God

God, who is one, is revealed in three distinct persons. We cannot describe God with certainty. But we can put into words what God does and how we experience God's action in our lives. God works in at least these seven ways: He creates, sustains, loves, suffers, judges, redeems, and reigns. When all is done, if we have difficulty in imagining who God is or in relating to God, there's a simple solution: Remember Jesus—for in the New Testament picture of Jesus, we see God.

Jesus

We believe in the mystery of salvation through Jesus Christ. God became human in Jesus of Nazareth; and his life, death and resurrection demonstrate God's redeeming love. We refer to him as the Son of God, Son of man, Christ, Lord, Savior, and many other names.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is God's present activity in our midst. When we sense God's leading, God's challenge, or God's support or comfort, it's the Holy Spirit at work. In Hebrew, the words for Spirit, wind, and breath are nearly the same. The same is true in Greek. Today we continue to experience God's breath, God's Spirit. We sense the Spirit in time alone—perhaps in prayer, in our study of the Scriptures, in reflection on a difficult decision, or in the memory of a loved one. The Spirit's touch is intensely personal.

Human Beings

Genesis 1:27 asserts that we've been made in the image of the Creator. Like God we have the capacity to love and care, to communicate, and to create. 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.

The Church

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 for the transformation of the world. 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.

The Bible

We believe that the Bible is the primary authority for our faith and practice. We United Methodists put the Bible to work. In congregational worship we read from the Bible. Through preaching, we interpret its message for our lives. It forms the background of most of our hymns and liturgy. Many of us use it in our individual devotional lives, praying through its implications day by day. However, we admit that there's still vast "biblical illiteracy" in our denomination. We need to help one another open the Bible and use it.

God’s Reign

The kingdom or reign of God is both a present reality and future hope. There are signs of the coming Kingdom all about us—from random acts of kindness by individuals to the worldwide family's growth in tolerance and cooperation. Day after day, we see deeds of Christian courage, of compassion and reconciliation, of integrity in the face of temptation, and of witness for truth and justice. We are to pray earnestly for the Kingdom to come on earth, to watch faithfully for any signs of its coming, to put away our old selves and clothe ourselves "with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness, and to do "the work of ministry.” Thy Kingdom come!