The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination that is both mainline Protestant and Evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the 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 within the Church of England. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces both liturgical and evangelical elements.
In the United States, it ranks as the largest mainline denomination, the second largest Protestant church after the Southern Baptist Convention, and the third largest Christian denomination. As of 2009, worldwide membership was about 12 million: 7.7 million in the United States and Canada, and 4.4 million in Africa, Asia and Europe. It is a member of the World Council of Churches, the World Methodist Council, and other religious associations.
Read more about United Methodist Church: Beliefs, Worship and Liturgy, Education, Clergy, Laity, Ecumenical Relations, Membership Trends
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“What the United States does best is to understand itself. What it does worst is understand others.”
—Carlos Fuentes (b. 1928)
“Kipling, the grandson of a Methodist preacher, reveals the tin-pot evangelist with increasing clarity as youth and its ribaldries pass away and he falls back upon his fundamentals.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“A little black thing among the snow
Crying “’weep, ‘weep,” in notes of woe!
“Where are thy father & mother? say?”
“They are both gone up to the church to pray.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)