Free Methodist Church

Free Methodist Church
Emblem of the Free Methodist Church USA
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationHoliness
PolityModified episcopacy
AssociationsGlobal Wesleyan Alliance;
Christian Holiness Partnership;
Christian Churches Together;
Wesleyan Holiness Consortium;
World Methodist Council;
National Association of Evangelicals
RegionWorldwide: divided into 13 General Conferences
FounderBenjamin Titus Roberts
Origin1860
Pekin, New York
Separated fromMethodist Episcopal Church
Separations1881 - Vanguard Mission[1]
1882 - Pentecost Bands[1]
1932 - Reformed Free Methodist Church[2]
1955 - United Holiness Church (now the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches)[3]
1963 - Evangelical Wesleyan Church[3]
1973 - Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches[4]
Congregations856 in the United States (average congregation size: 77)
Members1,200,797 (68,356 in the United States)
Official websitefmcusa.org
The cross and flame logo of the Free Methodist Church, created in 1985 by Les Rice under direction of the FMC Board of Bishops.

The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan–Arminian in theology.[5]

The Free Methodist Church has members in over 100 countries, with 62,516 members in the United States and 1,547,820 members worldwide.[6] The Light & Life Magazine is their official publication.[7] The Free Methodist Church World Ministries Center is in Indianapolis, Indiana.

  1. ^ a b Bundy, David; Hammond, Geordan; Han, David Sang-Ehil (March 4, 2022). Holiness and Pentecostal Movements: Intertwined Pasts, Presents, and Futures. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0-271-09415-1. Defections from the Methodist Episcopal Church were many; those from the Free Methodist Church included the Vanguard Mission (1881) and Pentecost Bands (1882).
  2. ^ Jones, Charles Edwin (1974). A guide to the study of the holiness movement. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810807037.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Melton2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cooney, Dudley Levistone (2001). The Methodists in Ireland: A Short History. Columba Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-85607-335-6.
  5. ^ 2019 Book of Discipline. Free Methodist Church. 2019. p. 9.
  6. ^ "Free Methodist Church Official Website".
  7. ^ "Light + Life Magazine".