A short explanation of the church’s name:
The term “methodist” derives from the word “method” and was used to describe the way in which early students of Charles Wesley lived out their faith where the church began in England. They were focused on a thorough knowledge of the Bible, prayer, and finding practical ways to aid those in need. A methodical approach to following Jesus Christ.

The term „united“ was adopted after unifying several Methodist churches together. The last merger happened in 1968 between The Methodist Church and The Evangelical United Brethren Church. In Germany, we are a wholly a part of The United Methodist Church but are simply called „Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche“ (The Evangelical Methodist Church).

We are “evangelistic” (Greek: „Euangelion“ = Gospel, God News) insofar as we are part the general church family which has its roots in the evangelism of the the good news of Jesus Christ. From this good news sprang a worldwide movement.

John Wesley 1703-1791
Influenced by the Pietist-Lutheran theologian Zinzendorf, the founder and bishop of the “Herrnhuter Brethren”, rode horseback and preached throughout England, inviting people to have a personal relationship with God and to live out that faith through social accountability.

Charles Wesley 1707-1788
With a contribution of 9,000 hymns, the brother of John Wesley was instrumental in spreading the new movement.

Jakob Albrecht 1759-1808
From his work as a traveling preacher throughout German-speaking communities within the USA sprang a „newly formatted Methodist Conference“ which would later merge with other revival focused movements to become the Evangelical Association (later Evangelical Church, then Evangelical United Brethren Church).

Beginning in 1830, remigrants and evangelists come from England and the United States to introduce “methodist devotion” in Germany.

The United Methodist Church is a worldwide church, which belongs to the “Free Church” in Germany. This means that it is financed not by state support, but by the voluntary giving of church members and friends. Volunteer social engagement is for many methodists a given.

Becoming a member of the church is a deliberate decision. Mission work, charity, equity, peace, and preservation of God’s creation are valued in the UMC.

(Key to the world map:
-The United Methodist Church (orange)
-Other member churches of the World Council of Methodist Churches (red)

The UMC is part of the one church of Jesus Christ. It is united with the worldwide community of christians and works closely together with many of them.

The church is one of the founding members of ecumenical committees like the Ecumenical Council of Churches (ÖRK) or the Consorteum of Christian Churches (ACK). It is also a member of the Community of Evangelical Churches in Europe (GEKE).

There are more than 12 million people in Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe that belong to the UMC. In Germany there are 432 churches consisting of 46,000 members and their families.

Worldwide there are 80 million people who belong to the Methodist Church family.

The former congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC)
1863 Christian Raith, based out of Pforzheim, begins mission work in Karlsruhe
1870 The first annual conference in Karlsruhe
1878  Karlsruhe becomes the district seat
1900 Dedication of the “Peace Church” in Karlstrasse 49b
1945 Restoration after wartime destruction of 1944

The former congregation of the Evangelical Association
1875 Based out of Durlach, preacher Friedrich Maurer begins his ministry
1888 Dedication of the “Church of Zion” Beiertheimer Allee 4
1942 The “Church of Zion” is destroyed by a bomb
1949 Dedication of the “Wood Church” Hermann-Billing-Strasse 11
1961 Dedication of the “Church of the Redeemer” (Erlöserkirche) on August 6.

1968 Union of the Methodist Church (MC) and the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUBC) to The United Methodist Church (UMC). “Church of the Redeemer” belongs to the UMC