Methodist and Wesleyan Churches Today: A Guide to the Main Branches

There is no single denomination that contains everyone who belongs to the Methodist tradition. The name describes a family of churches shaped by the eighteenth-century revival associated with John and Charles Wesley, followed by different histories of organization, separation, and union.¹

Some branches retain Methodist in their official names. Others, including the Church of the Nazarene and The Wesleyan Church, identify with the related Wesleyan Holiness tradition. Shared roots help explain similarities, but they do not make these bodies interchangeable.²³

This guide introduces representative churches, particularly those readers encounter in the United States and Britain. It is not a complete directory of world Methodism. Current policies were checked on October 26, 2026; historical dates below identify particular organizational milestones rather than the beginning of every community involved.

A map of the main names

Church	Organizational milestone	What the name identifies
The United Methodist Church, or UMC	1968	Union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church.4
The Global Methodist Church, or GMC	2022	A newer Methodist denomination launched during the recent division in United Methodism.5
African Methodist Episcopal Church, or AME	1816	An independent Black Methodist denomination associated with Richard Allen and the struggle against racial discrimination.6
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or AME Zion	1821	A separate Black Methodist denomination with origins in New York’s struggle for independent church life.7
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, or CME	1870	A denomination organized in Jackson, Tennessee, by formerly enslaved members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.8
Free Methodist Church	1860	A Methodist reform movement associated with B. T. Roberts, opposition to slavery, and accessible church life.9
The Wesleyan Church	1968	Union of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Pilgrim Holiness Church. This was a different merger from the one that formed the UMC.3
Church of the Nazarene	1908	A church formed through unions within the Wesleyan Holiness movement.2
The Methodist Church in Britain	1932	Union of the Wesleyan, Primitive, and United Methodist churches in Britain.10

These dates also show that the AME, AME Zion, CME, and Free Methodist churches long predate the recent UMC and GMC division. Their independent histories are much older.

What does this family share?

Historic Wesleyan teaching emphasizes God’s initiating grace, the call to faith, and a life transformed through sanctification. Methodist standards deny that people can produce saving faith through their own natural powers. They also treat good works as the fruit of living faith rather than a way to purchase forgiveness.¹¹

The tradition also includes baptism and the Lord’s Supper, preaching, prayer, and an expectation that Christian belief should affect daily conduct. It should not be confused with an exclusively individual decision detached from church life.¹¹

That inherited framework does not settle every current disagreement. Churches can appeal to Wesley while differing over scriptural interpretation, doctrine, ministry, discipline, and moral teaching. A useful comparison therefore reads each body’s own standards instead of treating the word Methodist as a complete statement of belief.

United Methodist and Global Methodist: what changed?

The UMC was formed in 1968. The GMC launched on May 1, 2022. Their different dates matter: the newer denomination began before the UMC’s 2024 General Conference adopted its major changes concerning sexuality and marriage.⁴⁵

The UMC’s updated policy permits marriages of same-sex couples and removed the former restrictions concerning openly gay clergy. Its official explanation says that the revised provisions were fully in effect by January 1, 2025. Ordination still involves examination and decisions by the appropriate church bodies; removal of a categorical prohibition does not mean automatic ordination.¹²

The same explanation places discretion about which marriages to perform with clergy. It also distinguishes a congregation’s stated preference from the powers of its trustees: trustees cannot prohibit a pastor from conducting a same-sex wedding on church property, although a local church may state a preference that such weddings not occur there. Older summaries can miss that distinction.¹²

The GMC’s posted Book of Doctrines and Discipline describes marriage as a union of one man and one woman and requires clergy fidelity within that marriage or chastity while single. Its official FAQ also affirms that women may serve as clergy at every level. Opposition to same-sex marriage should therefore not be taken to imply opposition to women’s ordination in this denomination.¹³¹⁴

The GMC held its convening General Conference in San José, Costa Rica, in September 2024, where it adopted the Book of Doctrines and Discipline. Its next General Conference met in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 30 to September 5, 2026, and elected eight full-time bishops. When this article was checked, the complete record of legislation adopted in Johannesburg had not yet been released, so the posted Book of Doctrines and Discipline described above may later be revised.¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷

These are concrete differences, but a church’s identity includes more than its position in a recent controversy. Readers should also examine its doctrinal standards, worship, ministry, and accountability. A single political label cannot answer all of those questions.

Why the historically Black Methodist churches need their own explanation

The AME Church’s history centers on Black Christian agency amid racial discrimination. Richard Allen’s work and the development of independent Methodist church life culminated in denominational organization in 1816. The struggle concerned whether Black Christians could govern their worship and institutions with dignity and independence.⁶

AME Zion has a different institutional history. Its New York origins, reaching back to Black members who left the John Street Methodist church in 1796, and its organization as a denomination in 1821 distinguish it from the AME Church’s Philadelphia story. Similar initials do not identify the same denomination.⁷

The CME Church formed in 1870 through the organization of formerly enslaved Methodists who had belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Its origin belongs to the aftermath of slavery and the creation of independent Black church institutions.⁸

These histories deserve more than a place in a chart of present theological positions. Racial exclusion, emancipation, leadership, and the building of durable communities are central to understanding them. Their current teaching should be investigated through their own standards rather than inferred from another Methodist denomination’s decisions.

What makes the Holiness churches distinctive?

