Doctrinal Standards

Dear Trinity Tribe,

Good morning! I am amazed at how much snow is still outside in the parsonage yard! I hope you are safe and warm this morning!

One of the critiques that the United Methodist Church has faced by some corners is that we do not have a doctrine. Now, the way that some people define doctrine, that would be a fair assessment. Some people use doctrine as a measuring stick to include or exclude people in church membership. Unlike some denominations, we do not have a list of items that we verbally agree to when we join the church. We do not have to memorize the Westminster Shorter Catechism when we join a United Methodist Church. However, we do have doctrines that outline what we believe as United Methodists. They are not dictatorial and legalistic. And as Captain Barbosa says on Pirates of the Caribbean about the Code of the Brethren, "the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules." Our United Methodist doctrines sum up what we believe. However, they are living documents that we must continually reflect upon, interpret, and expand upon in light of scripture, tradition, reason, and our experience in the world today.

When John Wesley sent the first four bishops to the young United States, he gave them 25 articles to guide the church. These Articles of Religion explain what we believe about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the Bible among other topics.

In Bible study this year, we studied these Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church as contained in the 2008 Book of Discipline. These 25 articles, along with the Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (the denomination that merged with the Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church in 1968), John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the New Testament and John Wesley's standard sermons form our foundation of belief.

Here is a link to our the documents that are our doctrinal standards:
http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1648

I invite you to poke around and discover what depth and breadth our doctrinal standards have. There, of course, is language that points to the context in which the documents were written. You will not find inclusive language in these statements of faith. However, we give John Wesley charity and understand the environment in which he lived. When you read the Articles of Religion in particular, you will see in black and white, John Wesley's disdain for Roman Catholic practices again pointing to the time in which he lived. This is where we use scripture, reason, tradition, and our own experiences as a lens with which to view the documents. We know that women are an integral and important part of the church and its leadership. Therefore, we see where Wesley wrote "men" and expand the meaning of "men" to include men, women, youth and children that are active members and participants within our congregations. We bring John Wesley's words forward into 2010, almost 2011.

Even with these cultural markers of John Wesley's time period, the doctrines of our faith are amazing statements of what we believe. They point to why I choose to be United Methodist and why I feel we hold the best expression of living out the Gospel in the world as the Church. I invite you to read and be convicted in why you choose to be United Methodist as well. And for those of you who are not United Methodist who read this, I invite you to see what we believe and push back using your statements of faith and doctrine. In that conversation, perhaps we can better understand one another and our own doctrines.

Have a blessed day!