A Protestant tradition that confesses the Trinity and the deity of Christ. Many of its members believe the Gospel, and we receive them as brethren in Christ. But on baptism, church order, and other parts of the whole counsel of God its teaching departs from Scripture, and that affects whether we can serve together in church practice.
Where It Came From
The Wesleys were clergymen of the Church of England, the established church of the English Reformation, whose small groups pursued disciplined holiness at Oxford. After John Wesley's evangelical experience in 1738, the movement spread through field preaching and class meetings. Methodism kept the Church of England's practice of infant baptism and adapted its Articles of Religion. American Methodists organized the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784.
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In Their Own Words
This profile describes the tradition from its own official documents and standard teaching:
- The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church (1784)
- John Wesley, Standard Sermons and Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament
- The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church