Origin and History

The Methodist and the United Methodist Church trace their origin back to the eighteenth century in which John Wesley was born. He was born in Epworth, England in 1703 to a priest who served in a country parish of the Church of England (Episcopal). John was the fifteenth of nineteen children. John and his younger brother, Charles, both attended Oxford. Upon graduation John was ordained a priest and was made a teaching fellow at Oxford.

It is difficult to imagine the abject poverty of the average Englishman of that time. He existed from hand to mouth, lived in squalor, and could expect nothing better in the future. His existence was not only precarious but hopeless as well. Conditions were so bad that one writer describes drunkenness as the “national vice.” This drove John Wesley to form a society for the cultivation of a more consecrated life. Such societies were not uncommon, for many people who were seeking spiritual satisfaction that the Church of England was not providing had organized them. They were called “religious societies” and they stressed not only Bible reading and prayer but charitable works for the less fortunate as well. The spread of these societies had been rapid, and by 1700 there were almost 100 of them in London alone.

The people John Wesley brought together were different. They were extremely systematic in their praying and Bible reading—so much so that their fellow students began to deride them. They were often called the “Holy Club,” “Bible Bigots,” “Bible Moths” and “Methodists.” The name Methodist is the name that stuck because they lived by “rules.” But John and his brother were not discouraged by the ridicule and their society continued to visit jails and to preach to the poor—a group long overlooked by the Church of England.

As was the case with others, they did not want to start their own religion, but wanted to reform the Church of England and continued to be a part of the Church of England for some time. However, reformers were not well received and finally they broke with the Church of England. Wesley’s conversion really did not take place until May 24th, 1738 as he was listening to Luther’s preface to the Commentary on Romans being read. As the preface by Luther described the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, John Wesley said, “I felt my heart strangely warmed, I felt I did trust in Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” (Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church, revised by Cyril C. Richardson, Wilhelm Pauck and Robert T. Handy, 1959, p. 459).

This experience sparked Wesley’s concern for evangelism. He, together with his brother and another associate, George Whitefield, increased their work among the societies. Even though many church buildings were closed to them, they continued to preach on the street and wherever they could get a hearing. The poor heard them gladly as they preached a simple message—Christ died for everyone; any person through repentance and faith could be saved.

In 1739, the first Methodist Society met in Kingswood, England. The first annual conference was held in London in 1744. By 1766, Philip Embury formed the first Methodist Society in America. Though it was opposed at first in the American Colonies because of its British connection, it still spread. On December 24th, 1784, Asbury called the first conference, which organized Methodists under the name of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Under the leadership of Asbury and Thomas Coke, the first American “Superintendents” (later called bishops), the cause of Methodism flourished.

In America, as in England, the “societies,” or churches, were organized into “circuits” of several churches each. A traveling preacher, the circuit rider, was appointed to each circuit. It was the work of these circuit riders that was largely responsible for the success of Methodism in America.

However, from its early days in the United States the Methodist Church suffered the pains of division. Early in the eighteenth century several African American groups broke off and formed independent churches. Most African American Methodists are to be found in one of three large independent Methodist groups. The largest of these is called the African Methodist Episcopal Church and dates from 1787. Not all divisions were from racial causes. There were many other divisions that took place.

On May 10, 1939, the three branches of American Methodism (the Methodist Protestant Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South) reached an agreement to reunite under the name “The Methodist Church.” Then, in 1968, bishops of the Methodist Church and Evangelical United Brethren Church combined their churches into what has become the second largest Protestant denomination in America—The United Methodist Church.

The major source of authority for the Methodist Church is the “Methodist or Book of Discipline.” It contains their creed, rules of action, and church laws. Although it is a statement of faith that largely corresponds to the original beliefs of Wesley, Methodists are not forced to adhere strictly to the doctrines it sets forth. Within its ranks are the Liberals, who are more concerned about social action than about Wesleyan doctrines, and the Fundamentalists who still preach sermons that could have come from Wesley himself. It is this “Book of Discipline” that distinguishes the Methodist Church from all other Protestant Churches and Catholicism, as well as the New Testament church.

Is the Methodist Church the New Testament Church?

The only way one can determine whether any church today is the church of the New Testament is by comparing the two. The Bible sets out the distinguishing marks of the church of the Bible in such a way that one can easily understand what the Lord established. When one honestly and sincerely compares the Methodist Church to the following characteristics of the New Testament church it is easy to see that the Methodist Church cannot be the church of the New Testament.

The New Testament Church Was Governed According To God’s Authority

Since God has given us everything we need to guide us religiously (2 Pet. 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17) we must look therein to find the government God wants for His people today. One of the first things one learns about God’s form of government is that each church was self-governing and therefore, independent from all of the other churches.

