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What is a Methodist?

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Fellowship

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Hi, sinner/SAVED,

Small correction, I go to a Methodist Church; I'm not nessecarily a Methodist.

If I as a Christian do have to be labeled as one particular denomination than I would be labeled as a Methodist.
 
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Fellowship

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Artos

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I am not in UMC but we have female pastors in my branch of Methodism too.

John Wesley the father of Methodism used women preachers (I think Paul Chilcote wrote the book " John Wesley and Women Preachers of Early Methodism (Scarecrow Press, 1991)" and women in leadership. Wesley didnt see any problems with that.

The UMC has a number of women bishops. The British Methodist Church had women presidents (British Methodism doesnt have bishops. They have Presidents who serve for a year each). Women in leadership is a non issue in Methodism today....like in the Salvation Army....(their officers are their pastors) and in the Assemblies of God churches (I think).

If you are interested in issues of women in leadership- then you might want to read
THE APOSTLE PAUL AND WOMEN IN THE CHURCH (Don Williams) published by Regal Books. But I think it would be good to post a thread in the general theology section....for discussion on this issue rather than in the Wesleyan section. More appopriate. I think there's already a discussion there about this matter.....
 
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SandyLou

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SandyLou: "I am a Methodist"
 
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Artos

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Fellowship said:
There's a chance Artos might be; he isn't UMC. I think Free Methodists are the next biggest, right?
Click to expand...

Thanks but I belong to a local branch of the Methodist family that is linked with the World Methodist Council. There are many Methodist branches around the world. UMC is the biggest I think. There's AMEZ, AME (both African American) branches, there's British Methodist, there's individual local Methodist churches in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar etc and there's Wesleyan Methodist in New Zealand and other places eg Jamaica....There might be several other branches around which I have not named in my hurry.....
 
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KCDAD

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Methodists believe in grace and redemption. They also believe in active participation in social issues. Methodists are not legalistic nor pharisetic (?) however the United Methodist Church is a different animal than Wesley foresaw. It is a huge lumbering beauracracy which may not survive another generation. Methodists do not allow lay people to give communion without express permission from an elder. The United Methodist Church believes that titles and not truth are important in determining church policy. The United Methodist Church believes that the pastor of a church is an employee of the conference or district and not a member of the congregation in which they are temporarily (often) assigned.
 
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Artos

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TO BE FAIR (and more accurate)....

1 John Wesley was dead against lay people presiding at/celebrating communion. That was the reason why he ended up ordaining his preachers.

2 Lay people cannot give communion 'with express permission from an elder'. The permission is given by the Bishop through a 'letter of dispensation'. That allows lay people to give communion ONLY in the absence of an elder.
John Wesley would have been dead against the 'letter of dispensation' idea since that goes against what he believed in #1

3 I think the statement 'the UMC believes that titles and not truth are impt in determining church policy' is a sweeping judgement statement. It might not be fact.

4 The UMC is a CONNECTIONAL CHURCH. Hence the pastors are not members of the local church but members of the Conference. If one wants a CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH where the pastor is a member of the local congregation- one can join a Baptist or Assemblies of God church. This is the difference in church structure of different denominations.

An analogy would be to say that pastors in a connectional church are like runners in a team event. They take turns passing the baton from one team member to the next. Each pastor contributes to the race in their own 'season' of running...
A pastor of a congregational church runs in a solo event.

There are strengths and weaknesses in both systems. One can choose one's church /denomination based on which one senses is the right one for him/her.
 
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KCDAD

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"3 I think the statement 'the UMC believes that titles and not truth are impt in determining church policy' is a sweeping judgement statement. It might not be fact."

The proof is in your first statement... one must be ordained to give communion. Somehow bureaucratic ordination is more important than the principle of "priesthood of all believers". Does ANYTHING about giving or receiving communion have anything to do with how much schooling or what title the person has? As Mel brooks said in BLAZING SADDLES, " We gotta protect our phoney baloney jobs!"
 
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Artos

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I am stating what is the historic position of the Methodists and also of Wesley. The Methodists did not depart from Wesley's teachings on this issue. John Wesley believed that something was actually imparted at ordination on the ordinand. Hence the ordained alone can give communion.
 
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