The United Methodists, just as the Christians of other denominations, gather every Sunday to celebrate “the day of the Lord”. The worship is the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, the encounter of God and man, and realization of their mutual fellowship. This is the gift of God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the risen Christ. It realizes through word (sermons, prayers, chants, testimonies of faith, etc.), through sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s supper), and through fellowship of mutual ministry and love. We believe that every worship gathering is the participation in fellowship of the entirety of God’s people across time and space.

The elementary structure of the Methodist liturgy is made of the worship of word and of the worship of altar/table. However, in the global UMC there are plenty of liturgical forms.

  • The worship is a sacred time in which the Holy Spirit leads God’s people to prayer and the celebration of God.

“We are proclaiming your death, we are confessing your resurrection, we are waiting for your coming, Lord Jesus Christ.” /from Eucharistic prayers/

  • The worship is the mission of God's people. God sanctifies people with his word and through the Spirit blesses them, so they become a blessing.

"Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. “ /one of the guilty confessing prayers before the celebration of the Lord’s Supper./

"By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.“ /plea over the gifts of bread and wine at the celebration of the Lord's Supper/

"Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others.” /one of the thanksgiving prayers after the celebration of the Lord's Supper/

Every worship is the gift of peace and the resting of man before God. Just as God has rested on the seventh day (Gn 2:2-3, Ex 20: 8-11), so one can and should rest from everyday work. God's service as a gathering of God’s people with God and before God reminds us that we become man just before God and at the same time in the community of love and mutual service.

For thousands of years people has been living in multi-generation families and households. Birth and death were normal parts of human life. Today we meet people, who try to displace the death and the issue of mortality from their mind. The result is funerals without participation of children or cremation without any form of expressing good bye.

We confess as church, that death is the completion of life. The funeral should be part of a respectable farewell with the deceased one and every man should have has a funeral. We believe with other Christians, that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us hope and reason for thanksgiving even face to face with death. In this belief, we give away those, who died, into the infinite grace and love of God.

The death of a close person is one of the most difficult events in our lives. We help the bereaved persons to see the future not as a heavy burden, but as a new period of life. We help them to reconcile with the coming situation, and we seek with them new hope.

Funeral liturgies are conducted in churches, in cemeteries, or other relevant locations. In those places we also have memorial worships. They can be an opportunity to heal the injury caused by the death of close persons, but also a reminder of our own mortality. We conduct funerals without regard to church denomination or other affiliation of the deceased and relatives.

We accept weddings as a gift of God. It is a sacral bond between a man and a woman. Married couples are supposed to live in love with each other with devotion and faithfulness, and they should support each other.

Christian marriage is a holy agreement, which mirrors baptism. It is made between a man and a woman, before the face of God, and within the presence of witnesses and family. The marriage ceremony is for an engaged couple, who wish to celebrate their marriage within a Christian ceremony. Its structure corresponds with the Sunday service, so that part of it is preaching, prayer and worship songs. The course of the wedding ceremony expresses the equal partnership of a man and a woman in Christian marriage, and that they enter into a relationship of their own free will. All present are invited to participate in blessing the engaged couple and in the blessing of their marriage, to join in prayer, and in worship songs. The facultative part of wedding ceremony is the Eucharist.

Before entering into marriage the engaged couple is invited to participate in special meetings, where the preacher is preparing them for their future married life. The pastor discusses with them the practical issues, which they can encounter, but also reads with them the biblical texts concerning the relationship between a man and a woman. If a divorced person requests a wedding ceremony and wishes to enter into a new marriage, the part of premarital discussion is also the topic of reason including why the previous marriage failed. Within these debates the couple is encouraged to self-reflection.

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