The following is extracted from a United Methodist Publication entitled:

"The United Methodist Story"

United Methodist preaching and teaching is grounded on Scripture, informed by Christian tradition, enlivened in personal experience. and tested by reason.

Scripture
The Holy Bible is our primary source for Christian doctrine. Biblical authors testify to God's self-disclosure in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as in God's work of creation, in the pilgrimage of Israel, and in the Holy Spirit's ongoing activity in human history.

Tradition
Our attempt to understand God does not start anew with each generation or each person. Our faith also does not leap from New Testament time to the present as though nothing could be learned from all Christian thinkers and preachers in between. We learn from traditions found in many cultures, but Scripture remains the norm by which all traditions are judged.

Experience
In our theological task, we examine experience, both personal and church-wide, to confirm the realities of God's grace attested in the Scripture. Experience is the personal appropriation of God's forgiving and empowering grace. Experience authenticates in our own lives the truths revealed in Scripture and illumined in tradition.

Reason
Although we recognize that God's revelation and our experiences of God's grace continually surpass the scope of reason, we also believe that disciplined theological work calls for the careful use of reason. By reason we read and interpret Scripture. By reason we determine whether our Christian witness is clear. By reason we ask questions of faith and seek to understand God's action and will.