Who are U. M.?

DOCTRINAL STANDARDS:

The distinctive doctrinal emphases of the United Methodist provide the basis for "practical divinity," the experiential realization of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the lives of Christian people. The emphases have been preserved not so much through formal doctrinal declarations as through the vital movement of faith and practice as seen in converted lives and within the disciplined life of the Church.

Devising formal definitions of doctrine has been less pressing for United Methodist than summoning people to faith and nurturing them in the knowledge and love of God. The core of Wesleyan doctrine that informed our past rightly belongs to our common heritage as Christians and remains a prime component within our continuing theological task.

SOCIAL PRINCIPLES:

We, the people called United Methodist, affirm our faith in God our Creator and Father, in Jesus Christ our Savior, and in the Holy Spirit, our Guide and Guard.

We acknowledge our complete dependence upon God in birth, in life, in death, and life eternal. Secure in God's love, we affirm the goodness of life and confess our many sins against God's will for us as we find it in Jesus Christ.

Grateful for God's forgiving love , in which we live and by which we are judged, and affirming our belief in the inestimable worth of each individual, we renew our commitment to become faithful witness to the gospel, not alone to the ends of earth, but also to the depths of our common life and work.