“The Cross and Flame is a registered trademark, and the use is supervised by the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) of The United Methodist Church. Permission to use the Cross and Flame must be obtained from the GCFA, Attn: Legal Department, Post Office Box 340029, Nashville, TN 37203-0029; phone 615-369-2334; fax 615-369-2330.”
Spiritually Speaking August 2009 by Peggy Coniglio
Have you ever noticed the symbol for our church? We find this symbol on official church literature, printed on bulletins; we encounter it every Sunday on the cover of our hymnal. I for one, have been thankful for its easily recognized cross and dual flame on blue road signs located along a rural area while searching for an unfamiliar house of worship. Many companies and businesses have their brand names, jingles and logos. It seems we are no exception. But what does the insignia mean?
The cross and the flame symbols have always been important to Christians. The cross represents Christ’s crucifixion. The “empty” cross found in protestant churches differs from the Catholic crucifix. Jesus “gone” from the cross is a powerful reminder of his resurrection. In the Wesleyan (Methodist) tradition this also is a symbol of Christian service and sacrifice.
The flame reminds us of Pentecost, when witnesses saw tongues of fire descend upon the disciples, unifying them by the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. (Acts 2:3) The flames also represent a transforming event in the life of Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, when he sensed God’s presence and found his heart to have been “strangely warmed.”
Upon inspection you may notice that our emblem is a single cross with a dual flame. This represents a 1968 merger of two denominations, the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethern Church. The emblem was formally adopted at that time by the General Conference and then in 1971 it was registered – officially No. 917,433 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office as a service mark and collective membership mark.
Visiting any town anywhere in the world you can be assured of locating the open doors of a United Methodist Church by looking for the familiar Cross and Flame.
Learn more about the origins of the cross & flame, here.
Spiritually Spekaing July 2009 by Stacy DeFrancesco
Hello Everyone,
On Saturday morning as I sat reading my devotional, I read this passage from Streams in the Desert 2 by Mrs. Charles E Cowman. For the 27th of June, she had some beautiful advice on how we can all make worship more rich and meaningful in our lives. I hope that as you read it, you will all be as inspired as I was. ” A Decalogue of Worship” by E.R. McWilliams, in the Log of Good Ship Grace, taken from Streams in the Desert 2 by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman.
May God bless you and keep you as we continue to grow in Christ.
Spiritually Speaking June 2009
by Helena Hahn
The Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), also called the Paschal Lamb, is one of the most common Christian symbols associated with Easter. The lamb signifies purity, innocence, and meekness, as well as sacrifice. It is often depicted with a banner that shows a cross or just with a cross.
The Lamb of God os related directly to the Jewish Passover when an unblemished lamb was sacrificed, roasted, eaten, and its blood put on the door posts and the lintel of every Israelite’s home so that when God came to smite the first-born of the Egyptians, He would know which houses to “pass over”.
This is the same meal (The Last Supper) that Jesus and His disciples ate before
Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, the event Christians call Maundy Thursday.
John 1:29: “The next day he [John the Baptized] saw Jesus coming toward him and said ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ ”
Symbolically Speaking Archives:
General:
Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)
Caduceus
About the paraments & symbols of the church:
The Twelve Apostles:
