So what does it mean to be a Methodist? Many believe that
our faith can be summed up in the Apostle's Creed:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and
earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth
at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe
in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Creeds help us affirm our faith. They let us know where we have been, and
where we are going in our Christian walk.
Perhaps a little Methodist Church history will explain
a few things:
The Methodist Church in America was established in 1784. There are 15,000,000 Methodists in
the world, of whom 9,000,000 are in the United States.
Of John Wesley, co-founder of the Methodist Church:
· He
was born in 1703, the fifteenth of nineteen children sired by the busy Anglican rector of Epworth, England.
· While at Oxford University, preparing for the Anglican
ministry, he became the leader of a little band of students who sought spiritual renewal through methodical diligence in study
and worship. They arranged a strict daily schedule of duties, with fixed hours for visiting the sick, conducting schools among
the poor, and preaching to those in prison. They prayed aloud three times a day and stopped for silent prayer every hour on
the hour.
· He believed in open-air preaching and the power of small
groups. He believed in lots of singing, especially the kind of singing that warmed people's hearts. And his brother, Charles,
wrote countless hymns still found in our hymnals today. Other Oxford students made fun of them, and expressed their contempt
in a variety of derisive nicknames for the group, including "The Bible Moths," "The Holy Club," and "The Methodists."
·
In 1738, Wesley and his followers officially accepted the name "Methodist" and led a nation-wide evangelical movement.
But
you still want to know what it means to be a Christian? A Methodist?
Check out these links:
