United Methodist Church - Biblioteka.sk

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United Methodist Church
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United Methodist Church
Flames licking around a simple black cross
The United Methodist Church "cross and flame" emblem
AbbreviationUMC
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationMethodist and United Brethren
TheologyWesleyan
PolityConnexionalism[1]
PresidentThomas James Bickerton III[2]
President DesignateTracy Malone[3]
SecretaryL. J. Holston[4]
Annual conferences132
Episcopal areas66
AssociationsWorld Council of Churches
Churches Uniting in Christ
Christian Churches Together
National Council of Churches
Wesleyan Holiness Consortium
Christian Holiness Partnership
World Methodist Council
FounderJohn Wesley[5][6] (spiritually)
Origin1968
Merger ofThe Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church
SeparationsNew Methodist Conference (2005)
Ang Iglesia Metodista sa Pilipinas (2011)
Global Methodist Church (2022)
Congregations29,598 in the US[7]
Members12,000,000+ (Central Conference numbers awaiting update and 5,714,815 in the US[8])
Ministers83,800
Aid organizationUnited Methodist Committee on Relief
Secondary schools10
Tertiary institutions109
Official websiteumc.org

The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant[9] denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England, as well as the Great Awakening in the United States.[6][10] As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan.[11] It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical elements.[12][13][14][15]

The logo of The United Methodist Church.

The United Methodist Church has a connectional polity, a typical feature of a number of Methodist denominations. It is organized into conferences. The highest level is called the General Conference and is the only organization which may speak officially for the UMC. The church is a member of the World Council of Churches, the World Methodist Council, and other religious associations.

As of 2021, the UMC had 5,714,815 members and 30,543 churches in the United States.[16] As of 2018, it had 12,951,427 members and 43,409 churches worldwide.[17] In 2015, the Pew Research Center estimated that 3.6 percent of the US population, or nine million adult adherents, identified with the United Methodist Church, revealing a much larger number of adherents than registered members.[18]

On January 3, 2020, a group of Methodist leaders proposed a plan to split the United Methodist Church over issues of sexual orientation (particularly same-sex marriage) and create a new traditionalist Methodist denomination.[19][20][21] The Global Methodist Church was formed in 2022.[22] Prior to the establishment of the Global Methodist Church, some Methodist congregations had already left the UMC to join the Free Methodist Church, a traditionalist Methodist denomination aligned with the Wesleyan-holiness movement.[23][24] As of December 30, 2023, the number of UMC churches in the United States that were approved for disaffiliation stood at 7,660. This figure represented approximately one-quarter of the UMC churches in the United States.[25][26]

History

Church origins

Statue of John Wesley in Savannah, Georgia, where he served as a missionary

The movement which would become the United Methodist Church began in the mid-18th century within the Church of England. A small group of students, including John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield, met at Oxford University. They focused on Bible study, methodical study of scripture, and living a holy life. Other students mocked them, saying they were the "Holy Club" and "the Methodists", being methodical and exceptionally detailed in their Bible study, opinions, and disciplined lifestyle. Eventually, the so-called Methodists started individual societies or classes for members of the Church of England who wanted to live a more religious life.

In 1735, John and Charles Wesley went to America, hoping to teach the gospel to the Native Americans in the colony of Georgia. Instead, John became vicar of Christ Church in Savannah. His preaching was legalistic and full of harsh rules, and the congregation rejected him. After two years in America, he returned to England dejected and confused. While sailing on his original journey to America, he had been impressed with the faith of the German Moravians on board, and when he returned to England he spent time with Peter Böhler, a German Moravian who was passing through England and who believed that a person is saved solely through the grace of God and not by works. John had many conversations with Böhler about this topic. On May 25, 1738, after listening to a reading of Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans, John came to the understanding that his good works could not save him and he could rest in God's grace for salvation. For the first time in his life, he felt peace and the assurance of salvation.

