| Fundamental Methodist Conference | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Methodism |
| Orientation | Fundamental |
| Polity | Congregational |
| Origin | 1942 Greene County, Missouri |
| Separated from | Methodist Church |
| Official website | Fundamental Methodist Conference |
TheFundamental Methodist Conference, is aMethodist denomination of Christianity.[1] It organized in 1942.[2]
In 2001 there were 814 members in 13 congregations. Its headquarters nearSpringfield, Missouri.[3] The conference is a member of theAmerican Council of Christian Churches.
It holds its annual conference at the Fundamental Methodist Conference Grounds near Ash Grove in Lawrence County,Missouri, where it hosts an active youth camp ministry.[2] This body is a member of theAmerican Council of Christian Churches.
The denomination publishesThe Evangelical Methodist in conjunction with the likemindedEvangelical Methodist Church of America.[4]
The Fundamental Methodist Conference was instituted atAsh Grove, Missouri, in 1942 under the name Independent Fundamental Methodist Church. The title was changed to Fundamental Methodist Church, Inc., when the first annual conference was held in 1944.
The Fundamental Methodist Conference traces its origins through theMethodist Protestant Church to theAnglican reformation andevangelical awakening of the Wesley brothers, John and Charles. The three major Methodist conferences in the United States – theMethodist Episcopal Church,Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant churches – united under the nameThe Methodist Church in 1939. The union was attended with dissatisfaction among certain people in all three groups. The John's Chapel Church (formerly part of the Methodist Protestant Church) ofLawrence County, Missouri, withdrew from The Methodist Church on August 27, 1942, and elected a committee to draw up a constitution and by-laws for fundamental Methodists. On August 23, 1944, the first annual conference was held inGreene County, Missouri, with three churches representing.[2] The denomination was chartered on February 27, 1948.
Unlike most other Methodists, the churches of the Fundamental Methodist Conference do not baptize infants, though thededication of children is retained. They only observe the mode ofimmersion for baptism. Since they do not regard baptism as initiation to the universal church, they will receive members from other churches who have been baptized by sprinkling or pouring. Government is more congregational and less connectional than generally practiced by other Methodists (though some other Methodist denominations, such as theCongregational Methodist Church, have a congregational polity). Each congregation owns its property and calls its pastors. The church has no bishops; theAnnual Conference elects aDistrict Superintendent and a Secretary-Treasurer.