In unbounded love, God created… and we enjoyed God’s friendship in paradise…
At the beginning, God gave us freedom to choose to love God or to exclude God from our lives. We chose not to return God’s love. We broke the relationship.
In limitless love, God pursues us, even giving God’s self in the form of the Eternal Son, Jesus Christ, so that our relationship with God, and all creation, might be restored.
All who now trust and follow Jesus Christ are part of the in-breaking reign of God. Jesus said “Behold I am making all things new.” Following Christ’s lead seen in the scriptures, we join him in his mission. We are helping people into the Light who is Jesus, and we are working for the good of all people and the world – all the while looking for Christ’s return, when he in love will rule the universe, and put all thinks to rights. As it was in the beginning, so it shall be in the end.
We are not perfect, but, accepting Christ’s love and forgiveness, we seek to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love all people as we love ourselves. Will you join us on the journey?
As United Methodists we believe, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” That is to say, there is a core set of common beliefs where all Christians are in unity (see below). Then, as we move to less essential beliefs, there are many variations on the Christian theme seen across many different individuals and denominations. We believe in diversity regarding the non-core ideas within our faith tradition. But, most of all we wish live into love for one another as Christ taught and lived.
Our Core Beliefs – From umc.org
United Methodists share a common heritage with all Christians. According to our foundational statement of beliefs in The Book of Discipline, we share the following basic affirmations in common with all Christian communities:
Trinity
We describe God in three persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are commonly used to refer to the threefold nature of God. Sometimes we use other terms, such as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.
Excerpt from What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Theology (Discipleship Resources, 2002), p. 13.
God
- We believe in one God, who created the world and all that is in it.
- We believe that God is sovereign; that is, God is the ruler of the universe.
- We believe that God is loving. We can experience God’s love and grace.
Excerpt from What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Theology (Discipleship Resources, 2002), p. 13.
Read more about our belief in God
Jesus
- We believe that Jesus was human. He lived as a man and died when he was crucified.
- We believe that Jesus is divine. He is the Son of God.
- We believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and that the risen Christ lives today. (Christ and messiah mean the same thing—God’s anointed.)
- We believe that Jesus is our Savior. In Christ we receive abundant life and forgiveness of sins.
- We believe that Jesus is our Lord and that we are called to pattern our lives after his.
Excerpt from What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Theology (Discipleship Resources, 2002), p. 13-14.
Read more about our belief in Jesus Christ
Read more about our beliefs about salvation
The Holy Spirit
- We believe that the Holy Spirit is God with us.
- We believe that the Holy Spirit comforts us when we are in need and convicts us when we stray from God.
- We believe that the Holy Spirit awakens us to God’s will and empowers us to live obediently.
Excerpt from What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Theology (Discipleship Resources, 2002), p. 14.
Read more about our belief in the Holy Spirit
Human Beings
- We believe that God created human beings in God’s image.
- We believe that humans can choose to accept or reject a relationship with God.
- We believe that all humans need to be in relationship with God in order to be fully human.
Excerpt from What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Theology (Discipleship Resources, 2002), p. 14.
Read more about confessions of sin
Read more about our beliefs about salvation
The Church
- We believe that the church is the body of Christ, an extension of Christ’s life and ministry in the world today.
- We believe that the mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
- We believe that the church is “the communion of saints,” a community made up of all past, present, and future disciples of Christ.
- We believe that the church is called to worship God and to support those who participate in its life as they grow in faith.
Excerpt from What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Theology (Discipleship Resources, 2002), p. 14.
The Bible
- We believe that the Bible is God’s Word.
- We believe that the Bible is the primary authority for our faith and practice.
- We believe that Christians need to know and study the Old Testament and the New Testament (the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures).
Excerpt from What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Theology (Discipleship Resources, 2002), p. 15.
Read more about our belief in the Bible
The Reign of God
- We believe that the kingdom or reign of God is both a present reality and future hope.
- We believe that wherever God’s will is done, the kingdom or reign of God is present. It was present in Jesus’ ministry, and it is also present in our world whenever persons and communities experience reconciliation, restoration, and healing.
- We believe that although the fulfillment of God’s kingdom–the complete restoration of creation–is still to come.
- We believe that the church is called to be both witness to the vision of what God’s kingdom will be like and a participant in helping to bring it to completion.
- We believe that the reign of God is both personal and social. Personally, we display the kingdom of God as our hearts and minds are transformed and we become more Christ-like. Socially, God’s vision for the kingdom includes the restoration and transformation of all of creation.
Adapted from Who Are We? Leader’s Guide, p. 28.
Read more about our belief and trust in the Lord of the future
Sacraments
With many other Protestants, we recognize the two sacraments in which Christ himself participated: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
- Baptism
- Through baptism we are joined with the church and with Christians everywhere.
- Baptism is a symbol of new life and a sign of God’s love and forgiveness of our sins.
- Persons of any age can be baptized.
- We baptize by sprinkling, immersion or pouring.
- A person receives the sacrament of baptism only once in his or her life.
Read By Water and Spirit, the church’s official statement on baptism.
Learn more about baptism.
- The Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion, Eucharist)
- The Lord’s Supper is a holy meal of bread and wine that symbolizes the body and blood of Christ.
- The Lord’s Supper recalls the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and celebrates the unity of all the members of God’s family.
- By sharing this meal, we give thanks for Christ’s sacrifice and are nourished and empowered to go into the world in mission and ministry.
- We practice “open communion,” welcoming all who love Christ, repent of their sin, and seek to live in peace with one another.
Read more about communion.
Read This Holy Mystery, the church’s official statement on communion.
Questions and answers about communion
Communion resources
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