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Denominations - Protestant

Short profiles of selected Christian denominations in the U.S.

United Methodist Church symbol

United Methodist Church

  • Date Founded: 1784 as the Methodist Episcopal Church in America
  • Membership/Number of Clergy:  7,570,541/45,230 as of 2010.
  • Headquarters:  The United Methodist Church does not have a central headquarters or a single executive leader. Duties are divided among bodies that include the General Conference, the Council of Bishops and the Judicial Council.
  • Schools & Seminaries:  The United Methodist Church has amost 100 affiliated two- and four-year colleges, 13 seminaries, and 38 seminaries and divinity schools approved by the University Senate to educate Methodist clergy.
  • Publications:  The church publishes 11 periodicals for different ages, ethnic backgrounds, and interests in addition to the newsletters published by each  conference.
  • Website:  https://www.umc.org/
  • Social Media:  Facebook, YouTube
  • Core Beliefs: Grace is a central concept of Methodist belief.  Grace is God's active presence in human life, freely given, but able to be refused.  Grace can lead to conversion and salvation.Methodists believe that faith and good works belong together--that people are defined by what they do as much as by what they believe.  For a full explanation: https://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/our-wesleyan-heritage

Short History:  The UMC traces its roots to John and Charles Wesley in England through the Methodist Episcopal Church in America.  The church split into Northern and Southern branches due to the disagreement over slavery before the Civil War.  In 1939 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South merged with the Methodist Protestant Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church (the Northern branch)  to become The Methodist Church. The Methodist Church united with the Evangelical United Brethren Church, itself a merger of the United Brethren and Evangelical Churches, in 1968 to form the United Methodist Church.

Local Churches:  There are 32 United Methodist congregations in Louisville (too many to list here). The closest to the LPTS campus are:

St. Paul United Methodist, 2000 Douglass Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40205-1996

Crescent Hill United Methodist, 201 S Peterson Ave, Louisville, KY 40206

Church Finder: https://www.umc.org/en/find-a-church