The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2016

by United Methodist Church

"The church is a community of all true believers under the Lordship of Christ. It is the redeemed and redeeming fellowship in which the Word of God is preached by persons divinely called, and the sacraments are duly administered according to Christ's own appointment. Under the discipline of the Holy Spirit the church seeks to provide for the maintenance of worship, the education of believers, and the redemption of the world." - From the Preamble to the Constitution of The United Methodist Church

The product of over 200 years of General Conferences of the denominations that form The United Methodist Church, the Discipline is the current statement of how United Methodists agree to live together. It acknowledges the past and addresses the future.

Updated through the actions of the 2016 General Conference, the new Discipline includes a complete listing of bishops from Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury through the 2016 episcopal elections as well as a revised historical statement, an expanded index, and six


The Constitution General Book of Discipline Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task The Ministry of All Christians Social Principles Organization and Administration

Genres: Religion

1273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 21, 2016

Reviews

[Cindy]

Best bedtime reading ever! (tongue in cheek comment)

[JD Waggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read portions of this back in divinity school and just read the full of it to teach incoming pastors (I'm a UMC pastor, it's a thing). Is this fun to read? Not really, no, but then it's not meant to be a novel. It's a reference book for How To United Methodist, and quite honestly we would be a much different church if we actually looked into what's here. Yes, there are the nuts and bolts; one section is about church property, another about the way administrative committees are set up, and yet another about the connectional agencies of the global denomination.

But in the front are wondrous gems like Our Doctrinal History--how we got here--and Our Theological Task--why we keep going. The Social Principles comment on everything from abortion to how meat is processed and sold for consumption, digging deep talons into John Wesley's reality (and this book's promise) that we have no holiness without social holiness, that we want no piety but redemptive change.

This book has gotten a lot of play because of the splinter groups falling away from the UMC over human sexuality, and those pieces are in here (in a contradictory fashion, because this book has been written and re-written by thousands of people over some 250 years and it shows). Yet at the very beginning is a note from the Council of Bishops that says we are not to think of this book as inerrant or unchanging; this is people talking to other people about this weird and messy thing called faith. Much like the Bible it reveres, the Book of Discipline is far less about a blueprint and far more about a light on the path, reassuring those walking that they do not have to face the overwhelming need of the world alone as though no one has ever walked here before.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book would be boring. but it was the most exciting thing I read all semester. I read so much of this book. Then i just sort of stopped because it kept going.

I am theologically into it, other than a few things. But moreso it was written in a really straightforward way, unlike French philosophy in the 1960s, or things written in another language that isn't French or English like Hebrew.
As a native English speaker I was able to understand it.
Christianity is one of the top two religions that I am, and I think I'm just going to go for it and do that. I think this book, other than some weird parts, is pretty good.

I also think that if you like books like this you might have a similar brain to me. I just like clauses talking about random scenarios.

[Steve Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really difficult to rate this book since it is meant to be a reference tool to be consulted when necessary rather than read from cover to cover. It is only of value to United Methodists or those who want to know what United Methodists believe and how their church functions.

[Bonita Howell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative of the way God wants us to live so much discipline to live like a disciple a must for christians everywhere