Sign of the cross: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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The sign of the cross can be found in the [[Methodist]] liturgy of the [[United Methodist Church]].<ref name="UMC 1">{{cite web|url =https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-why-dont-united-methodists-make-the-sign-of-the-cross|title=Why don't we make the sign of the cross?|publisher = United Methodist Church|access-date =September 19, 2022}}</ref> [[John Wesley]], the principal leader of the early Methodists, in a 1784 revision of ''The Book of Common Prayer'' for Methodist use called ''The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America'', instructed the presiding minister to make the sign of the cross on the forehead of children just after they have been baptized. (This book was later adopted by Methodists in the United States for their liturgy.)<ref name="UMC 1"/><ref>John Wesley's Prayer Book: The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America with introduction, notes, and commentary by James F. White, 1991 OSL Publications, Akron, Ohio, page 142.</ref> Wesley did not include the sign of the cross in other rites.<ref name="UMC 1"/>

By the early 20th century, the use of the sign of the cross had been dropped from American Methodist worship.<ref name="UMC 1"/> However, its uses was subsequently restored, and the current United Methodist Church allows the pastor to "trace on the forehead of each newly baptized person the sign of the cross."<ref name="UMC 1"/> This usage during baptism is reflected in the current (1992) ''[[The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992)|Book of Worship of the United Methodist Church]]'', and is widely practiced (sometimes with oil).<ref>The United Methodist Book of Worship, Nashville 1992, p. 91</ref> Making of the sign is also common among United Methodists on [[Ash Wednesday]], when it is applied by the [[Elder (Methodism)|elder]] to the foreheads of the [[laity]] as a mark of penitence.<ref name="UMC 1"/><ref>The United Methodist Book of Worship, Nashville 1992, p. 323.</ref> In some United Methodist congregations, the worship leader makes the sign of the cross toward congregants (for example, when [[Benediction|blessing the congregation at the end of the sermon or service]]), and individual congregants make the sign on themselves when receiving [[Holy Communion]].<ref name="UMC 1"/> The sign is also sometimes made by pastors, with oil, upon the foreheads of those seeking healing.<ref>The United Methodist Book of Worship, Nashville 1992, p. 620.</ref> In addition to its use in baptism, some Methodist clergy make the sign at the [[Communion table]] and during the [[Confession (religion)#Methodism|Confession of Sin and Pardon]] at the invocation of [[Jesus' name]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.revneal.org/Writings/Writings/preparedandcrosschecked.html|title=Prepared and Cross-Checked|last=Neal|first=Gregory S.|year=2011|publisher=Grace Incarnate Ministries|language=en|access-date=25 April 2019}}</ref>

Whether or not a Methodist uses the sign for private prayer is a personal choice, although the UMC encourages it as a devotional practice, stating: "Many United Methodists have found this restoration powerful and meaningful. The ancient and enduring power of the sign of the cross is available for us to use as United Methodists more abundantly now than ever in our history. And more and more United Methodists are expanding its use beyond those suggested in our official ritual."<ref name="UMC 1"/>