Lesson Nine: Meet the Methodists

Day One

You have already learned about John Wesley and the Methodist Movement in England and America. Today we will look at Methodism today, starting with our own congregation and moving out into the world.

Our congregation can trace its roots back to a visit by Bishop Francis Asbury to Nutbush Creek in 1780. This church can trace its direct history to 1854 when a Methodist Episcopal Church South bought land on Garnett Street for a new church building. When you are confirmed, you will become a full member in a church whose long line of tradition goes back to the time of Mr. Wesley himself.

Since 1968 our denomination has called itself the United Methodist Church. Nowadays the doctrinal differences among the various denominations are not so important as they were in former days when the Protestants fought wars over religion. Still, there are some differences that distinguish United Methodists from other Christians and from other Protestants. Some of these differences have to do with how we manage the church, and others have to do with what we believe. We will look at each of these categories.

How Methodists Govern their Churches

The Annual Conference

The most obvious characteristic of the way Methodists run their churches is its very democratic nature. The members of the church are urged to provide input into every decision that is made.

All United Methodist congregations are united in one connectional system. This principle, basic to The United Methodist Church, affirms that all leaders and congregations are connected in a network of loyalties and commitments that support, yet supersede, local concerns. The basic unit of United Methodist church management is the annual conference. This body is made up of just over one thousand persons who meet for about a week once each year to set policies and programs for the local congregations in its area.

Our congregation is a member of the North Carolina Annual Conference that meets for a week every June, usually in Fayetteville, NC. The session of the annual conference looks something like the U.S. Congress, with Methodists bringing ideas and proposals from their local churches. These are debated and discussed. Annual Conference is also a time of spiritual refreshment. There is preaching and music as well as business to transact. The annual conference is made up of half laypersons and half clergy. Its president is the Bishop of the North Carolina Annual Conference, whose office is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Our new bishop, Alfred Gwinn, was elected bishop in 2004.

The North Carolina Annual Conference controls all United Methodist congregations in the eastern half of North Carolina. There are so many United Methodists in our state that several years ago, the Methodists divided our state into two annual conferences. The Western North Carolina Annual Conference controls the western half of our state.

One of the most visible events of the annual conference is the reading of the appointments. A distinctive feature of the United Methodist way is that the pastors of the local churches are not members of any local church, but rather of the annual conference. Pastors are appointed to serve a local church for one year at a time. Before 1938 all appointments were for a four-year term. Nowadays, appointments are for one year at a time, but can be renewed indefinitely. As a result, some pastors have served the same church for over twenty years! However, more often a United Methodist pastor will serve one congregation for about four to eight years. While moving every few years is not a great deal of fun for ministers and their families, it serves a useful function. No United Methodist church is ever without a pastor, and no pastor is ever without a church.

 

 

 

Day Two: Beyond Our Congregation

 

Other Connectional Bodies

Representatives from all of the annual conferences gather once every four years for the General Conference. This body sets policies and procedures for the entire United Methodist Connection. Their decisions are published in a document called the Book of Discipline. Since the early days of Methodism the Book of Discipline has prescribed how each local congregation must be organized, how the ordained clergy are selected, what committees and officers it must have, and how Methodist congregations should approach the non-Christian world.

Just before the General Conference meets every four years the annual conferences send representatives to the Jurisdictional Conference. Our annual conference is part of the Southeast Jurisdiction, sometimes abbreviated SEJ. The main job of the Jurisdictional Conference is to elect bishops. Usually the Southeast Jurisdiction meets at Lake Junaluska, up in the mountains near Asheville, NC. The North Carolina Annual Conference is part of the Southeastern Jurisdiction.

Coming closer to home our church is part of the Durham District. There are some eighty churches in and around Durham that belong to this district. Our District Superintendent is the Rev. Judi Smith. She presides at the Charge Conference, meeting held every fall where our congregation sets its program and budget for the following year. Go to our church web page at www.unitedmeth.org There is a link on the home page to the Durham District. Can you find it?

With all of these interlinked conferences it is no wonder that United Methodists stay very closely connected with Methodists of other congregations. All of these conferences above the local church level are made up of half lay, and half clergy membership. It is not surprising that the United Methodist connection is one of the most thoroughly democratic churches in the world.

Some Review Questions:

Print these questions on a sheet of paper and bring it with you on Sunday. Remember to consult your parents and classmates as you answer them.

1.    In what district is our church?

2.    What is the name of our annual conference?

3.    For how long a time is our pastor appointed to serve this congregation?

4.    What is the book that sets the policies and procedures for every United Methodist church and committee?

5.    What is the name of our bishop?

Day Three: Running the Local Church

As you have already learned the Book of Discipline assures that all United Methodist congregations are set up in the same way. The governing board of the local congregation is called the Charge Conference. You already learned who presides at the Charge Conference. Write her name on the paper you used for yesterday's questions.

The Charge Conference meets every year in the fall. Church officers, the budget, the employees, and other items are set for the coming year. It is made up of members of our local church.

