In Part 8 of our series on What Methodists Believe we will discuss just how Methodists, in the Wesleyan tradition, view the Church. Let it be said
right at the start that Methodists reject any idea of "independent Christianity."
We seek instead to be called into Christian community that unites us with the
great cloud of witnesses in the Church
of Heaven, and forms us
into a Great-Commission connection in the Church on earth.
In his sermon Of The
Church John Wesley answers the question "What is the Church?" like this:
The catholic or universal Church is, all persons in the universe whom God hath
called out of the world as to entitle them to the preceding character; as to be
one body; united by one Spirit; having one faith, one hope, one baptism, one
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in them all.
[Ephesians 4:1-6] We believe that the conduct of worship and the
administrations of the sacraments create the Body of Christ, and we devote
ourselves to being faithful members of it.
Without question the Apostle Paul considered the church to
be the place where holiness is formed and practiced. He writes in Ephesians
2:19-22, "Consequently you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow
citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the chief
cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a
holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become
a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."
In our United Methodist Church Book of Discipline we read
from the Basic Christian Affirmations
on pages 43-44: We understand ourselves
to be part of Christ's universal church when by adoration, proclamation, and
service we become conformed to Christ. We are initiated and incorporated
into this community of faith by Baptism, receiving the promise of the Spirit
that recreates and transforms us. Through the regular celebration of Holy
Communion, we participate in the risen presence of Jesus Christ and are thereby
nourished for faithful discipleship. We pray and work for the coming of God's
realm and reign to the world, and rejoice in the promise of everlasting life
that overcomes death and the forces of evil.
And lastly, in our U.M. Book of Discipline on page 22 we
read in Article IV of our Constitution about the Inclusiveness of the Church: The United Methodist Church is a part
of the church universal, which is one Body in Christ. The United Methodist
Church acknowledges that
all persons are of sacred worth. All persons without regard to race, color,
national origin, status, or economic condition, shall be able to attend its
worship services, participate in its programs, receive the sacraments, upon
baptism be admitted as baptized members, and upon taking vows declaring the
Christian faith, become professing members in any local church in the
connection.
The church is the earthly manifestation of the kingdom of
heaven, which like a mustard seed grows into the largest of all the garden
plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and perch in its
branches. [Matthew 13:31-32]
This is what we believe and profess regarding the nature of
the church. We take a very high view of the church of God
for God paid a very dear price for it; it was bought with his own blood. [Acts
20:28]
As you and your families commit yourselves to the Church, do
so with an enthusiasm and a grateful heart that bears witness to the Lord who
died to make it all possible.
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