Should the Global Methodist Church have new Articles of Faith?
- Matt O'Reilly
- Apr 21
- 2 min read
Global Methodists are talking about doctrine and theology. That's a good thing. Twentieth century mainline Methodism didn't leave us a strong theological legacy, and I'm grateful to see us working through important questions of belief.
As you might expect, questions have come up about the proposed Articles of Faith. Why are we considering such a proposal? What's the process for considering them? Why might we need a fresh statement of our beliefs? And then there are questions about aspects of the Articles themselves. How do we talk about human nature? Scripture? Sacraments? Should our statement of doctrine include condemnations of opposing viewpoints? What should the tone of such a statement be?
I recently sat down with David Watson, President of Asbury Theological Seminary. David also serves as the Chair of the Discipleship, Doctrine, and Just Ministry Commission of the Global Methodist Church. He co-chaired a writing team, of which I was a part, charged with drafting these proposed Articles of Faith. We cover many of the questions above and some others, too. If you're interested in Methodst beliefs, this conversation is for you.
Did you know the Global Methodist Church actually inherited two doctrinal statements? The Methodist Articles of Religion and the Evangelical United Brethren Confession. In the course of the discussion, David mentions an article by Jason Vickers on the relationship between the current Articles of Religion and Confession of Faith. READ IT HERE.
Dr. Matt O'Reilly is Lead Pastor of Christ Church Birmingham in Alabama, Director of Research at Wesley Biblical Seminary, and a Senior Fellow of the Center for Pastor Theologians. A two-time recipeint of the Stott Award for Pastoral Engagement, he is author of Free to Be Holy and Paul and the Resurrected Body.
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