The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a denomination of the Methodist Christian faith that is part of the holiness movement. It is evangelical in nature and has a Wesleyan-Arminian theology. This church was formed in reaction to the payment of musicians in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and as such, the first Free Methodists enjoyed a capella congregational hymns during worship. The FMC has members in more than 100 countries, with 68,356 members in the United States and 1,200,797 members worldwide.
Light & Life Communications, the official publishing arm of the Free Methodist Church, is a nonprofit corporation that exists to serve in partnership with its parent body. The newly organized church retained the name Methodist because its founders believed their expulsion from the Methodist Episcopal Church was due to their adherence to the doctrines and norms of Methodism. The Free Methodist Church, along with the United Methodist Church, share a common heritage linked to the Methodist revival in England during the 18th century. Over time, as the ministry of the Free Methodist Church expanded, several departments of the general church gradually moved to the accommodations of the Free Methodist Publishing.
The Free Methodist Church emerged in the context of the 19th-century Methodist holiness movement. In addition, this denomination is one of several that support Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, California). These five values express the distinctive features that differentiate Free Methodists from other religious families in the Body of Christ. Sustainable Empowerment through Economic Development (SEED), a microenterprise and livelihood ministry of Free World Methodist Missions, facilitates the creation of self-sufficient businesses, training in business skills, and Christian discipleship.
At a 1910 session of the General Conference of the Methodist Church in Rochester, New York, it was recognized that wrongdoing had been committed against Roberts fifty years earlier. His credentials were returned at a public meeting in his name to his son, who was a Reverend. In 1944, this denomination started a weekly radio program called The Light and Life Radio Hour which included hymns, sermons, prayers, and scripture reading. The headquarters of this church was located in Winona Lake, Indiana until 1990 when it moved to Indianapolis.
In terms of doctrine, beliefs held by Free Methodists are similar to those of Wesleyan-Arminian Protestantism but with an emphasis on total sanctification as held by John Wesley.
