What We Believe!

 

Now that's a question that can be answered on numerous levels.  We as United Methodist Christians in Concord, Michigan believe we are a local incarnation of Christ's Body through which we continue to work with Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit to be co-creators and restorers fo the world around us - with a focus on our community.  

 

A more academic answer would be that we believe that God's revelation of himself to humanity as contained in the Hebrew (Old) and New Testaments of the Bible contains all things necessary for salvation.  We believe it to be the inspired world of God and, while primary, is interpreted through the lenses of tradition, reason, and experience.

 

Or if you prefer the official doctrinal statements of the United Methodist Church, you can find them here.

 

Perhaps the simplest statement of what we believe is that contained in the Apostles Creed which is part of our Baptism lturgy.  The Apostles Creed can be found here.

 

On a more practical level you might like to know that we are a sacramental church.  This means that we believe that the sacraments are an outward sign of on inward or invisible grace.  We believe that they are what our founder John Wesley called a means of grace - ways that we make ourselves available to experience God's grace.  United Methodists celebrate 2 sacraments - Baptism and Holy Communion.  Because we believe that God is the actor in both Baptism and Holy Communion, we practice infant baptism and have an open table for communion.  While not a Sacrament, we also practice confirmation where those baptised as infants take for their own the promises made for them at baptism by their parents.