In less than two years, the "Holy Club" disbanded. John Wesley met with a group of clergy, and afterwards said "they appeared to be of one heart, as well as of one judgment, resolved to be Bible-Christians at all events; and, wherever they were, to preach with all their might plain, old, Bible Christianity." The ministers nonetheless retained their membership in the Church of England. Though not always emphasized or appreciated in the Anglican churches of their day, their teaching emphasized salvation by God's grace, acquired through faith in Christ. Three teachings they saw as the foundation of Christian faith were:

  1. People are all by nature dead in sin and, consequently, children of wrath.
  2. They are justified by faith alone.
  3. Faith produces inward and outward holiness.

These clergymen quickly became popular, attracting large congregations. The nickname students had used against the Wesleys was revived; they and their followers subsequently became known as Methodists.[27]

Predecessors

Barratt's Chapel, built in 1780, is the oldest Methodist church in the United States built for that purpose. The church was a meeting place of Asbury and Coke.

The English preacher Francis Asbury arrived in America in 1771. He became a "circuit rider", taking the gospel to the furthest reaches of the new frontier as he had done as a preacher in England .[28] The first official organization in the United States occurred in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1784, with the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church at the Christmas Conference with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the leaders.[29][30]

The ordination of Bishop Francis Asbury by Bishop Thomas Coke at the Christmas Conference establishing the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1784

Though John Wesley originally wanted the Methodists to stay within the Church of England, the American Revolution decisively separated the Methodists in the American colonies from the life and sacraments of the English Church. In 1784, after unsuccessful attempts to have the Church of England send a bishop to start a new church in the colonies, Wesley decisively appointed fellow priest Thomas Coke as Superintendent (the equivalent of a bishop) to organize a separate Methodist Society. Together with Coke, Wesley sent The Sunday Service of the Methodists, Methodism's first liturgical text and the Articles of Religion, which were received and adopted by the Baltimore Christmas Conference of 1784, officially establishing the Methodist Episcopal Church. The conference was held at the Lovely Lane Methodist Church, considered the mother church of American Methodism.[31]

The new church grew rapidly in the young country as it employed circuit riders, many of whom were laymen, to travel the mostly rural nation by horseback to preach the Gospel and to establish churches until there was scarcely any village in the United States without a Methodist presence. With 4,000 circuit riders by 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church rapidly became the largest Protestant denomination in the country.

St. George's United Methodist Church, located at the corner of 4th and New Streets, in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest Methodist church in continuous use in the United States, beginning in 1769. The congregation was founded in 1767, meeting initially in a sail loft on Dock Street, and in 1769 it purchased the shell of a building which had been erected in 1763 by a German Reformed congregation. At this time, Methodists had not yet broken away from the Anglican Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church was not founded until 1784.

19th-century Methodist hymnal, Barratt's Chapel

Richard Allen and Absalom Jones became the first African Americans ordained by the Methodist Church. They were licensed by Saint George's Church in 1784. Three years later, protesting racial segregation in worship services, Allen led most of the black members out of St. George's; eventually they founded the Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Absalom Jones became an Episcopal priest. In 1836, the church's basement was excavated to make room for a Sunday school. In the 1920s, a court case saved the church from being demolished to make way for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The case resulted in the bridge being relocated. Historic Saint George's welcomes visitors and is home to archives and a museum on Methodism.

In the more than 220 years since 1784, Methodism in the United States, like many other Protestant denominations, has seen a number of divisions and mergers. In 1830, the Methodist Protestant Church split from the Methodist Episcopal Church over the issue of laity having a voice and vote in the administration of the church, insisting that clergy should not be the only ones to have any determination in how the church was to be operated. In 1844, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church split into two conferences because of tensions over slavery and the power of bishops in the denomination.

The two general conferences, Methodist Episcopal Church (the northern faction) and Methodist Episcopal Church, South remained separate until 1939. That year, the northern and southern Methodist Episcopal Churches and the Methodist Protestant Church merged to create The Methodist Church. The uniting conference took place at First Methodist Church (now First United Methodist Church) of Marion, Indiana.

