Academic Work

Education is a core value of the United Methodist Church that dates back to the earliest days of the Methodist movement in 18th-century England. John Wesley was as much an educator as a preacher and leader. Methodist involvement in education on all levels across the world stems from Wesley’s passion for education, which was rooted in his understanding of the Bible and of centuries of Christian tradition motivating the Church to engage in constantly seeking and understanding God’s purposes for our lives. Wesley never argued a distinctive Methodist theological rationale for education but his theological thinking made education so vitally important to him that studies was one of his direct instructions to the preachers in the Methodist movement. For him education at its best was a life-long process guided by the Holy Spirit towards personal and social holiness, an excellent tool for evangelism, for training in godliness, and for reform of the society.

In the menu to the left, you will find various academic work written by United Methodists in the Nordic and Baltic Episcopal Area ranging from BA papers to doctoral thesis. All of the these works have been approved by an academic institution.

The church’s Social Principles say the following about education (¶ 164E):

Education—We believe that every person has the right to education. We also believe that the responsibility for education of the young rests with the family, faith communities, and the government. In society, this function can best be fulfilled through public policies that ensure access for all persons to free public elementary and secondary schools and to post-secondary schools of their choice. Persons should not be precluded by financial barriers from access to church-related and other independent institutions of higher education. We affirm the right of public and independent colleges and universities to exist, and we endorse public policies that ensure access and choice and that do not create unconstitutional entanglements between church and state. We believe that colleges and universities are to ensure that academic freedom is protected for all members of the academic community and a learning environment is fostered that allows for a free exchange of ideas. We affirm the joining of reason and faith; therefore, we urge colleges and universities to guard the expression of religious life on campus.