The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant 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.As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan.It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical elements.
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.
In 2020, it had 6,268,310 members and 30,543 churches in the United States. In 2018, worldwide, it had 6,464,127 members and 31,268 churches. In 2015, the Pew Research Center estimated that 3.6 percent of the US population, or 9 million adult adherents, identified with the United Methodist Church, revealing a much larger number of adherents than registered membership.
On January 3, 2020, a group of the church's 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, which is called the Global Methodist Church, though before its establishment, some congregations already left to join the Free Methodist Church, which is aligned with the Wesleyan-holiness movement.
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."
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