Our Beliefs

The United Methodist Church draws its beliefs from both the words of the Bible and traditional church teachings. At First UMC, we believe strongly that the creation of a flexible and durable faith calls for a balance between heart and head. A living and dynamic faith in the risen Jesus Christ calls on the Holy Spirit to inform and enliven us as we engage the realities of everyday life in a faith-filled manner. Our task is to engage the Biblical witness and bring to it our own unique experiences, tempered by our ability to evaluate and process both authoritative sources and the needs of an increasingly diverse culture and world. To this end we have embraced the identity of First UMC as a place where “faith and reason are compatible.”
 
We offer the following beliefs, not as a rigid and exhaustive list, but rather as a starting point for further theological reflection. We invite the individual believer to feel free to choose other words so as to express them in a more personal manner.
 
We believe in the Holy Trinity; God is our Creator, Jesus is our Savior, the Holy Spirit is God's presence within us and in the world.
 
We believe in God’s grace as an unconditional, undeserved, and unearned gift of God’s love.
 
We believe in Jesus Christ as the ultimate expression and fulfillment of God’s grace whose life, death, and resurrection offer to all people transforming forgiveness and the promise of life eternal.
 
We believe in the Bible as the inspired word of God.
 
We believe prayer is our lifeline with God.
 
We believe the church is the body of Christ in the world today, present to form followers of Christ and to share God’s love through Christ in the local and worldwide community.
 
 
Click on this link here for beliefs and questions regarding Baptism.