What Does It Mean to Be United Methodist?

The United Methodist Church is a worldwide Christian denomination rooted in the ministry of John Wesley, an eighteenth-century Anglican priest who believed faith should transform both our hearts and the world around us. Wesley taught that following Jesus involves personal spiritual growth, care for our neighbors, and active work for justice.

United Methodists are Christians. We believe in God as Creator, in Jesus Christ as the fullest revelation of God’s love, and in the Holy Spirit as God’s continuing presence among us. We read the Bible, pray together, celebrate baptism and Communion, serve our communities, and try to follow the way of Jesus.

One of the most important United Methodist beliefs is grace. Grace is God’s freely given love, offered to us before we recognize it, while we are learning to receive it, and throughout our lives as we continue growing. We do not believe anyone has to earn God’s love or become perfect before they are welcomed into the community.

United Methodists take the Bible seriously, but we do not believe faithful people must always interpret every passage in exactly the same way. We study Scripture alongside tradition, reason, and experience. We ask what a passage meant in its original historical setting, how Christians have understood it over time, what we have learned through study and experience, and how it helps us love God and our neighbors today. Questions are not a failure of faith. They are often part of how faith grows.

We practice two sacraments: Baptism and Holy Communion. Baptism welcomes a person into the wider Christian community and celebrates God’s grace already at work in their life. At Mosaic, we practice an open Communion table. You do not have to be a member of our congregation—or a United Methodist—to receive Communion. The table belongs to Christ, and everyone seeking grace is welcome.

United Methodists are also connectional. A local church does not exist entirely on its own. Congregations share clergy, resources, ministries, responsibilities, and accountability through a larger network. This connection allows us to accomplish things together that one congregation could never do alone, including disaster relief, education, health ministries, advocacy, and global mission.

Our tradition has always emphasized both personal and social holiness. Faith is personal, but it is never only private. Loving God must lead us toward loving our neighbors, feeding hungry people, welcoming strangers, challenging injustice, caring for creation, and building communities where everyone can flourish. As Wesley famously taught, there is no holiness that is not social holiness.

United Methodists do not agree about everything. We are a large and diverse denomination made up of people from many cultures, countries, political perspectives, and theological traditions. What holds us together is not complete agreement but a shared commitment to follow Jesus, grow in grace, and participate in God’s work of healing the world.

At Mosaic Faith Community, we live out our United Methodist identity through open conversation, inclusive worship, radical hospitality, and a commitment to justice. We welcome questions, doubts, different perspectives, and people whose experiences have not always been honored by the church. We believe there is room at the table for you—not because you have all the right answers, but because you are already loved.

In future posts, we will explore United Methodist beliefs, history, worship, Communion, baptism, social justice, church structure, and the complicated parts of our tradition in greater detail. For now, the simplest description may be this: United Methodists are people learning to receive God’s grace, share it with others, and put love into action.