ABSTRACT
This chapter – focussing upon the British Methodist Church – argues that there is a basic resonance between two central foci of Methodist theology and Methodist law. First, an Arminian theology of grace, with its emphasis upon a personal appropriation of faith and a commitment to growth in love, informs an ecclesiology that affirms the ‘priesthood of all believers’ and the ministry of the ‘whole people of God.’ Thus, in Methodist law decision-making is through a process of Christians conferring together. This is sometimes described as a ‘corporate episcope’. Soundly, a strong sense of belonging together is manifest in a ‘connexionalism’, one aspect of which is a commonality of the application of law throughout the whole church. The chapter ends with critical reflections on the extent to which these fundamentals of Methodist theology and law are reflected in the Principles of Christian Law.
