helping the sick during an epidemic

Yes they do. The United Methodists believe, as does the Roman Catholics, Episcopal, and Lutherans, in the Apostolic Succession. Rt Rev John Wesley, consecrated the first Bishop in the United States to maintain this tradition.

The Bishop of the particular conference lays his hands on the new deacon or elder.

Besides the Bible, the Methodists have the Articles of Religeon wheich were taken from the 39 Articles of the Church of England. The other official Methodist documents are the 16 articles in The Confession of Faith, Wesley's Sermons and Wesley's Notes on the New Testament.

The Methodist beliefs and doctrine can be found outlined in The Book of Discipline.

It's mainly a state matter.

Churches are usually recognized as an incorporated legal entity by the state. Often, the state requires that incorporated legal entities have trustees, which are the board that conducts the legal affairs of the church -- hold title to property, sign contracts, etc. So, many churches have opted to elect a board of trustees. Other churches will say that biblically there is no such church officer as trustee, so many churches believe that having trustees puts church organization out of alignment with scripture.

However, a church does not need to elect trustees to fulfill the state requirement. All it has to do is appoint someone (it could be an elder board) to act as trustees in the eyes of the state.

Some will argue that the elders have responsibility for spiritual matters and ministry of the word, so being a trustee is outside their area of expertise. No problem -- all the elders need to do is retain the role of trustee in the eyes of the state, but appoint members with expertise in buildings, property, etc, to advise them. They could even empower them with decision making.

Bottom line is that a state usually requires an incorporated entity to have trustees, so many churches formalize that in their bylaws.

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the four horsemen is none other than the anti-Christ. they are all symbolic.

the bow, the sword e.t.c are all symbolic the for men is the anti-christ.

the four horses are the powers governed by the anti-Christ.

Methodism has no prohibition re: Masonry. Many Masons are also Methodists.

May the Lord watch betwen me and thee, while we are absent, one from another.

These are probably two of the most similar churches in Christianity. They share different views on some social issues but besides that, not much.

There are many many differences, between the two bodies. I was raised in the Methodist and Presbyterian church , which are much more similar de to the roots of the denominatons.

Lutheranism was patterned from Reformer Martin Luther a Roman Catholic priest. Although his 95 thesis was posted on the fdoor the Lutheran Church has remained the closest of the Protestant bodies to Catholic in doctrine and liturgy. Although Anglican is also similar to Catholic, there are many points of differences in doctrin which Anglican has more in common with the Reformed faith.

Methodism which came from the word Methodical traces its roots to John Wesley an Anglican priest. The Methodist church became more of an evangelical holliness and revivalist denomiation. Some churches will vary in style. While still having some similarities to anglican, they still retain close resemblance to the Presbyterian church as well. Methodist are much less liturgical than Lutherans and have differences in doctrine regarding the sacraments of communion and baptism.

Lutherans believe in consubstantiation ( similar to Catholics) with regards to Communion while Methodist hold a spiritual significance, much different.

Methodist services can resemble a low episcopal or Presbyterian or Congregational church, but not a Lutheran liturgy at all, which again is much more similar to Roman Catholic.

From a Sermon of May 23, 2004 by Dr. Jim Standiford, Senior Pastor:

The concept of the rapture is a hot topic now, perhaps because of the "Left Behind" series popular in the book market. The idea of the rapture is always simmering on some theological stovetop somewhere. It is a concept not actually in the Bible. It is derived from the passage we heard this morning from the Book of Revelation, and a few other passages as well, molded together to develop a concept that runs roughly like this: Jesus will return at some future time, the faithful dead will be raised from their graves, the faithful living will be taken into heaven, and then the tribulation will begin. The "Left Behind" accounts are all about the tribulation times.

This rapture is not central to United Methodist thinking. Of course we might confess there is not much that is central to United Methodist thinking, since we are a church that does not subscribe to one particular creed or confession of faith. There are United Methodists who believe strongly in the rapture, but it is not a central part of our faith. Yet the idea of the rapture is all around us in our culture.