1968 merger

On April 23, 1968, the United Methodist Church was created when the Evangelical United Brethren Church (represented by Bishop Reuben H. Mueller) and The Methodist Church (represented by Bishop Lloyd Christ Wicke) joined hands at the constituting General Conference in Dallas, Texas. With the words, "Lord of the Church, we are united in Thee, in Thy Church and now in The United Methodist Church"[32] the new denomination was given birth by both churches which had distinguished histories and influential ministries in various parts of the world.

2020–2023 schisms

The UMC has rules, found in the Book of Disciplines, that prohibit same-sex unions and the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals. Many progressive UMC leaders and churches, especially in the United States, are supportive of gay marriage and ignore the rules. Many conservative members of the UMC do not like the trend of the UMC trending towards endorsing gay marriage and, hence, have initiated movements to split-off from the UMC.[33][34]

On January 3, 2020, the denomination's leadership released a proposal to split the Church over what it described as "fundamental differences" over homosexuality, particularly same-sex marriage (see § Homosexuality below).[20][35] The proposal would need to be approved by the General Conference in order to take effect. The 2020 General Conference, originally scheduled to be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[36]

In November 2020, a small group of the progressive wing announced their intention to create a new denomination, the Liberation Methodist Connexion.[37][38] It was launched on the First Sunday in Advent through an online service.[39] However, organizers of the Liberation Methodist Connexion announced on 18 December 2021 that no progress has been made to set up a separate denomination.[40]

In March 2021, conservative leaders of the UMC unveiled the name Global Methodist Church for the new traditionalist denomination, along with a new website and logo. The next General Conference is set for 2024.[41] At that time, delegates are expected to vote on the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation.[42] The conservative Transitional Leadership Council said the Global Methodist Church would be officially started, with individual churches or conferences able to join, when the General Conference adopts legislation implementing the Protocol, although the Council "will consider bringing the new church into existence without delay" "if it becomes apparent" that leaders "who covenanted to support the Protocol no longer do so."[43] Not wanting to wait for the General Conference to occur, some conservative United Methodist congregations left the United Methodist Church to become a part of the Free Methodist Church, a traditionalist Methodist denomination aligned with the holiness movement.[23][24] After the launch of the Global Methodist Church on May 1, 2022, a number of traditionalist United Methodist churches entered into the Global Methodist Church.[22]

On May 10, 2022, the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church ruled that annual UMC conferences in the United States cannot leave the church for the Global Methodist Church; only individual churches may do so. The Romania-Bulgaria Conference has left the UMC. As of May 2022, the South Georgia and Northwest Texas conferences were making preparations to leave the UMC; however, these proposed transitions would require UMC General conference legislation.[44]

Early in 2022, according to the United Methodist News Service, the United Methodist Church approved 300 requests by individual churches to leave the denomination. The Wesleyan Covenant Association, which was helping congregations join the Global Methodist Church, said that 1,000 more churches were expected to hold votes on proposed departures from the UMC later in the year and that 300 of 800 Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference churches were considering leaving. Methodist churches and congregations in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia or Romania also expressed dissent and intentions to disaffiliate from the UMC due to progressive tendencies in the American leadership of the UMC.[45] Over 100 churches in Florida and North Carolina had filed or were considering lawsuits. Some of the largest churches in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas were planning to leave. As of 2022, any church that disaffiliated would be responsible for paying two years of apportionments and unfunded pension liabilities.[46] Fifty-eight churches belonging to the Louisiana Annual Conference left the United Methodist Church, with seven congregations being from Baton Rouge and six from New Orleans.[47] The disaffiliations from the conference were scheduled to take effect after December 31, 2022.[47] St. Timothy, one of the largest Methodist churches in Louisiana, voted for disaffiliation on November 1, 2022.[47] To prevent certain congregations from disaffiliating, the UMC ordered that certain churches be closed before disaffiliation votes could occur.[48][49] Several annual conferences designated certain remaining congregations as "lighthouse congregations", which offer support to UMC parishioners who objected to their former congregations' disaffiliation.[50]

As of December 30, 2023, the number of UMC churches in the United States that were approved for disaffiliation stood at 7,660. This figure represented approximately one-quarter of the UMC churches in the United States.[25][26]

Beliefs

The United Methodist Church seeks to create disciples for Christ through outreach, evangelism, and through seeking holiness, also called sanctification, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The flame in the church logo represents the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, and the two parts of the flame also represent the predecessor denominations, the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren, united at the base symbolizing the 1968 merger.

