The Wesleyan Church

The Wesleyan Church
PO Box50434
Indianapolis, IN 46250-0434
317.774.7900
www.wesleyan.org

(NOTE: Be sure to read about the ministries of The Wesleyan Seminary Foundation on Asbury’s campus.)

About

The Wesleyan Church is an evangelical, Protestant denomination. We offer the good news that faith in Jesus Christ makes possible a wonderful personal relationship with God, a holy life empowered by His Holy Spirit for witness and service, and assurance of eternal life in heaven. Our ministries emphasize practical Bible teaching, uplifting worship, and special programs to meet a variety of life needs.

With World Headquarters in Fishers, Indiana, The Wesleyan Church has nearly 400,000 constituents in 4,000 churches and missions in 80 countries of the world. Formed in 1968 resulting from the mergers of several like-minded groups, dating back as far as 1843, The Wesleyan Church has its roots in John Wesley's Methodism.

Vision Statement

Equipping and empowering churches

for Great Commission ministries

in the spirit of the Great Commandment.

Mission Statement

To exalt Jesus Christ by:

Evangelizing the lost
Discipling the believers
Equipping the Church
Ministering to Society

Core Beliefs

Wesleyans believe in one God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Savior of all men and women who put their faith in Him alone for eternal life. We believe that those who receive new life in Christ are called to be holy in character and conduct, and can only live this way by being filled with the Lord's Spirit. We believe in the Bible and seek to establish our faith and actions on its teaching. We believe God wills for people everywhere to know Him and that the purpose of the Church is to tell the world about Christ through its worship, witness, and loving deeds.

To see more please go to: http://www.wesleyan.org/beliefs

Our Heritage

By Edward Coleson

When John Wesley began his ministry in 1738, morality and religion had collapsed in England. In May of that year, Wesley had his Aldersgate experience and went out to minister to the multitudes in the open fields. A century later, the social and moral climate of England had changed dramatically. Queen Victoria was on the throne and "Victorian" became a synonym for piety and morality. Conditions can change for the better. It has happened.

The Fight Begins

Of the many moral and social reforms resulting from the spiritual awakening of the eighteenth century, perhaps the abolition of slavery was the most conspicuous. In 1772 England freed her slaves. This was partly the work of Granville Sharp, who pressed the "King's Bench" (England's Supreme Court) to make the decision that liberated slaves in England--but not in British colonies. His Lordship Judge Mansfield noted that the court did so because slavery is contrary to God's law.

Great Strides in England

A couple of years later, Wesley wrote his famous essay on slavery, in which he said: "Notwithstanding ten thousand laws, right is right and wrong is wrong still." Soon thereafter, a gifted young Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, took up the abolitionist cause. Just a few days before he died in 1791, Wesley wrote his last letter to this Christian statesman, urging him to continue the fight. It was an almost impossible assignment, but in 1807, Wilberforce did get the government to forbid British ships to engage in the lucrative slave trade. Wilberforce died in 1833, one month before Parliament passed the law liberating all slaves in the British Empire.

In his book Saints and Society, Dr. Earle E. Cairns wrote that English evangelicals accomplished more for good than any reform movement in history. That is a precious part of our heritage. Why do so few Christians today know about these great achievements?

The Cause in America

The American Wesleyan Church came into being in 1843 because the mainline denominations refused to take a stand on the issue of slavery. Presidents Washington and Jefferson had been apologetic for the ancient evil and wished it to go away. Indeed, another Virginia slave holder, Colonel George Mason, urged the Founding Fathers to abolish slavery when they were drafting the U.S. Constitution in 1787, and he warned them that God would judge the nation if they failed to do so.

By the 1830s, the South had begun to justify its "peculiar institution." Defenders of slavery claimed that the Bible actually approved of that practice, and it was not expedient to disagree with them. The situation was not much better in the North. In 1837, Elijah P. Lovejoy, who published an antislavery newspaper, was killed in Illinois. William Lloyd Garrison, the publisher of The Liberator, was dragged down the street in Boston with a rope around his body and would probably have been hanged if he had not been rescued and lodged in jail for his own safety.

Our Great Heritage

This was the atmosphere in which a few courageous Christians, including Orange Scott and Luther Lee, founded our church. Their purpose was both to spread "scriptural holiness over these lands" and to secure justice for their fellow human beings. "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ," Paul wrote (Romans 1:16). In the same way, let us be thankful for our Wesleyan heritage.

Position Statements

Introduction

Periodically, the Church adopts official statements in order to provide a Wesleyan-Arminian position toward current cultural and public policy issues that will encourage laity and ministers to integrate faith and life and respond appropriately and responsibly to these issues. The following position statements were approved at the 2008 General Conference of The Wesleyan Church.

Thank you.
Board of General Superintendents
The Wesleyan Church
Dr. Thomas E. Armiger
Dr. Jerry G. Pence
Dr. Jo Anne Lyon

Standing Firm: The Wesleyan Church Speaks on Contemporary Issues

This booklet is a compilation of official statements of the Church on a variety of public moral and social concerns. (click here) Copies of this booklet may be ordered from: Wesleyan Publishing House, 800.493.7539 or WPH Online.

Position Statements

Departments

Each department exists to serve and equip the local church and its ministries. You may learn more by selecting any of the following links.

Women in Ministry

The Wesleyan Church promotes gender equality among its ministers and leaders. Our early heritage includes being among the first to ordain women into ministry. We celebrate our women in leadership: pastors and associate pastors, college/university presidents and professors, denominational leaders, missionaries, and in 2008 we elected our first female General Superintendent, the highest office in the church.

Women are encouraged to prepare for ordination and to minister in all facets of The Wesleyan Church.

The Center for Women in Ministry was established to assist and encourage women to follow God’s call upon their lives. You can find more information at http://www.centerforwomeninministry.org

The Wesleyan Church