What is the church?
It is the redemptive fellowship in which the Word of God is preached by those divinely called, and the sacraments are duly administered according to Christ's own appointment.
Catechism for the Global Methodist Church, question 29
5Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
41So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42They were continuing in the apostles' teaching and in the fellowship, in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers. 43Fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs occurred through the apostles. 44All who believed were together, and they held everything in common. 45They sold their possessions and property and distributed them to all according to each one's need. 46Day by day they continued together in the temple, broke bread in their homes, and partook of food with gladness and sincerity of heart. 47They praised God and enjoyed favor with all the people. The Lord added daily those who were being saved.
23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread. 24And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. 27Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
With this question the catechism turns from the Holy Spirit to the church, following the order of the Nicene Creed: "We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church." The answer is taken word for word from Article V of the Confession of Faith, which first describes the church as "the community of all true believers under the Lordship of Christ" and then gives the definition the catechism uses. The church is a redemptive fellowship, and it is recognized by two marks: the Word of God preached, and the sacraments administered as Christ appointed them.
Fellowship is the word Luke uses for the first congregation in Jerusalem. Those who received Peter's preaching "were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls," and they "were continuing in the apostles' teaching and in the fellowship, in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers" (Acts 2:41-42). Preaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper, prayer, and shared life appear together in a single paragraph, and Luke closes it with the note that "the Lord added daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47). That is what the catechism means by calling the fellowship redemptive: people are saved within it.
Those divinely called points to God's initiative in raising up preachers. The Lord tells Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5). The church recognizes and ordains those whom God has already called. According to Christ's own appointment points to the Lord's Supper as Paul received it: "the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread," gave thanks, broke it, and said, "do this in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:23-24). Paul adds that "as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). The sacraments belong to Christ, and the church administers them on his instruction.
For a Methodist this definition settles where to look for the church. It is found wherever the Word is faithfully preached and the font and table are kept as Christ commanded, whether in a cathedral or a living room. Wesley counted the Lord's Supper, the reading and hearing of Scripture, and Christian conference among the means of grace, and Article V of the Confession of Faith names the same fellowship as the place where God does his redeeming work.