The United Methodist Church understands itself to be part of the holy catholic (or universal) church and it recognizes the historic ecumenical creeds,[51] the Apostles' Creed[52] and the Nicene Creed;[53] which are used frequently in services of worship.[54] The Book of Discipline also recognizes the importance of the Chalcedonian Creed of the Council of Chalcedon.[55] It upholds the concept of the "visible and invisible Church," meaning that all who are truly believers in every age belong to the holy Church invisible, while the United Methodist Church is a branch of the Church visible, to which all believers must be connected as it is the only institution wherein the Word of God is preached and the Sacraments are administered.

Some argue that the United Methodist Church can lay a claim to apostolic succession, as understood in the traditional sense.[56] As a result of the American Revolution, John Wesley was compelled in 1784 to break with standard practice and ordain two of his lay preachers as presbyters, Thomas Vasey and Richard Whatcoat. Thomas Coke, already an Anglican priest, assisted Wesley in this action. Coke was then "set apart" as a Superintendent (bishop) by Wesley and dispatched with Vasey and Whatcoat to America to take charge of Methodist activities there. In defense of his action to ordain, Wesley himself cited an ancient opinion from the Church of Alexandria, which held that bishops and presbyters constituted one order and therefore, bishops are to be elected from and by the presbyterate. He knew that for two centuries the succession of bishops in the Church of Alexandria was preserved through ordination by presbyters alone and was considered valid by the Early Church. Methodists today who would argue for apostolic succession would do so on these grounds.[57]

While many United Methodist congregations operate in the evangelical tradition, others reflect the mainline Protestant traditions. Although United Methodist practices and interpretation of beliefs have evolved over time, these practices and beliefs can be traced to the writings of the church's founders, especially John Wesley and Charles Wesley (Anglicans), but also Philip William Otterbein and Martin Boehm (United Brethren), and Jacob Albright (Evangelical Association). With the formation of the United Methodist Church in 1968, theologian Albert C. Outler led the team which systematized denominational doctrine. Outler's work proved pivotal in the work of union, and he is largely considered the first United Methodist theologian.

Doctrine

The officially established Doctrinal Standards of United Methodism are:

These Doctrinal Standards are constitutionally protected and nearly impossible to change or remove.[58] Other doctrines of the United Methodist Church are found in the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church.

Summary of basic beliefs

The basic beliefs of the United Methodist Church include:

