Methodists are part of the larger Christian faith and affirm all of the historic beliefs of the faith as articulated in the historic creeds of the church. We affirm the God of Israel who has been decisively revealed in Jesus of Nazareth and continues to be present and at work in our lives in the form of the Holy Spirit. This understanding of God is known as the Trinity. We believe that God has been revealed through the Bible, and especially through the witness of the New Testament.
These core Christian beliefs were laid out in the Articles of Religion and in an alternate form of the Articles known as the Confession of Faith. Both of these are contained in the Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church and are accepted as doctrinal standards.
There are no additional beliefs that are needed in order to be Methodist. However, Methodists have a proud and unique heritage within the larger Christian family. And there are some things we tend to emphasize. These emphases arise out of our origins historically, the unique personality of John Wesley, and later historic developments.
Grace leads us to life -- abundant and eternal in quality & quantity with Almighty God.
Wesley believed – and we continue to believe today – that four criteria are used to work out one’s faith:
which serves as the record of God’s relationship to humankind;
which influences how the Bible is read and interpreted;
which is the individual’s distinct experience of God;
which acts as a guardian against aberrant belief and behavior.
