issues currently present in our culture should be approached by the church. One of the most delicate questions is how to deal with the awareness of the church and its followers of the complex biological and psychological nature of human sexuality. It is stated in The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2012 that “God’s grace is available to all, that nothing can separate us from the love of God.” Besides, Methodists claim to be “in respectful dialogue with those with whom we disagree…

The United Methodist Church is growing and it is happening in nontraditional areas. Between 2005 and 2013 outreach ministries connected the UMC with diverse communities and created over 130,000 new disciples in His image. Outreach ministries believe in providing sustenance to who are without basic needs and envision a day without want. On this foundation, missionaries built programs and created an opportunity for growth. Through ministry, the UMC continues to provide support and generosity to those…

The General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted in 1968 to abolish the African-American Central Jurisdiction and to merge all churches regardless of race under the new United Methodist Church. It set a goal for each Annual Conference area to merge together by 1972. South Carolina began discussions on merger as early as 1966, but it took until 1972 to accomplish the goal. The two conferences, the all-white 1785 Conference, and the African-American 1866 Conference merged at the 1972…

Bible to life. Subconsciously I was reasoning through my own theology, experiencing God’s love through God’s people, absorbing the word from the biblical sermons, the creeds, and the hymns as we sung our faith together. My formation in The United Methodist Church was centered upon the Bible, the primary source of Christian belief and theological exploration. The Scriptures contain all things necessary for salvation. John Wesley stated “the substance of the entire Bible is summed up in two plain words-faith…

a Christian. Specifically, I belong to the United Methodist Church. My mother was a Catholic, but had decided to become a United Methodist and to raise me in that church. I have always believed in Christian beliefs such as God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, as well as having read Bible stories since childhood and participating in Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, retreats, and many other things. I have many essential memories of being in church, from asking the pastor to allow me to finish…

Coalbush United Methodist Church is in Mishawaka, Indiana. The Indiana Conference church development team selected Coalbush as a strategic location for potential growth. The church is located right off of the US 20 bypass on the south side of Mishawaka. The city is slowly moving out toward the country, which is how this church views itself: a country church. Mishawaka is not predicted to experience great growth in the next ten years with the make up of a household having little change…

by Westboro Baptist Church, it has also been used to better the world. The church I belonged to, Pine Grove Free Methodist Church, made its best efforts to assist its surrounding community by volunteering at the local homeless shelter and running charity events for starving children in Africa. Furthermore, interpretation and practice truly differentiates the diverse groups within Christianity from their stereotypes. However, to better understand Christianity and Free Methodist denomination I belonged…

The African Methodist Episcopal Church also known as the AME Church, represents a long history of people going from struggles to success, from embarrassment to pride, from slaves to free. It is my intention to prove that the name African Methodist Episcopal represents equality and freedom to worship God, no matter what color skin a person was blessed to be born with. The thesis is this: While both Whites and Africans believed in the worship of God, whites believed in the oppression of the Africans’…

The United Methodist Church is growing and it is happening in nontraditional areas. Between 2005 and 2013 outreach ministries connected the UMC with diverse communities and created over 130,000 new disciples in His image. Outreach ministries believe in providing sustenance to who are without basic needs and envision a day without want. On this foundation, missionaries built programs and create an opportunity for growth. Through ministry, the UMC continues to provide support and generosity to those…

Spring Arbor Free Methodist Church has two different youth groups, one for the Senior High and one for the Junior High. The Edge program, which is the youth group as a whole, consists of dividing the students into young teen and senior teen. Every Sunday night the youth group meets from 6pm to 7:45pm. Ryan Moline is the youth pastor of the young teens, he has split the youth group into the 7th and 8th graders which meet on Sunday nights and 5th and 6th graders that meet on Wednesday nights. I decided…