Contrary to the Methodist Church, the New Testament Church had no central headquarters and depended on no human creed. Each church was governed by elders, who were also called bishops, overseers, presbyters, or pastors (Acts 14:23; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 5:1-3; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Tim. 3:1-7). New Testament churches also appointed deacons to care for the needy saints (Acts 6:1-6; Phil. 1:1). Evangelists were used to spread the gospel of Christ and edify the saints as Paul and others did.

Methodism is one of the most highly organized religions in the world. The organizational structure of the United Methodist Church has been set up in the all-important Book of Discipline much as the American government was outlined in the Constitution. Both are made up of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The United Methodist Church’s version of these three is the Council of Bishops, the General Conference, and the Judicial Council.

The church is also organized in a hierarchical system. Beginning from the bottom, the smallest units in the UMC are its lay and pastoral members. The pastoral members are divided into two levels. The lower consists of ministers and pastors assigned to one church whose job it is to preach. The higher rank of clergy is made up of bishops, who are not assigned to a specific local church, but to a group of churches, and have the responsibility of ordaining clergy.

These clergy and lay people divide themselves into relatively small local churches. Each of these churches has an annual “local church charge conference” to elect representatives and take care of other administrative business. Churches are then grouped together along geographic boundaries to form districts. The districts hold conferences, at which the main purpose is to pass on information from the higher conferences to the local churches. Districts are then assigned to one of the sixty-eight annual conferences.

At the annual conferences, an assigned bishop hands out ministerial assignments for the year. Votes are cast regarding amendments to church law and regarding delegates to be sent to the jurisdictional conference. All annual conference attendees have voting rights on these issues, but only ministers have voting rights on minister-specific matters. The annual conferences are grouped into jurisdictions of which there are five in the United States.

Then, at the top of this hierarchical chain is the General Conference. It meets once every four years, and is made up of lay people and clergy voted upon during annual conferences. Its main purpose is to vote on church law. If enacted by the General Conference, the proposed laws are published in The Book of Discipline.

Beloved, please consider the differences between the simplicity of the New Testament church and the United Methodist Church. Can you not see that the United Methodist Church cannot possibly be the New Testament church?

Salvation According To Methodists Is By Faith Alone

From their Book of Discipline we have the following statement, “We are accounted before God only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by faith and not for our own works or deserving. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort” (Discipline, article IX). Faith is supremely important (Heb. 11:6; John 20:30-31) and we cannot be saved without it. However, the Bible does not teach that we are saved by faith alone.

In fact, the Bible stresses that our faith must be an obedient faith. Consider Noah and Abraham as examples of obedient faith (Heb. 11:7; 11:8). Both Noah and Abraham believed God and then acted on their faith in obedience to what God had commanded them. Faith blesses only when it leads to the obedience of God’s commands.

“But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:35). Furthermore, the Bible teaches: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone”…. “You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone”…. “For just as the body without {the} spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:17, 24, 26).

The Bible teaches that baptism stands between the alien sinner and salvation (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27; 1 Pet. 3:21). Every case of conversion mentioned in the Book of Acts shows people were baptized to be saved.

The Lord’s Supper Has Been Ritualized Into a Ceremony With Fifteen Parts

This is a sharp contrast to the simplicity of what God intended and commanded. The Methodist Church partakes of the Lord’s Supper at stated intervals, either monthly or quarterly. The Bible shows Christians of the first century partook of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2). History further shows that this was the practice long after the first century also.

The Methodist Church Practices Sprinkling or Pouring For Baptism

And Sprinkles Infants For Baptism

“The Methodist does not insist upon any one form of baptism. There are three principle modes: sprinkling, pouring, and immersion. Every adult and the parents of every child to be baptized have the choice. The reason for this flexibility is our belief that the amount of water used is not important.” (Article XVII of Baptism: Emerson Colaw: Belief of a United Methodist Christian, p. 76).

Jesus said: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). We learn that one must believe the gospel to be saved; something an infant cannot do. Furthermore, infants do not need to be saved according to Jesus (Matt. 18:1-3). Baptism was always administered by immersion in water and never by sprinkling or pouring in the New Testament (Rom. 6:3-4; Col. 2:12; Acts 8:36-39).

Our Sincere Plea to Our Methodist Friends

We have both friends and relatives who are Methodists. We feel it is our duty to have this frank and open study. Please study these thoughts in the same spirit of love in which they are written. We are concerned only with serving the Lord Jesus Christ according to His divine word as revealed in the New Testament and we plead for everyone to do the same. We will be happy to discuss these words with anyone. If there is a reputable preacher for the Methodist Church who will defend the Methodist doctrine in an open forum or public debate we will be happy to work out the arrangements and discuss these matters.

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