  • Triune God. God is one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.[60]
  • The Bible. The Bible is the inspired word of God. F. Belton Joyner argues that there is a deep division within Methodism today about what exactly this means. Questions include whether the Bible was inspired when written (and the text today is always true and without error), or if it is inspired when actually read by a Christian (and therefore dependent on the interaction with the reader.) In the first case, says Joyner, the Christian is concerned only with the precise wording of the original manuscript, without regard to historical setting. In the other case, the reader tries to read the biblical text in terms of all of the influences of modern thought, with little regard for the meaning offered in the ancient texts. In that Wesleyan tradition, United Methodists balance these two extremes, aware that the same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures is alive and well to bring the written Word alive for the present. United Methodists take seriously both the original inspiration and today's contemporary inspiration. "...In this way, the Bible itself becomes the balancing, clarifying, even correcting tool for understanding the Scripture. God's gifts in the written Word are so rich that they can continue to give light and life as one digs again and again into the same Scriptures."[61][62]
  • Sin. While human beings were intended to bear the image of God, all humans are sinners for whom that image is distorted. Sin estranges people from God and corrupts human nature such that we cannot heal or save ourselves.[63]
  • Salvation through Jesus Christ. God's redeeming love is active to save sinners through Jesus' incarnate life and teachings, through his atoning death, his resurrection, his sovereign presence through history, and his promised return.[63]
  • Sanctification. The grace of sanctification draws one toward the gift of Christian perfection, which Wesley described as a heart "habitually filled with the love of God and neighbor" and as "having the mind of Christ and walking as he walked."[64] This emphasis in Methodism has led to the heralding of the motto "Holiness unto the Lord".[65]
  • Sacraments. United Methodists recognize two sacraments: Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. Other rites such as Confirmation, Ordination, Holy Matrimony, Funerals, and Anointing of the Sick are performed but not considered sacraments. In Holy Baptism, the Church believes that "Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christians are distinguished from others that are not baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration or the new birth.[66] It believes that Baptism is a sacrament in which God initiates a covenant with individuals,[67] people become a part of the Church,[67] is not to be repeated,[67] and is a means of grace.[68] The United Methodist Church generally practices Baptism by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion[69] and uses the Trinitarian formula.[70] United Methodists also recognize as valid baptisms performed in several other Christian denominations.[71] The Church practices and encourages infant baptism; when persons baptized as infants mature, they may confirm (or reject) the baptismal vows made on their behalf as infants by families, guardians, and congregations through a process of Christian education called Confirmation. The United Methodist Church affirms the real presence of Christ in Holy Communion, but does not hold to the Catholic dogma of transubstantiation.[72] The Church believes that the bread is an effectual sign of His body crucified on the cross and the cup is an effectual sign of His blood shed for humanity.[73] Through the outward and visible signs of bread and wine, the inward and spiritual reality of the Body and Blood of Christ are offered to believers. The Church holds that the celebration of the Eucharist is an anamnesis of Jesus' death,[74] and believes the sacrament to be a means of grace,[75] and practices open communion.[76]
  • Free will. The UMC believes that people, while corrupted by sin, are free to make their own choices because of God's divine grace enabling them, and that people are truly accountable before God for their choices.
  • Social Justice. The Church opposes evils such as slavery, inhumane prison conditions, capital punishment, economic injustice, child labor, racism, and inequality.[77]

Distinctive Wesleyan emphases

The key emphasis of Wesley's theology relates to how divine grace operates within the individual. Wesley defined the Way of Salvation as the operation of grace in at least three parts: Prevenient Grace, Justifying Grace, and Sanctifying Grace.

Prevenient grace, or the grace that "goes before" us, is given to all people. It is that power which enables us to love and motivates us to seek a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.[78] This grace is the present work of God to turn us from our sin-corrupted human will to the loving will of the Father. In this work, God desires that we might sense both our sinfulness before God and God's offer of salvation. Prevenient grace allows those tainted by sin to nevertheless make a truly free choice to accept or reject God's salvation in Christ.[78]

Justifying Grace or Accepting Grace[78] is that grace, offered by God to all people, that we receive by faith and trust in Christ, through which God pardons the believer of sin. It is in justifying grace we are received by God, in spite of our sin. In this reception, we are forgiven through the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The justifying grace cancels our guilt and empowers us to resist the power of sin and to fully love God and neighbor. Today, justifying grace is also known as conversion, "accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior," or being "born again."[78][79] John Wesley originally called this experience the New Birth.[80] This experience can occur in different ways; it can be one transforming moment, such as an altar call experience,[81] or it may involve a series of decisions across a period of time.[82]

Sanctifying Grace is that grace of God which sustains the believers in the journey toward Christian Perfection: a genuine love of God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and a genuine love of our neighbors as ourselves. Sanctifying grace enables us to respond to God by leading a Spirit-filled and Christ-like life aimed toward love. Wesley never claimed this state of perfection for himself but instead insisted the attainment of perfection was possible for all Christians. Here the English Reformer parted company with both Luther and Calvin, who denied that a man would ever reach a state in this life in which he could not fall into sin. Such a man can lose all inclination to evil and can gain perfection in this life.[83]

Wesleyan theology maintains that salvation is the act of God's grace entirely, from invitation, to pardon, to growth in holiness. Furthermore, God's prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace interact dynamically in the lives of Christians from birth to death.

