The Word of God
We accept and believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. We receive it as the revealed will and way of God for our daily life.
With a firm conviction that the large gulf which separates true historic and conservative Christianity from modernistic and liberal Christianity is an ever-widening chasm which can never be healed, the Evangelical Methodist Church came into being as a conservative, evangelical church.
These doctrine summaries come from our denomination, the Evangelical Methodist Church — emchurch.org.
The Trinity
We believe in the Godhead, the Holy Trinity, in which there are three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Father
We believe in God the Father Almighty, revealed to mankind as an awesome God of grace, love, might, mercy, justice, and holiness.
Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, who is both God and man; His virgin birth, His sinless life, His substitutionary and redeeming death, and His physical resurrection.
The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit who illuminates the Word of God, reveals Christ to the world, and empowers believers to serve God.
Regeneration
We believe each person must acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ and be born again before he or she is a true Christian.
Sanctification
We believe in entire sanctification following regeneration, whereby the believer is cleansed from the pollution of sin, saved from its power, and enabled through grace to love God with all his or her heart.
A Holy Life
We believe that every Christian is expected to live a holy life — one that is truly Christian.
Sacraments
We believe in two sacraments, Baptism and Holy Communion. The mode of baptism is left to the conscience of the individual.
Resurrection
We believe in the resurrection of all people to be judged and receive their due rewards; eternal life for the redeemed and eternal punishment for unbelievers.
The Church
We believe in the local and universal church, which is the body of Christ on earth.
The Lord’s Return
We believe in the blessed hope — the impending, literal return of Jesus Christ to receive His church unto Himself.
What’s the difference in EMC and UMC?
Many times in casual conversations we are asked, “What’s the difference between the Evangelical Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church?”
The question comes from the merely curious as well as those sincerely seeking to learn whether we are “really” Methodist. History shows that both denominations share roots in the 18th-century English Methodist movement of John Wesley’s day, as well as in the later U.S. Methodism of Francis Asbury, Thomas Coke, and the tireless circuit riders of the 1800s. The “old fashioned” Methodism grew rapidly, largely because of its Bible-based emphasis on free will and individual personal responsibility before God. Camp meetings and a missions emphasis gave it a lively vitality that inspired adherents to share their faith with the whole world.
In the 20th century, things began to change. Slowly the revival fire that had driven the robust expansion of U.S. Methodism began to die out. Methodist leadership, literature, and educational institutions became increasingly liberal and humanistic. The imperative of a personal religious experience — including the “new birth” and “sanctification,” the Spirit-filled life — was quietly dropped as a requisite for church membership or even leadership. Methodism in the USA stagnated and no longer grew as a church.
In such a dismal spiritual climate the Evangelical Methodist Church, an authentic Methodist movement, was born in 1946. Most of our early leaders came from the Methodist Church, and for their insistence that true Methodism be proclaimed, they paid with their pulpits, pensions, and church property. The EMC preaches the Biblical imperatives of true Methodism.
The EMC’s distinctive includes a congregational and connectional system of church government which affords a great degree of freedom for the local church. Each church sets its own budget, calls an EMC credentialed pastor, and operates its own local ministries free from coercive hierarchical pressure — while remaining connectional under a Discipline that brings order and safeguards the standards of professional ministry.
People who consider themselves true to historic Methodism, who find the gospel message central to life and eternity, who believe in Jesus — His sinless birth and life, atoning death, literal resurrection and return — and who have a passion for world evangelization will find a welcome home in their local Evangelical Methodist Church.
I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.
— John Wesley, Evangelist
Welcome to EMC
Reaching forward, by Rev. Max Edwards
To keep the heart of God’s message clear and the church’s mission strong and vital, we continually center on four “value” areas.
People Centered
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). The goal of the Evangelical Methodist Church is to help people — through acceptance, appreciation, assistance, inspiration, and instruction.
Community Focused
Families grow up together in communities. The EMC works to make the community a better place to live by developing programs that meet people’s needs where they are — for children, teenagers, parents, and senior citizens alike.
Faith Based
EMC churches share the good news of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, from a rich Wesleyan perspective. God in His love has a wonderful plan for every person’s life — and real living begins when we commit ourselves by faith as true disciples of Christ.
Outreach Minded
We are serious about bringing men and women to Jesus Christ and then discipling them to bring others. The local church is the cutting edge for Gospel outreach — the front line where lives are influenced for God and His Kingdom.
A Church for the Future
“As a lifelong member of the Evangelical Methodist Church, I have only good things to say about it. My wife and I are raising our children in the same church where my parents raised me.”
Worship at the Center
“I am pleased that my church puts a top priority upon worship and praise. We serve a great God who is worthy of our adoration.”