Do you believe in the church?
Yes. I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
Catechism for the Global Methodist Church, question 27
16And I have other sheep which are not from this courtyard; it is necessary for me to bring them also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so also is the Christ. 13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
4One body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling. 5One Lord, one faith, one baptism. 6One God and father of all, the one who is over all and through all and in all.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the assembly and gave himself up for her. 26That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. 27That he might present to himself the assembly in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she might be holy and blameless.
9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
9And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain and purchased for God with your blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." 10And you made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.
The catechism now moves to the creed's confession of the church, and the candidate answers with the creed's four marks in the first person: "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic." The church holds the same teaching in Article V of the Confession of Faith: "We believe it is one, holy, apostolic and catholic." Article XIII of the Articles of Religion describes the visible church as "a congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments duly administered according to Christ's ordinance."
The church is one because there is one Lord. Jesus said of his other sheep, "they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd" (John 10:16). Paul lists the unity plainly: "One body and one spirit," "One Lord, one faith, one baptism," "One God and father of all" (Ephesians 4:4-6), and he explains how it came about: "in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free" (1 Corinthians 12:13). The church is holy because Christ makes it so. He "loved the assembly and gave himself up for her," to "sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word," so that "she might be holy and blameless" (Ephesians 5:25-27). Her holiness is his gift before it is her achievement.
The church is catholic, which means universal, because Christ has "purchased for God with your blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). Peter applies Israel's titles to this worldwide people: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession," of whom Peter says, (1 Peter 2:10). The church is apostolic because it stands on the apostles' teaching and continues their mission, sent to "proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9). Wesley and the early Methodists never intended a new church; they intended to be the apostolic faith renewed within the one church of Christ.
Saying "I believe in the church" commits a Methodist to the whole body, in every place and age, and to the local congregation where the word is preached and the sacraments given. It also commits the believer to charity toward other Christians, since the church is one before it is divided, and to holiness of life, since the church's holiness shows in its members.