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Pastoral Charge
A pastoral charge (from the word ''pastor''), in Methodist churches, consists of one or more congregations under the spiritual leadership of a minister or ministry team. In the United Methodist Church a charge is organized under and subject to the Book of Discipline, with a single governing body called a charge conference, to which a minister is appointed as pastor in charge. Charges are different from churches or congregations as they may encompass more than one church or congregation. This stems from the early days of Methodism in the United States and Canada, when multiple congregations were served by single ministers acting as circuit riders, riding on horseback between the sometimes far-flung congregations in their charge. See also *Governance of the British Methodist Church The organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain is based on the principle of connexionalism. This means that British Methodism, from its inception under John Wesley (1703–1791), has alw ...
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Pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, pastors are always ordained. In Methodism, pastors may be either licensed or ordained. Pastors are to act like shepherds by caring for the flock, and this care includes teaching. The New Testament typically uses the words "bishops" ( Acts 20:28) and "presbyter" ( 1 Peter 5:1) to indicate the ordained leadership in early Christianity. Likewise, Peter instructs these particular servants to "act like shepherds" as they "oversee" the flock of God ( 1 Peter 5:2). The words "bishop" and "presbyter" were sometimes used in an interchangeable way, such as in Titus 1:5-6. However, there is ongoing dispute between branches of Christianity over whether there are two ordained classes (presbyters and deacons) or three (bishops, priests, an ...
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Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significant early leaders in the movement. They were named ''Methodists'' for "the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith". Methodism originated as a revival movement within the 18th-century Church of England and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States, and beyond because of vigorous missionary work, today claiming approximately 80 million adherents worldwide. Wesleyan theology, which is upheld by the Methodist churches, focuses on sanctification and the transforming effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing doctrines include the new birth, assurance, imparted righteousness ...
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Minister (Christianity)
In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church body, church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community. The term is taken from Latin ''minister'' ("servant", "attendant"). In some church traditions the term is usually used for people who have ordained, but in other traditions it can also be used for non-ordained people who have a pastoral or liturgical ministry. In Catholic, Orthodox (Eastern Orthodox, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Oriental), Anglican and Lutheran churches, the concept of a priesthood is emphasized. In other denominations such as Baptist, Methodist and Calvinist churches (Congregationalist and Presbyterian), the term "minister" usually refers to a member of the ordination, ordained clergy who leads a congregation or participates in a role in a parachurch ministry; such a person may serve as ...
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United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by 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 in England, as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical elements. The United Methodist Church has a connectional polity, a typical feature of a number of Methodist denominations. It is organized into conferences. The highest level is called the General Conference and is the only organization which may speak officially for the UMC. The church is a member of the World Council of C ...
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Book Of Discipline (United Methodist)
The ''Book of Discipline'' constitutes the law and doctrine of the United Methodist Church. It follows similar works for its predecessor denominations. It was originally published in 1784, in the Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ..., and has been published every four years thereafter following the meeting of the General Conference, which passes legislation that is included in the ''Book of Discipline''. The most recent edition is that of 2016. The basic unit of reference is the paragraph, not the page, chapter or section. The paragraphs are numbered consecutively within each chapter or section,''The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church 2008'', pg. vii but numbers are skipped between chapters or sections. The paragraph is often ...
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Circuit Rider (religious)
Circuit rider clergy, in the earliest years of the United States, were clergy assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations. Circuit riders were clergy in the Methodist Episcopal Church and related denominations, although similar itinerant preachers could be found in other faiths as well, particularly among minority faith groups. History In sparsely populated areas of the United States it always has been common for clergy in many denominations to serve more than one congregation at a time, a form of church organization sometimes called a " preaching circuit". In the contemporary United Methodist Church, a minister serving more than one church has a "(number of churches) point charge". However, in the rough frontier days of the early United States, the pattern of organization in the Methodist Episcopal denomination and its successors worked especially well in the service of rural villages and unorganized settlements. In ...
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Governance Of The British Methodist Church
The organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain is based on the principle of connexionalism. This means that Methodist Church of Great Britain, British Methodism, from its inception under John Wesley (1703–1791), has always laid strong emphasis on mutual support, in terms of Christian ministry, ministry, mission and finance, of one local congregation for another. No singular church community has ever been seen in isolation either from its immediately neighbouring church communities or from the centralised national organisation. Wesley himself journeyed around the country, preaching and establishing local worshipping communities, called "societies", often under laity, lay leadership. Soon these local communities of worshipping Christians formalised their relationships with neighbouring Methodist communities to create "circuits", and the circuits and societies contained within them, were from the very beginning 'connected' (hence the distinctive Methodist concept of the " ...
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