For those looking for a church home, please feel free to contact Faith United Methodist Church. We would be more than happy for you to join our family and worship with us. Below is some information about the United Methodist Church that should be helpful to you in learning more about the history of this organization.

U.S. Data
8,075,010  Lay members
45,175  Clergy members
1,221,745  Preparatory members
34,892  Local churches
504  Districts
63 Conferences
50  Bishops/Episcopal areas 
5  Jurisdictions

Mission
The United Methodist Church is in mission in more than 125 countries.

903  Mission personnel supported by the General Board of Global Ministries
135,000  United Methodist Volunteers in Mission
103 United Methodist-related community centers and other national mission institutions in 35 of the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Education
7 two-year colleges
82 four-year colleges
10 universities
13 theological schools 
1 professional school
10 precollegiate schools

The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968 with the union of the former Evangelical United Brethren Church and The Methodist Church.
The Evangelical United Brethren Church, established in 1946, resulted from the union of two U.S.-born denominations: the Evangelical Church and the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. These two churches originated among German-speaking people during the great spiritual awakening in the late 18th century.

The Methodist movement began in England in the early 1700s, under Anglican minister John Wesley and his followers. Wesley and his brother Charles brought the movement to the colony of Georgia, arriving in March 1736 as Church of England missionaries.

The U.S. Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1784. The denomination grew rapidly and was known for its circuit rider ministers on the advancing frontiers. A split in 1828 formed the Methodist Protestant Church, and in 1844, over the issue of slavery, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The North and South factions reunited in 1939 (as The Methodist Church), but retained racial segregation. That separation ended in 1968 with the merger of the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren Churches.

Structure
The United Methodist Church's legislative branch is its General Conference; Judicial Council is its supreme court. The United Methodist Church has no single general officer or executive, although the Council of Bishops elects a president each year. General agencies are primarily accountable to the General Conference rather than to the Council of Bishops. Boards of directors, who are lay and clergy elected jointly by General Conference and regional organizations, govern their staffs.

Each church in the United States is part of a district, an administrative and program grouping of 40-80 churches with a full-time superintendent. Districts are grouped into annual conferences, regional bodies that meet yearly for legislative purposes. Annual conferences approve programming and budget, elect delegates to General and Jurisdictional conferences, and examine and recommend candidates for ministry.

Five geographic jurisdictions (divisions) in the United States include 8-13 annual conferences each. Jurisdictional conferences meet simultaneously every four years to elect and assign bishops and some members of general church agencies, and, in some cases, to develop jurisdictional programs. Each local church is governed by a charge conference with an administrative board as the year-round supervisor. A council on ministries coordinates the program of the congregation. In smaller churches, the board and the council are combined.

Statistics provided for year ending 2004  -  Provided by the General Council on Finance and Administration, General Board of Global Ministries and General Board of Higher Education and Ministry