“A Methodist is a person whose faith and life are what the Bible
says faith and life ought to be.” - John Wesley

United Methodists profess the historic Christian faith in God,
incarnate in Jesus Christ for our salvation and ever at work in
human history in the Holy Spirit. Living in a covenant of grace under
the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we participate in the first fruits of
God’s coming reign and pray in hope for its full realization on
earth as in heaven.

Methodism did not arise in response to a specific doctrinal dispute…
Their task was not to reformulate doctrine…
Their task was to reform the nation, particularly the Church,
and to spread scriptural holiness over the land…

The Wesleyan emphasis upon the Christian life – faith and love
put into practice – has been the hallmark of those traditions
now incorporated into the United Methodist Church.

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With Christians of Other Communions:
We confess belief in the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We hold… a faith in the mystery of salvation in and through Jesus Christ.
We believe that God’s redemptive love is realized in human life by the
activity of the Holy Spirit, both in personal experience and in the
community of believers.
We understand ourselves to be part of Christ’s universal church.
We recognize that the reign of God is both a present and future reality.
We share… a recognition of the authority of Scripture in matters of
faith, the confession that our justification as sinners is by grace
through faith, and the realization that the church is in need of
continual reformation and renewal.

United Methodist Distinctives:
Grace pervades our understanding of Christian faith and life.
Faith and good works are inseparable.
Personal salvation always involves Christian mission and
service to the world.
We grow best in the true community. A healthy child of God
is a part of a small group.
Our Social Principles lead us to exercise our responsibility to
impact and improve the quality of society.

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