In 1939 the northern and southern churches reunited as the Methodist Church, and in 1968 this group merged with the Evangelical United Brethren to form the United Methodist Church. Today there's a modest but significant refocusing of Wesleyan influence. At the 1988 Methodist General Conference, doctrinal standards were more sharply defined. Wesley's Standard Sermons , his Explanatory Notes on the New Testament , and his 25 Articles of Religion were affirmed as foundational. Of course, different groups emphasize different things.
Conservatives focus on sanctificationist themes that enable social action to be viable.
The huge bureaucracy of the United Methodist Church. Wesley's Methodism was focused on teaching, accountability, acts of service, caring for the poor and orphans and prisoners and others in need. At end of his life, he's already despairing that his movement is becoming another institution. He also wouldn't recognize the vast and independent executive branch of the United Methodist Church, which is supposed to carry out the will of the General Conference, but now is directing its own way. Because of the enormous endowments accumulated over the years, the headquarters is not strictly accountable to the will of the congregations.