We are a congregation of the United Methodist Church. Its founder, John Wesley and the early Methodists were particularly concerned about people experiencing God’s grace in their real lives. This practical emphasis continues today.

We want you to know:

• God loves you – rough edges and all!
• God’s grace, through Jesus Christ, enables us to do and be more than we think we can be
• The best environment for growth is a community of faith, love, and acceptance where everyone can grow in understanding and faith

Click here to learn more about United Methodist beliefs (Official website)

Methodists are a BIG family!

The United Methodist Church is the largest mainline church, and third largest Christian Church overall (gasp!).  Worldwide membership is about 12 million members: 8.0 million in the United States, 3.5 million in Africa, Asia, and Europe.  Despite a constantly changing faith landscape, the UMC remains the only Christian denomination to have congregations in every county or parish in the United States.
SO WHAT?! This means that you can connect to you faith family just about wherever you go! (woohoo!)

Methodists are connected to each other!

The United Methodist Church is what’s called a “connectional” denomination.  That means that Methodist congregations (like ours!) are part of an area district, which is part of a regional Conference, and so on, like a big family.
SO WHAT?! This means that our local congregation, while flexible and focused on local needs, also belongs to a larger movement and organization.  This lets us reach and serve more people, whether locally or across the globe!  This also means that there is stability and consistency across the denomination, rather than being based on the whims of an individual or clique.

Stuff people ask about…

God’s Grace

This is a biggie for us Methodists.  We understand grace as the central point of our life in Christ.  Grace is gift the God gives to each of us – not because we deserve it, but because He loves us!

• Grace draws us into a relationship with God
  (If you’re new to thinking about church stuff, you are already experiencing it!!!)
• Grace transforms our relationship with God
  (His continuing work in your life helps you understand and experience Him more!)
• Grace delivers us into our new life in God
  (God realizes that we’re all works-in-progress. He makes that progress possible!)

Baptism

Baptism is a gift from God – an outward and visible sign of God’s grace given to each of us.  It symbolizes the washing away of original sin and a re-birth into a New Life! (AWESOME!)

This can be done in several ways, whicever will be most meaningful to you.  We sprinkle, we pour, we immerse, it isn’t about the water, it is about God’s grace.

Yes, we baptize infants (this is different from other denominations).  We see this as a special dedication of the child to God, and also a promise of the parents and the congregation to help the little one grow in their faith.  This is later followed by a confirmation process in their teens.  If you’ve been baptized in another church, we will happily re-confirm you in your faith.  If you have not been baptized, we encourage you to prayerfully consider this powerful, emotional event in your faith-life. 
For more information please contact the pastor. (More on baptism from the official UMC website)

Communion

The celebration of the Lord’s Supper (service of bread and wine/grapejuice) is an especially meaningful practice is a Christian’s faith-life.

We have an open table. This means that you don’t have to be a member to celebrate communion with us (this is different from other denominations). It’s not our table – it’s God’s!  All are invited and welcome at the Lord’s table.

The symbolic taking-in of Christ’s body and blood can help you deepen your faith and internalize its meaning.  Generally, we celebrate communion by either passing out the elements or by dipping the bread into the juice.  If you don’t feel ready to receive this gift (for whatever reason), we still encourage you to come on up and receive a word of blessing just for you!
We celebrate communion the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month at both services.  The Table is set… Come!

For more information please contact the pastor. (More on communion from the official UMC website)