Who We Are

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:

​

The 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.

​

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.

​

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.

​

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.

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.