Between annual meetings of the Charge Conference, the Church Council carries out the instructions of the Charge Conference. The Church Council Chairperson is a layman, elected by the members of the Charge Conference. There are several committees under the Church Council that attend to the business matters of the church. The Book of Discipline requires that there is a representative from the UMYF on the Church Council. There are a number of committees that report to the Church Council. Here are some of them.

The Committee on Finance-seeks to raise funds and encourage tithing to support the church's ministry.

The Committee on Staff-Parish Relations - deals with all paid employees of the church, and negotiates with the bishop concerning pastoral appointments.

The Board of Trustees - manages the building and grounds and holds in trust all the real property of the congregation, including the parsonage and vans.

Our church has also established a Council on Lay Ministries that deals with all of the programs of our church. Education, Youth Ministry, Music, Worship, Social Concerns, ministries especially for women (UMW) and men (UMM) and Evangelism all come under its management. The Council on Lay Ministries has lots of sub-committees that do the work.

As you might imagine, so much work requires a large number of people. You can see a list of all of our church officers at this web site.

http://www.unitedmeth.org/officers2004.htm

United Methodists believe that every church member is a minister - a lay minister -because of one's baptism. A few persons are called by God to be ordained to the ministries of Word, Sacrament, and Order. All other Christians are called to minister in other ways that are no less important. If someone were to ask you how many ministers our church has, how would you answer? The truth is that we have hundreds of ministers, all performing the special work God has given them. However, you can see that in the United Methodist way of doing things, pastors are responsible for a specific part of the church's life: teaching and preaching the Bible, celebrating the Sacraments, and ordering the life of the church. All of the other functions of the church are jobs for lay men and women. Do you enjoy music? There is a job for you in the church. Do you enjoy computers? There is a job for you in the church. Do you enjoy outdoor activity? There is a job for you in the church. Whatever you like to do, there is a way that you can use that talent for God's glory in His Church.

A thought question: on which of the committees of the church do you think you would most enjoy serving? Go talk to your Mom and Dad about which committees they serve on, or which committees they would like to serve.

Here is a spiritual inventory for your parents. See if they would like to take it.

http://www.arkedmin.org/Writings/GiftsInvnt.htm

Day Four: What Methodists Believe

Since the early days of Methodism, John Wesley himself made it very clear that being a Methodist did not depend on one's religious opinions. There is no unusual doctrine or special teaching that marks Methodists as different from other Christians. Mr. Wesley did expect Methodists to hold to what was considered to be the core of common Christian teaching as reflected in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of the Anglican Church. (He shortened them to twenty-four.) They generally state that we believe is such common teachings as: there is one God, Jesus Christ is God's unique Son, the Old and New Testaments are the Scriptures, and other beliefs that are generally shared among all Christians. To see all these articles of religion, find them at this link:

http://www.cresourcei.org/creed25.html

The United Methodist Church is not a creedal church, in the sense that we have adopted our own creeds or confessions. Methodists do hold to the creeds that are common to all Christians, such as the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, but they have never attempted to adopt their own, special Methodist statements of faith. The thing that distinguishes Methodists from other Christians is their intense desire for holiness of life.

In Methodism there is an emphasis less on what one believes than on how one behaves.

A Methodist is called upon to make a serious commitment to do all the good one can, and to avoid evil however one can. When one joins the United Methodist Church he or she makes a serious promise to love God and neighbor. All Methodists pledge to actively participate in acts of piety and acts of charity. This is Methodism.

John Wesley spoke of these acts of piety as daily prayer and serious daily reading of the Bible. Acts of charity are deeds of kindness to others, whether directed toward individuals or toward the institutions of society.

Because Methodism does not require one to sign on to a doctrinal statement, some people have said that Methodists do not have a theology. This is not completely true. However, it is true that theological opinions are not what make a United Methodist. The result is that among the people called Methodists, some people want rapid change in society or in the church, while others want more gradual change, or no change at all. Some feel that the church should be actively involved socially and politically, and others feel that it should not be so involved. There are "conservative" Methodists and "liberal" Methodists. There are "high church" Methodists and "low church"Methodists. There are "revivalistic" Methodists and there are "sacramental" Methodists. There are Methodists who are male, female, Asian, Hispanic, black and white. This diversity is a main source of the strength of the United Methodist Church.

As Methodical as John Wesley's Methodists were, we should not be surprised that Methodists do have a list of suggestions about how one should live out the Christian life. This list is embodied in the statement of Social Principles. Here is a link that will lead you to these principles that govern every United Methodist Congregation. Take as much time as you can to read some of them. At the bottom of the page you will find links to the specific parts that deal with the environment, the political community, the economic community, and our social creed. Understand that this "creed" attempts to be prophetic and persuasive.

http://www.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1686

Day Five: A Review

Print these questions on a sheet of paper and bring it with you on Sunday. Remember to consult your parents and classmates as you answer them.

1.    Mr. Wesley's summary of beliefs common to all Christians is called what?

2.    Methodists are distinguished not so much by what they believe, but by __________________.

3.    Mr. Wesley taught that Methodists should be involved daily in acts of p__________ and acts of c_____________.

4.    Which one of the social principles do you like best? Which one do you like least? Why?

5.    By now you should have memorized the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer. Recite them to your parents.