Foundation Preparatory Academy

Foundation University

A Comparative Analysis Between the United Church of Christ and The

United Methodist Church

Cris Anne Dilema

Bethany Jane Mascardo

Ryan Legaspi

2018
 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE UNITED CHURCH OF

CHRIST IN THE PHILIPPINES AND THE UNITED METHODIST

CHURCH.

INTRODUCTION

The Philippines proudly boasts to be the only Christian nation in Asia. More

than 86 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 6 percent belong to various

nationalized Christian cults, and another 2 percent belong to well over 100 Protestant

denominations. The Christianity is also called as the largest world religion at the

moment.

For the first thousand years of Christianity there were no denominations

within Christianity as there are today. Various offshoot groups certainly existed, but

most were small and quickly snuffed out as “heresies. This results splitting and

merging different groups who believes in Christ.

Every denominations may have the same visions, missions, and goals but they

have different doctrines and beliefs. Because of this, there are churches who decided

to unite as one for the fast spreading of the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
 The United Church of Christ of the Philippines is one of the christian

denominations. It was formed when two Protestant churches, the Evangelical and

Reformed Church and the General Council of the Congregational Christian

Churches united in 1957. This union adopted an earlier general statement of unity

between the two denominations, the 1943 "Basis of Union". At this time, the UCC

claimed about two million members. The Church is a mainline Protestant group in

the Philippines with around 1,500,000 members and 1,593 pastors in 2,564

congregations as of 2008. This church is also the result of merging distinct groups

but have one mind and goal. It is also called as The Evangelical And Reformed

Church and the General Council of the Congregation Christian Churches were united

in 1957. (http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_1463.asp8

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines, the largest and most

widespread Protestant church in the country, came into being in 1948. It unites in

one church the United Evangelical Church in the Philippines (a 1929 union of

Presbyterian, Congregational and United Brethren churches with the small United

Church of Manila), the Philippine Methodist Church and the Evangelical Church in

the Philippines (a 1944 union of various Evangelical churches). The UCCP considers

itself as an integral part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of our Lord

Jesus Christ, called to be a witness to the gospel of the kingdom of God as

proclaimed in the life and ministry of our Lord as revealed in the scriptures, and

empowered to participate in the ushering in of God's shalom throughout the whole

creation.

The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a mainline Protestant denomination

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.

On April 23, 1968, the United Methodist Church was created when the

Evangelical United Brethren Church (represented by Bishop Reuben H. Mueller)

and The Methodist Church (represented by Bishop Lloyd Christ Wicke) joined

hands at the constituting General Conference in Dallas, Texas. With the words,

"Lord of the Church, we are united in Thee, in Thy Church and now in The United

Methodist Church" the new denomination was given birth by the two churches that

had distinguished histories and influential ministries in various parts of the world.
The movement which would become the United Methodist Church began in the mid-

18th century within the Church of England. A small group of students, including

John Wesley, Charles Wesley and George Whitefield, met on the Oxford University

campus. They focused on Bible study, methodical study of scripture and living a

holy life. Other students mocked them, saying they were the "Holy Club" and "the

Methodists", being methodical and exceptionally detailed in their Bible study,

opinions and disciplined lifestyle. Eventually, the so-called Methodists started

individual societies or classes for members of the Church of England who wanted to

live a more religious life

The United Methodists, have an obligation to bear a faithful Christian witness to

Jesus Christ, the living reality at the center of the Church’s life and witness. To fulfill

this obligation, they reflect critically on their biblical and theological inheritance,

striving to express faithfully the witness they make in thier own time.