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Will you support and maintain them [our Church government and polity]? I suppose it was pretty clear in my last reflection—in fact, I think I may have started reflecting on this question during the last, that having studied and approved of our church discipline, government and polity, I do pledge my support and maintenance. I
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Do you approve of our church government and polity? Having studied the United Methodist form of discipline and polity, the question now shifts to approval. I just right-clicked on the word “approval” and took a look at the suggested synonyms. They include words such as endorsement, support, sanction, consent, and agreement. So having studied the
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Have you studied our form of church discipline and polity? After I became a disciple of Jesus Christ and joined the local United Methodist Church, I was enrolled in confirmation class. I was the oldest one in the class by a couple of years, but the way I saw it I needed to absorb as
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Will you preach and maintain them [the doctrines of The United Methodist Church]? This question presupposes a positive answer to the previous two. It presupposes that the candidate has studied the doctrines of the UMC and also believes that they are in harmony with Scripture. This is an important question. One cannot preach and maintain
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After full examination, do you believe that our doctrines are in harmony with the Holy Scriptures? This is an important question for me—the question reveals that our hope as United Methodists is that our doctrines are in harmony, in unity, in agreement, in accord, in sync with what is revealed in Holy Scripture. Scripture is
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Have you studied the doctrines of The United Methodist Church? I first became a Christ follower during a week at a non-denominational Church Camp. When I got back to my hometown, there wasn’t a non-denominational Church for me to attend. My family had some very loose ties with the United Methodist congregation up the road.
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Will you keep them [the general rules of our church]? This question makes me chuckle. Remember back in elementary school when there were those kids that seemed to have the answer to the teacher’s question before he or she was even done asking it? As soon as the teacher started to speak their hand would
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Do you know the general rules of our Church? Rules? Ugh. I hate rules. Okay, that’s not completely truthful. At the end of the day, I do see the need for rules. I love baseball, and I can’t imagine the chaos that would ensue if there were not clear parameters and rules to govern and
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Are you resolved to devote yourself wholly to God and to God’s work? In my reflections leading up to ordination, I started reading a book by retired UMC Bishop Ernest Lyght entitled Have You Faith in Christ? A Bishop’s Insight into the Historic Questions Asked of Those Seeking Admission into Full Connection in The United
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Are you earnestly striving after it? This is the last question about my own spiritual journey. Having reflected upon this question and the previous two, it is very clear that this issue of holiness (perfection in love, sanctification) was of the utmost importance to John Wesley. We’ve reflected on the meaning of going on to
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Rev. Dr. Larry Frank 