This week, we mark the 50th birthday of The United Methodist Church. On April 23, 1968, the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to form The United Methodist Church.The merger also brought people together in another way: marking the official dissolution of the Methodist Church’s racially segregated Central Jurisdiction.
The aura of every newborn thing is an aura of hope.
With these words Dr. Albert Outler began his magnificent sermon at the Uniting Conference of our church. 50 years ago, on April 23, a ceremony uniting the Evangelical United Brethren and The United Methodist Church was held in the Uniting Conference in Dallas Texas. We celebrate 50 years of hope.
(Video) “Lord of the Church, we are united in Thee in thy church and now in The United Methodist Church. Amen.”
As we gather for Annual Conference in June we will begin with a birthday celebration, with magnificent music, with the preaching of Bishop Jonathan Holstein from the South Carolina Annual Conference and with amazing and inspirational history of our church offered by Fred Day, the General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History. We’ll receive an offering for the Mission Endowment fund as we give thanks for all that has been and anticipate all that will be. Today, give thanks for our church. It is a gift across these fifty years and into the years to come. Indeed, the aura of every newborn thing is an aura of hope.