faith stories
The faith story of the United Methodist Church began with the 18th century Methodist movement, led by the English theologian John Wesley.
In 1729, Wesley and his younger brother Charles founded the Holy Club, while at Oxford University. They were teased by fellow students for their methodical habits of scriptural study, prayer, and reflection. Later, these same practices, along with the practice of sacraments like Holy Communion, would form the "means of grace" by which Wesley and other Methodists believe that God works to transform our individual lives.
But Wesley's methods are only part of the story. Still a young man, Wesley returned to England after a disastrous missionary trip to Georgia, where the people he served were baffled and angered by his unforgiving piety. After attending a meeting where Martin Luther''s preface to the Letter at Romans was read, Wesley wrote that "I felt my heart strangely warmed." Wesley''s experience was a conversion of the heart like he had never experienced before.
John Wesley came to believe that one finds salvation through God''s grace alone. Our methods of responding through good works in the world are just that-a response to the loving relationship that God constantly offers each of us.
For more than 200 years now, Methodists have responded to God''s invitation to loving relationship by studying scripture and struggling with matters of social importance like disease relief, poverty, and the health of the natural world.
The Church attempts to be a community in which all people, regardless of race or gender, can participate at every level of its connectional life and ministry. Today, the United Methodist Church has 7.9 million members in the United States. It is growing vital communities of faith around the world, with rapid growth in Asia, Africa, and Russia.
The Austin District, one of seven districts in the Southwest Texas Conference, supports 65 United Methodist congregations. We are currently led by District Superintendent Bobbi Kaye Jones and by Bishop Jim Dorff.
Our story began with John Wesley, but Wesley could not possibly have imagined Methodism as it is today-a worldwide connection with members as numerous as the stars, a church body that values diversity and common life, a people who use their many native tongues to speak a word of grace to the world. But God imagined this and much more for us. Perhaps our faith story is just beginning after all.
