Top Ten Reasons to be a United Methodist Christian

While all these reasons are not exclusively United Methodist, taken collectively they make us refreshingly unique among religious groups.

#10

Color-coding for the church year, pew aerobics every Sunday, and free eats at lots of events. (Laugh here if you like, the others are all serious)

# 9

We believe God hears (and answers, sometimes not the way we want, sometimes not within our timeframe, etc.) ALL prayers.
(Unlike the president of a major Protestant denomination who said a few years ago that God didn’t answer the prayers of Jews.)

# 8

We believe God is patient and understanding, not vengeful.
(And we certainly don’t believe God kills one person to discipline another:  e.g., the remarks of well-known religious leaders in recent years that 9/11 was God’s punishment of America and that Ariel Sharon’s stroke was God’s punishment for the premier’s actions in Israel.) Neither is the God in whom we believe so limited or so inefficient.)

# 7

It’s acceptable to believe in dinosaurs.
(We believe the Bible’s creation stories are expressions of faith from people who did not have our knowledge or understanding of science and the universe. The creation accounts are the best expressions of another time to say "God is behind our world from beginning to end.")

# 6

No one will tell you what you must believe in order to be accepted.
(Whatever you believe you will likely find at least one other United Methodist who agrees with you!  We are not a covenantal church requiring members to sign a creed. We are a church of conservatives and liberals all on a faith journey together. We believe we benefit from the dialogue with each other.)

# 5

We believe in the separation of Church (Christianity) and State (patriotism).
(In fact, we believe it is the Church’s responsibility to be the "conscience" of the State, in a check and balance relationship.)

# 4

Everyone is welcome at The Lord’s Table.
(We don’t put requirements on participation in Holy Communion because it is God's table, not ours.)

# 3

We offer the ministries of the Church (marriage, baptism, funeral, events, activities, programs, classes, etc.) to ALL.
(The only thing non-members may not do is vote at the annual meeting.)

# 2

We worship the Bible’s message, not it’s words.
(We are not biblical literalists, hanging on every word)

# 1

You get to exercise your brain.
(John Wesley, Methodism’s founder, suggested a four-pronged approach to good decisions called the "quadrilateral:" scripture, reason, experience, and tradition.)

For detailed information on United Methodist Doctrinal Standards and Social Principles, please visit UMC.org.