Wesley United Methodist Church of Wausau Wisconsin is an open and inclusive family of faith. We openly welcome and accept all people who wish to seek God. We are a loving and accepting community that seeks to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ to love others as we would love ourselves. We proclaim God's love and justice for all people, thereby continuing the heritage of Methodism's founder John Wesley.
What's different or distinctive about being a United Methodist?
There are no exclusively United Methodist doctrines. Although we have distinctive emphases, we have no affirmations that are not also believed by other Christian groups. United Methodists have traditionally proclaimed the following emphases:
- The availability of God's grace for all.
- The essential unity of faith and works.
- Salvation as personal and social.
- The church as a community of Christ's disciples who seek to share in God's mission.
- The inseparability of knowledge (intellect) and vital piety (devotion to religious duties and practices) as components of faith.
- Seeking holiness of heart and life both as individuals and in our society.
- A cooperative ministry and mission in the world, often referred to as "connectionalism".
- The link between Christian doctrine and Christian living.
How old is the United Methodist church?
The present denomination was created in 1968 with the merger of The Methodist Church and The Evangelical United Brethren Church.
Where did the church get its name?
John and Charles Wesley and a few other young men attending Oxford University met regularly in 1729 for intellectual and spiritual improvement and to help one another become better Christians. So systematic were their habits of religious duty and their rules of conduct that other students referred to them as "Methodists". The word "United" now in our name comes from The Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) Church, which united with The Methodist Church in 1968.
How can I get more answers to my questions?
Talk to the Pastor Contact Us; call InfoServ, the church's nationwide, toll-free telephone service at 1-800-251-8140; or visit their website www.infoserv.umc.org.
Information for these Methodist FAQ's is from Thomas S. McAnally's "Questions and Answers About The United Methodist Church", published by Abington Press, 1995