I think the following statement, written by Arvin Luchs , expresses very well a number of aspects of our Methodist tradition: "John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, was a man of deep faith and firm beliefs. But he realized that others of integrity and deep faith had different views from his. While he embraced classical Christian ideas, he understood that unity and common mission arises not so much out of doctrinal agreement, but out of a vital encounter with the risen Christ."

Halford Luccock and Paul Hutchinson, in their classic work, The Story of Methodism, note that Wesley avoided any doctrinal tests for those seeking Methodist membership; rather he asked, "Is thy heart as my heart? Then give me thy hand."

John Wesley is attributed to founding Methodist, and possibly Wesleyan denominations.

A Methodist Church in the US looks very much like most Protestant churches, I think. There will be large great room with high ceilings, called the santuary where services are held. In the front of the sanctuary will be a raised platform. In the center will be the altar table, covered with a purple velvet cloth, with a metal cross sitting in the middle and brass candle sticks with white candles on each side. The candles are lit just before a service begins. The altar cloth is usually embroidered with a gold cross and the alpha and omega symbols. Collection plates, stacked up, will sit in front. In Communion Sundays, the Communion necessities will also sit on the altar table.

Usually there is a choir loft , with seats for the choir, sometimes facing the audience and sometime split into two sections, one on each side, sideways to the audience.

There will be communion rail with padded cushions on which to kneel , facing the altar. The organ is usually in the front built into a corner of the choir loft. There will probably be a piano somewhere in the front. The will be a baptismal font near the altar.

There are typically two pulpits, one on each side, closer to the audience than the choir and altar. The left pulpit usually has the large pulpit Bible which sits on a built in stand. Large American and Christian flags hang on poles on either side of the pulpits. The exposed floor in the front and the aisles are usually carpeted. There is usually a sound system with microphone set up at the pulpits .

For seating there are rows of benches known as pews. There is almost always a

central aisle which leads directly from the main door in the back of the church to the altar in front. The arrangement of side aisles varies considerably with the size and shape of the sanctuary.

The backs of the pews have racks for hymnals and often Bibles, usually with red covers nowadays. On the wall in front is typically a round window , known as a rose window and the side windows often have arches at the top . Colored glass is common and some Methodist churches have elaborate stained glass windows depicting Bible scenes.

Behind the sanctuary and separated usually by curtains, is the foyer. ( The curtains

can be opened in the event of an overflow crowd.) The foyer has coat racks and

tables that hold literature and bulletins . Usually there is a guest book that visitors can sign.

Besides the sanctuary, a Methodist usually contains a large reception hall with an adjoining kitchen, restrooms and a number of class rooms for Sunday school.

Theologically the answer to this question is Jesus Christ.

Across the globe there are several Methodist Churches (denominations). The United Methodist Church, the largest, has no one person who is the leader of the church, like a Pope or Archbishop. Instead, the form of governance is more like the US federal government. It has Judiciary, a Legislative, and Executive bodies. However, the Executive is composed of all the active Bishops, not one President like in the U.S. Federal Government. Official policy is set every four years at the General Conference, a legislative body composed of representative delegates. Twice a year a nine-person Judicial Council meets to interpret questions of law brought before it (questions of policy and procedure, not of censure or discipline). The Episcopacy (the Executive body) is composed of all the active bishops. It does have a President, but this bishop does not act as the president of the denomination, only of the Council of Bishops.

In other churches, such as the Methodist Church of Great Brittan, they do elect a President every year. The current (2009) President of the Methodist Church of Great Brittan is The Reverend David Gamble. You can read more about this here: http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.content&cmid=1567

John Wesley is recognized as the founder of the Methodist Church. http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/wesley/foxwesley.stm His brother, Charles Wesley, wrote more thatn 9000 hymns and songs for the church.

Richard Allen is credited with founding the denomination altough he had lots of help

This question could refer to many different people, so it's practically impossible to create an exhaustive list. Here are a couple of people who sang in church choirs while growing up as Methodist pastors' grandchildren:

Leontyne Price

Every church is different. But usually churches, are usually adorned with different symbols, and objects that represent or have meaning in that particular faith. Since they are places where people worship they are clean and people treat them better than their own homes.