According to Wesleyan understanding, good works are the fruit of one's salvation, not the way in which that salvation was earned. Faith and good works go hand in hand in Methodist theology: a living tree naturally and inevitably bears fruit. Wesleyan theology rejects the doctrine of eternal security, believing that salvation can be rejected.[84] Wesley emphasized that believers must continue to grow in their relationship with Christ, through the process of Sanctification.

A key outgrowth of this theology is the United Methodist dedication not only to the Evangelical Gospel of repentance and a personal relationship with God, but also to the Social Gospel and a commitment to social justice issues that have included abolition, women's suffrage, labor rights, civil rights, and ministry with the poor.

Characterization of Wesleyan theology

Methodist theology stands at a unique crossroads between evangelical, holiness and sacramental,[15] as well as between liturgical and charismatic, and between Anglo-Catholic and Reformed worship. It has been characterized as Wesleyan–Arminian theology with an emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit to bring holiness into the life of the participating believer. The United Methodist Church believes in prima scriptura, seeing the Bible as the primary authority in the Church and using sacred tradition, reason, and experience to interpret it, with the aid of the Holy Spirit (see Wesleyan Quadrilateral).[85] Therefore, according to The Book of Discipline, United Methodist theology is at once "catholic, evangelical, and reformed."[86]

Today, the UMC is generally considered one of the more moderate and tolerant denominations with respect to race, gender, and ideology, though the denomination itself includes a wide spectrum of attitudes. Comparatively, the UMC stands to the right of liberal and progressive Protestant groups such as the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church on certain issues (especially regarding sexuality), but to the left of historically conservative evangelical traditions such as the Southern Baptists and Pentecostalism, in regard to theological matters such as social justice and Biblical interpretation. The UMC is made up of a broad diversity of thought, and so there are many clergy and laity within the UMC that hold differing viewpoints on such theological matters.

Diversity within beliefs

In appealing for tolerance of diversity of theological opinions, John Wesley said, "Though we may not think alike, may we not all love alike?" The phrase "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity" has also become a maxim among Methodists, who have always maintained a great diversity of opinion on many matters within the Church.

The United Methodist Church allows for a wide range of theological and political beliefs. For example, former President George W. Bush (R-TX), former First Lady Laura Bush and former Attorney General of the United States, Jeff Sessions, are United Methodists, as are Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and former Senator Max Cleland (D-GA).

The Pew Research Center's 2014 US Religious Landscape Study concluded that the political preferences of US adult members of the United Methodist Church was 54 percent Republican / lean Republican, 35 percent Democrat / lean Democrat, and 11 percent independent / no lean / other.[87]

Social issues

Abortion

UMC clergy and laity at the 2017 United Methodist event for the March for Life hosted by Lifewatch, Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality at the United Methodist Building, Washington, D.C.

The topic of abortion is complex for the United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Church affirms these two sentences in The Social Principles: "Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion. But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and the unborn child." (Book of Discipline ¶161.J).[88] The denomination is committed to "assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women find feasible alternatives to abortion."[89] In 2016, the United Methodist General Conference voted to withdraw from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC),[90] an organization in which it formerly held membership.[91] Annual Conferences could still choose whether to remain a part of the RCRC locally.[92][93][94] At the same General Conference, delegates voted to delete a four-decade-old statement from the Book of Resolutions which affirmed the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision on the legality of abortion. A new resolution was re-adopted 56–2 in a resolutions subcommittee, decrying gender-selective abortion while also describing abortion as "violent" and opposing abortions done for "trivial reasons." The resolution passed in the daily consent agenda with no debate.[95] As an official organization, however, "the General Board of Church and Society continues to be an advocate for a full range of safe and legal reproductive health care – including, in certain cases, the option to safely and legally end a pregnancy."[96]

