The United Methodist Church (UMC), at 7.2 million US members, is the largest mainline Protestant church, the 2nd largest Protestant church and the 3rd largest Christian church in the US. The UMC is the result of the union of the Methodist Church (US) and the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1968. Like TEC the UMC has overseas units. The UMC units are mostly in Africa and Asia, with a combined membership of 4.4 million. The worldwide membership of the UMC was almost 12 million in 2014.
The UMC is a modified episcopal church, without claim to Apostolic succession. Methodists are cousins to Anglicans. The founders of Methodism were John & Charles Wesley, both priests in the Church of England. The Methodist Church became separate from the Church of England in the US colonies in a similar fashion as the Episcopal Church after the defeat of the British in the Revolutionary War. When John Wesley was unsuccessful in getting the Church of England to send a bishop to Methodists in North America, Methodist Anglican priests resorted to ordaining Methodist clergy themselves. The UMC embraces elements of both the liturgical and evangelical forms of Christianity. The UMC consists of 122 Annual Conferences united into 69 episcopal regions. Some Methodist bishops preside over more than one Annual Conference.
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