Free Methodist Church
AI summary — doctrinal positions on this page are inferred by AI from this church's own public statements and may be inaccurate.
Inherited from denomination
What The Wesleyan Church teaches
Positions bound by the denomination's confessional standards. This is what the tradition teaches; whether this specific congregation publicly holds each is a separate question — see Statements below.
Affirms
- Infant BaptismSTRONGWestminster XXVIII; Book of Concord SC IV; Council of Trent Session VII; Wesleyan Articles Art. XVII
- Marriage as one man and one womanSTRONGGenesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4–6; historic universal Christian teaching.
- Permissibility of divorce and remarriagestandardMatthew 19:9 (adultery ground); 1 Corinthians 7:15 (abandonment ground). Practice varies.
- Women in pastoral / ordained officestandardVarious denominational actions (TEC 1976, ELCA 1970s, PC(USA) 1956, AG 1935, CofE 1994 priests / 2014 bishops, etc.)
Denies
- Apostolic SuccessionstandardCongregational and presbyterian polity reject the necessity of tactile episcopal succession.
- Assumption of MarystandardUniversal Protestant rejection — not attested in Scripture; not received as dogma.
- Homosexual practice and biblical sexual ethicsSTRONGRomans 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; historic universal Christian teaching.
- Immaculate ConceptionSTRONGUniversal Protestant + Orthodox rejection. Orthodox reject on the grounds that they hold prepurification at the Annunciation, not conception.
- Perpetual Virginity of MarystandardNatural reading of Matthew 13:55–56 (brothers of Jesus); typical modern Baptist / evangelical position.
- Real PresencestandardMemorialist / Zwinglian view; typical Baptist and Free Church position
- TransubstantiationSTRONGOrthodox reject the Aristotelian metaphysics; Lutherans use 'sacramental union'; 39 Articles Art. XXVIII rejects explicitly; Reformed/Baptist reject substance-change.
Wrestles with
- Believer's BaptismstandardPaedobaptist bodies practice adult baptism on credible profession where infant baptism was omitted, but do not consider it normative.
- Pacifism vs. just-warweakDefault just-war framework — usually unwritten. Inheriting at weak confidence.
In their own words
Statements
statement_of_faith
<!DOCTYPE html> SCOD - Study Commission On Doctrine Study Commission on Doctrine (SCOD) TOPICS SEXUALITY RESOURCES GENERAL CONFERENCE REPORTS 2023 GC Report 2019 GC Report 2015 GC Report 2011 GC Report 2007 GC Report 2003 GC Report 1999 GC Report MEMBERS The Report of SCOD to the 2023 FMCUSA General Conference is now available! Download Now On the Study Commission on Doctrine (SCOD) website, you will find reports and articles from past Study Commissions. Our hope is that Free Methodist members, leaders, and ministries can benefit from a broader and deeper understandingSource ↗
about_us
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