Why United Methodist?

The United Methodist denomination is part of the renewal movement that John and Charles Wesley helped to launch in England in the 1700’s. Tired of people simply “going through the motions” of Christianity, the Wesley’s sought to embody a faith that was constantly growing and hearts on fire for God and the world. Their “method” of making disciples was mocked; thus the name Methodist.

United Methodists share a great deal in common with many Christian denominations. One distinctive that we have is our emphasis on grace. Grace simply means God working in our lives. We believe that God is at work in our lives before we even know it (prevenient grace), that God is moving in us to turn our hearts towards God in faith (justifying grace), and God continues to work all through our lives to make us more like God (sanctifying grace). Our emphasis is not just on the moment that you were saved—instead it is a belief that God’s grace is active in your life even now.

Another United Methodist distinctive is holiness. By holiness we don’t mean “holier than thou” or thinking we’re better than anyone. We try to practice both personal and social holiness. Personal holiness is how we individually grow in our relationship with God through things like Bible reading, prayer, and spiritual disciplines. Social holiness is how we seek to change the world around us through practices of justice and mercy. These two parts of holiness are held together in United Methodism, which makes us quite unique. John Wesley said, “There is no holiness without social holiness.”

To learn more about The United Methodist Church, check out https://www.umc.org/en/who-we-are/what-we-believe

And to learn more about our local connection of the North Carolina Conference of the UMC, check out www.nccumc.org.