How did the Free Methodist Church really come to be? Bishop Kevin Mannoia starts by challenging how we think about salvation itself – because understanding salvation shaped everything about our church’s founding.
Rather than seeing salvation as just “getting a ticket to heaven,” Kevin presents the Free Methodist understanding of salvation as the restoration of God’s image in us. This isn’t just theology for emerging ministry leaders – it’s the foundation that drove our founders to care about both personal transformation and social justice.
This relational view of salvation includes prevenient grace, repentance, justification, adoption, regeneration, and sanctification all working together. When you understand salvation this way, you can’t separate personal holiness from caring about systemic issues. The early Free Methodists invested in society because they believed the kingdom is now, not just something we wait for.
Assignment: Try drawing this understanding of salvation on a timeline, showing humanity’s journey from creation through separation to restoration through Jesus. Share it with your group to help describe salvation in relational terms.
Note: This content is part of the forthcoming book “Living Our Name: Free Methodist Identity” – stay tuned for publication details.
Links:
FMCSC Website: https://fmcsc.org/
Ministry Training: https://fmcsc.org/training/
Identity Series Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL28rnyZQWTXk_tn2mlevUIdkU_OZUA0Ir
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