Often beleifs in the United Methodist Church are described as a “big tent.”
This is a word picture to help us imagine room for lots of variations of beliefs within the same faith community.
For a Deep Dive:
We are part of a very large, global church (The Unted Methodist Church).
Local congregations will likely have some contextual variations. For example, sadly, some United Methodists are not supportive of the dignity and full integration of those who are queer (Ronald United is unapologetically queer affirming- and our own pastor is gay) but in general we agree on these beliefs and we are also pretty hyped about our social principles.
Some quick highlights:
Unity: We don't expect us all to agree. Unity does not require uniformity. We respect our differences and do not force them on one another. We agree our lack of sameness is an asset. Please come free of pressure to assimilate to white, neurotypical, heteronormative, or ableist constructs!
We are thankful for the ethnic diversity of our congregation and encourage white members to grow in there cultural awareness. We have a group and a list of resources to support that effort. We celebrate that this work is emphasized throughout United Methodist Churches in our area. Check that out here.
Bible: We are deeply committed to the Bible and believe cultivating a relationship with the Bible is a nourishing part of someone’s individual walk with God. We honor the Bible and use it as our primary text in many translations but do not interpret it as prescriptive. Instead it is descriptive. It helps us understand how humans have passionately sought relationship with God. We engage the Bible deeply and with love and reverence but not for “copy & pasting” literal interpretations. We are zealous about context and our pastoral theologians are required to be formally educated to prevent harmful ideas about the Bible’s meaning due to poor academic understanding.
God: We believe God is in constant zealous pursuit of relationship with God’s own beloved creation. God is not mad at us. God is in loving pursuit of us. We don’t believe in a God who is made in the image of humans, who needs us to earn love or attention. We believe God is not just some magical, distant other- but that God lives in our very cells and is as close as our very breath.
Prayers we Pray~
Click below to read some of our statements (liturgy) we sometimes read aloud during service: