What are Methodist practices?

Answer 1

The United Methodist Church is a liberal, Mainline Protestant denomination that is Anglican in its theology and doctrine. Rev John Wesley was the founder of this church but actually remained a high church Anglican priest till his death. All he wanted to do was to open up the Church of England to the poor and oppressed and to be more accountable to the average Englishman. Today, the Methodists celebrate the 2 sacraments of the church, Holy Communion and Baptism. There is great diversity when it comes to style of worship. You have "low" and "high" churches and many in between. The UMC believes in the Apostolic Succession, like the Roman Catholics and Episcopalians. They closely observe the Christian year like other mainstream Protestants and the Anglican Church. The Methodist Church is different than the fundamentalists and charasmatic churches in that they do not believe in the literal interpretation of The Bible. The chuches urges its members to use reason, tradition, and church teachings to interpret the scriptures. The church shares with the Episcopal, Lutheran, and Presbyterians, in being a liturgical church. The United Methodist have "the Methodist Book of Worship", written by John Wesley. He loved the Book of Common Prayer and incorporated most of that into the Methodist Book of Worship. He also stressed that the new Church celebrate the Eucharist every week. The United Methodist Church also has a long history of being social progressive and taking the lead in the great issues of the day. They were very progressive when it came to child labor laws, civil rights for blacks, Hispanics and Asians. They were in the fore front when it came to union rights and the rights for women, including reproductive rights. The United Methodist Church in 1965 founded the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights. They have always been against capital punishment and for gun control. When in comes to war and peace issues, the UMC has always been vocal in its opposition to war and strong defenders of peace and justice issues! The church is having to confront, like other mainline denominations, the issue of gay rights and the rights to marry and for pastors to be able to marry if they are gay. There is a growing sense among many Methodists that the church is going to have to be more inclusive and accepting of gays. One of the great ecumenical achievements in the last 5 years is the decision by both the Evangelical Lutherans and the Episcopal Church, to be in full communion with the United Methodist Church. It will now be possible for all 3 traditions to allow pastors from any of the 3 to celebrate Holy Communion and to preach in each others's pulpits. In the UK, the Methodist Church is close to merging with the Church of England-maybe this year!