Explore Faith

At the heart of Christianity is good news: God loves the world, and that includes you.

Christians believe in one God, whom we come to know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe God's creative love set the world in motion; that God remains actively involved in our lives and in the world; and that God desires a relationship with every person.

We believe God's love for the world meant that God couldn't stay away. So God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ, who brings God's love close to us in a remarkable way. In his time on earth, Jesus revealed a God who welcomes outsiders, heals the hurting, challenges injustice, forgives sins, and invites people into a new way of living.

Christians believe that Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried; and that God raised him from the dead. His resurrection is at the center of Christian hope, revealing the extraordinary power of God's love which is stronger than death. We believe through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus invites us into a whole new way of life.

We believe the Holy Spirit continues to work in the world and in our lives, guiding, comforting, challenging, and helping us grow.

And we believe that God's grace is a gift. We don't have to earn God's love. It's already being offered to us. We are invited to receive that love and begin walking the way of Jesus, trusting that God's grace will continue shaping us along the way.

Christians have different understandings of many things, but these convictions have shaped the Christian faith for centuries.

Jesus invited people to follow him. Christians are still responding to that invitation today.

Following Jesus begins with learning to trust God's love and allowing that love to shape the way we live.

Jesus taught that the greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors. He showed us what that looks like through compassion, forgiveness, generosity, hospitality, and concern for people who are overlooked or treated unjustly.

Being a Christian also means belonging to a community. We worship, pray, learn, serve, celebrate, and support one another. We discover that faith grows through our relationships with God and with other people.

And we keep growing! In the United Methodist tradition, we believe God's grace is at work throughout our lives, helping us become more loving, more faithful, and more like Jesus.

Nobody follows Jesus perfectly all the time. We make mistakes, learn, begin again, and trust that God continues working in us.

Following Jesus is a lifelong adventure, and there's always room to grow. 

The Bible is a collection of sacred writings that tell the story of God's relationship with humanity.

Written over many centuries, it includes history, poetry, prayers, laws, prophecy, letters, wisdom, and stories about Jesus and the early church.

Christians look to the Bible for guidance, inspiration, wisdom, and a deeper understanding of God. We believe the Holy Spirit speaks to us through Scripture as we read, study, and reflect together.

But Christians don't all interpret the Bible in exactly the same way.

At UMCE, we take the Bible seriously, and we believe understanding it involves asking thoughtful questions. We consider the historical and cultural context in which it was written, the different kinds of literature it contains. As United Methodists, we use the Wesleyan Quadrilateral to interpret and understand Scripture by learning through reason, experience, and the Christian tradition. (Find out more about the Wesleyan Quadrilateral here).

Above all, we read Scripture through the life and teachings of Jesus, who taught us that love of God and neighbor is at the heart of faithful living.

You don't need to know the Bible well to begin exploring it. Curiosity is a wonderful place to start!

Then you are in great company!

The Bible is full of people who question, struggle, wonder, argue with God, and sometimes have a hard time believing.

Even Jesus' closest followers had doubts sometimes.

Faith doesn't require pretending to be certain about everything. Often, our questions help lead us to a deeper, more thoughtful faith.

You might wonder whether God exists, how prayer works, why suffering happens, or whether the stories in the Bible are literally true. You might have questions about science, other religions, or things Christians have said and done throughout history.

Those are important questions. And they are always welcome here.

At UMCE, we believe faith and curiosity belong together. We can be in relationship with God and follow Jesus, while asking difficult questions, learning new things, and changing our minds.

You don't have to have everything (or even most things) figured out to belong, participate, or explore.