Free Methodists trace their organization to 1860. Their institutional history connects reform to opposition to slavery, resistance to pew rentals that privileged those able to pay, and a call to holy living. Free was an assertion about the character of church life, not a claim that Christian conduct required no discipline.⁹

The Wesleyan Church developed through a different history. Its 1968 union brought together the Wesleyan Methodist and Pilgrim Holiness churches. Its account of its heritage includes abolitionism and the ministry of women. The shared merger year does not make it an alternative name for the UMC.³

The Church of the Nazarene explicitly identifies itself with Wesleyan Holiness Christianity. Its account of salvation includes sanctification and the call to holy life, with entire sanctification receiving a distinct place in its teaching. Its 1908 organizational milestone belongs to that Holiness history.²¹⁸

Wesleyan therefore needs careful reading. It can describe a theological inheritance shared by several churches. The Wesleyan Church, with capitals, names a particular denomination. A Nazarene or Free Methodist Christian can be Wesleyan in theology without belonging to The Wesleyan Church.

Where does British Methodism fit?

The Methodist Church in Britain has its own institutions and history. Its 1932 union brought together three British Methodist bodies. The United Methodist body involved in that union was not the American UMC later formed in 1968. Similar names from different countries and periods can otherwise create a misleading family tree.¹⁰

In 2021, the British Methodist Conference voted to allow same-sex marriages on Methodist premises and by Methodist ministers, while affirming that the Church holds two understandings of marriage and that no minister or church is required to conduct such weddings against conscience. Its official guidance provides for local church councils to consider whether their buildings should be registered for those marriages where registration is required. This is a distinct church and a distinct policy process from the UMC’s 2024 decisions.¹⁹

Methodism also has churches and communities well beyond the United States and Britain. This introductory selection should not be mistaken for a claim that all Methodist authority flows from an American denomination or that every national church shares American policies.

An Orthodox assessment

An Orthodox assessment needs both accuracy and a clear theological standard. It should describe these churches through their own histories before evaluating their teachings. Respect for Methodist Christians does not require treating every denominational development as equally compatible with Orthodox faith.

On marriage, the Orthodox Church in America’s Holy Synod affirms the union of a man and a woman and reserves sexual intimacy to that marriage. That differs from the policies adopted by the UMC and British Methodist Church.²⁰

Agreement with a Methodist denomination on marriage does not, by itself, establish agreement about the Church, ordained ministry, sacramental communion, or the authority of received Tradition. Those questions require their own examination. Nor does a common concern for holiness establish that two traditions explain salvation in precisely the same way.

The useful starting question is therefore specific: which church, which teaching, and which period? Once those are identified, the Methodist family becomes easier to understand, and theological comparison becomes more honest.

Sources and notes

1. Methodist Heritage, History of Methodism. Institutional account of the revival and later development. ↩
2. Church of the Nazarene, Our History. Official account of the unions associated with the church’s 1908 formation. ↩
3. The Wesleyan Church, Our Story. Official account of the 1968 merger and the denomination’s earlier reform and Holiness heritage. ↩
4. UMC.org, When was The United Methodist Church created? Official history of the 1968 Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren union. ↩
5. Global Methodist Church, Launch Information. Official launch date, May 1, 2022. ↩
6. African Methodist Episcopal Church, Our History. Official account of Richard Allen and independent Black Methodist organization. National Archives, “Richard Allen” (the AME Church’s organization in Philadelphia, April 1816) ↩
7. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.” Its New York origins and organization as a denomination in 1821. ↩
8. Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, About Us. Official account of organization in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1870. ↩
9. Free Methodist Church USA, History of the Free Methodist Church. Official explanation of the 1860 organization, slavery, pew rentals, and reform. ↩
10. The Methodist Church, Ipswich Circuit, The Origins of Methodism. Official circuit history of the 1932 British union and its constituent churches. ↩
11. The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church, especially Articles VIII–X and XVI–XVII. Historic doctrinal standards, not an assertion that every present congregation teaches them identically. ↩
12. UMC.org, What is the Church’s position on homosexuality? Current official explanation, including the January 2025 effective date, clergy discretion, and Judicial Council Decisions 1503 and 1516. Checked October 26, 2026. ↩
13. Global Methodist Church, 2024 Book of Doctrines and Discipline, revised January 15, 2025, especially Social Witness section 7 and paragraph 505. This primary text supplies the marriage and clergy standards summarized here. ↩
14. Global Methodist Church, Frequently Asked Questions. Official affirmation of women serving in clergy leadership. Checked October 26, 2026. ↩
15. Global Methodist Church, “Global Methodist Church Concludes Historic 2026 General Conference in Johannesburg.” Dates, bishops elected, and the note that adopted legislation will be released after certification. ↩
16. Global Methodist Church, Books of Doctrines and Discipline. Official page identifying the posted edition and the 2024 Costa Rica conference. Checked October 26, 2026; the existence of the 2026 conference is documented separately. ↩
17. Global Methodist Church, Global Methodist Church Concludes Historic 2026 General Conference in Johannesburg, September 10, 2026. Official confirmation of the subsequent conference; no inference about unexamined legislative changes is made. ↩
18. Church of the Nazarene, What We Believe. Official presentation of Wesleyan Holiness doctrine and sanctification. ↩
19. The Methodist Church in Britain, Marriage and Relationships. Official account of the 2021 decision and guidance for local church consideration. Checked October 26, 2026. ↩
20. Orthodox Church in America, Holy Synod, Statement on Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs Regarding Marriage, approved June 16, 2016. Official Orthodox teaching used for the comparison. ↩

Related Honest Apologist reading

• Methodism and John Wesley Explained
• The Holiness Movement
• Why Did Christianity Develop So Many Denominations?
• Grace and Free Will: Is Orthodox Salvation Works-Based?
• From Arminius to Wesley: How Arminian Theology Helped Shape Methodism
• The Black Church in America: Faith, Freedom, and Different Christian Traditions
• How Slavery Split American Protestant Churches