United Methodism and American Culture Volume 5: Marks of Methodism: Theology in Ecclesial Practice

The title of this volume is as old as the Wesleyan movement and apt for the very latest Methodist theological self-designation. Marks of Methodism points back to John Wesley himself and to his efforts to define the movement. Such marks or hallmarks prescribe a basis for Methodist identity, purpose, and unity. They also serve to differentiate Methodists from other Christians, to sketch the boundaries of our movement, and to mark us off. Marks also invite attention to the conjunction of precept and practice, to the considerable recent affirmation of practices as the traditioning and corporate bearers of Christian faithfulness and witness; and therefore as the ground of theology and doctrine, and to Methodist embodiment of and featuring of traditioning practices long before that became fashionable. These marks point to an understanding of church, a doctrine of the church, an ecclesiology, embedded in the everyday structures, policies, organizations, and patterns of Methodist life.