoming.

 

[Qyöt27]

And on a slightly more humorous note, Methodists are rather prone to having a prodigious number of potluck dinners.

 

[Mr Dave]

I've only just seen this thread and wanna be a part of it

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.


Methodist Theology is broader than this, but is summed up in the Four Alls of Methodism, as seen in my sig

All need to be saved (The Doctrine of Original Sin)
All may be saved (The Doctrine of Unlimited Atonement)
All may know themselves saved (The Doctrine of Assurance)
All may be saved to the uttermost (The Doctrine of Christian Perfection/Entire Sanctification)

 

[broken_one]

We are awesome.

And read everyone's posts Becks, because they've done a real bang-up job of explaining who we are, what we do, and what we believe.

 

[Mr Dave]

And read everyone's posts Becks, because they've done a real bang-up job of explaining who we are, what we do, and what we believe.

Very true, nothing more true though than...

We are awesome.

 

[Nom De Guerre]

We are awesome.

And read everyone's posts Becks, because they've done a real bang-up job of explaining who we are, what we do, and what we believe.

I knew I did a bang-up job