Methodist ecclesiology is characteristically 'connectional': local churches are not independent congregations but are connected through a network of districts, annual conferences, and the General Conference. The United Methodist Church is governed by its General Conference (the highest legislative body, meeting every four years), which determines binding church law including the Book of Discipline. Bishops oversee annual conferences and are elected by jurisdictional conferences. This represents a blend of episcopal and democratic governance.

Methodism affirms the universal church as the community of all believers, and the marks of the true church in the Methodist tradition include the proclamation of the Gospel and the right administration of the sacraments. The church's mission is expressed through the historic Methodist commitment to 'social holiness' — not just personal piety but social reform and care for the poor, expressed institutionally through hospitals, schools, and advocacy. Wesley's theological method — the Wesleyan Quadrilateral — places Scripture as primary authority over tradition, reason, and experience.