Nevertheless, the United Methodist Church holds that "while we understand the need for women to have access to safe, legal abortions, we also 'mourn and are committed to promoting the diminishment of high abortion rates'."[97] and they "are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother, for whom devastating damage may result from an unacceptable pregnancy. In continuity with past Christian teaching, we recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, (in the eyes of God) and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures."[98] The Church cautions that "Governmental laws and regulations do not provide all the guidance required by the informed Christian conscience."[98] The Church emphasizes the need of a supportive ministry to women who have experienced abortions: "We further encourage local churches to make available contact information for counseling agencies that offer programs to address post-abortion stress for all seeking help."[98]

Members of the United Methodist Church who identify with the anti-abortion position come mostly from the Confessing Movement within the denomination and have organized into the Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality (TUMAS) to further their position within the denomination.[99] On the other side, the Methodist Federation for Social Action and United Methodist Women continue to represent pro-choice views.[100][101]

Alcohol

Historically, the Methodist Church has supported the temperance movement.[102] John Wesley warned against the dangers of drinking in his famous sermon, "The Use of Money",[103] and in his letter to an alcoholic.[104][105] Today the United Methodist Church states that it "affirms our long-standing support of abstinence from alcohol as a faithful witness to God's liberating and redeeming love for persons."[106] In fact, the United Methodist Church uses unfermented grape juice in the sacrament of Holy Communion, thus "expressing pastoral concern for recovering alcoholics, enabling the participation of children and youth, and supporting the church's witness of abstinence."[107] Moreover, in 2011 and 2012, the United Methodist Church's General Board of Church and Society called on all United Methodists to abstain from alcohol for Lent.[108][109][110]

Capital punishment

The United Methodist Church, along with some other Methodist churches, condemns capital punishment, saying that it cannot accept retribution or social vengeance as a reason for taking human life.[111] The Church also holds that the death penalty falls unfairly and unequally upon marginalized persons including the poor, the uneducated, ethnic and religious minorities, and persons with mental and emotional illnesses.[112] The United Methodist Church also believes that Jesus explicitly repudiated the lex talionis in Matthew 5:3839 and abolished the death penalty in John 8:7.[111] The General Conference of the United Methodist Church calls for its bishops to uphold opposition to capital punishment and for governments to enact an immediate moratorium on carrying out the death penalty sentence.

Creation

The United Methodist Church, like many mainline Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church, has determined that there is no conflict between faith and the theory of evolution. Some clergy have stated that "it's time for people of faith to accept evolution."[113] Additionally, the UMC officially affirms the theory of evolution and "opposes introducing theories such as Creationism or Intelligent Design into public school curriculum."[114] In 2016, the denomination denied approval for a creationist group to be officially represented at the church's General Conference.[115]

Euthanasia

The United Methodist Church is opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The official stance mentions that "The church has an obligation to see that all persons have access to needed pastoral and medical care and therapy in those circumstances that lead to loss of self-worth, suicidal despair, and/or the desire to seek physician-assisted suicide." It also states that "If death is deliberately sought as the means to relieve suffering, that must be understood as direct and intentional taking of life ... The United Methodist tradition opposes the taking of life as an offense against God's sole dominion over life, and an abandonment of hope and humility before God."[116]

The United Methodist Church, represented by Bishop Scott Jones of the Texas Annual Conference, on behalf of the Houston Methodist Research Institute, and the Roman Catholic Church, represented by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, of the Pontifical Academy for Life, signed a "Joint Declaration on the End of Life and Palliative Care", on 17 September 2018, reaffirming the common stance of both denominations in opposing euthanasia.[117]

Gambling

The United Methodist Church opposes gambling, believing that it is a sin which feeds on human greed and which invites people to place their trust in possessions, rather than in God, whom Christians should "love ... with all your heart."[118][119] It quotes the Apostle Paul who states:

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

— 1 Tim. 6:9-10a[120]

The United Methodist Church therefore holds that: Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=United_Methodist_Church
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