The Congregational Methodist Church is Wesleyan-Arminian in doctrine, congregational in its system of worship, republican or representative in its system of government, connexional in nature, missionary in outlook, evangelistic in endeavor, and cooperative in spirit. Each local church calls its pastor, owns its property, and sets its budget.
In 1944, the Congregational Methodist Church, then headquartered in Dallas, Texas, established The Dallas Bible School, an institution of higher education. The school was moved to Tehuacana, Texas, for several years, and was renamed Westminster College and Bible Institute. The school was permanently relocated to Florence, Mississippi in 1972, and was renamed Wesley College, a name that more reflected its Wesleyan-Arminian tradition. Wesley College was closed in July 2010.[2]
The church's denominational headquarters is located in Florence, Mississippi,[3] serving churches and programs of the denomination.
In 2023, a few congregations of the United Methodist Church left that denomination to join the Congregational Methodist Church due to a polarization that occurred between traditionalist Methodist clerics and those with progressive tendencies.[4][5][6]
References
^Mead, Frank, et al., Handbook of Denominations, 12th Edition, Abingdon Press, 2005.
^Johnston, Jeff (24 May 2023). "Thousands of Congregations Leave United Methodist Church Over Biblical Concerns". Daily Citizen. Retrieved 3 May 2024. Others are joining more conservative Methodist groups, such as the Congregational Methodist Church, the Free Methodist Church, or the Global Methodist Church, an international denomination that launched just over a year ago.