About

United Methodists profess the Christian faith in God, incarnate in Jesus Christ for our salvation and ever at work in human history in the Holy Spirit.

Read our Confessions of Faith.

To be saved means turning away from a life that is without God, that is focused solely upon ourselves. It means giving up the obsession with our needs, our wants, our pleasures, our comforts, our importance, our egos, and our power. If my world is nothing but me, then no one else, including God, is likely to get in. It also means being saved from destructive patterns of life – things that destroy us instead of build us up. When God becomes a part of our life, we realize that a focus on self is not a full life. We understand that self-focus alone has no future and offers nothing to build up anyone else or advance the great causes of humanity. But being saved from ourselves also means that we are saved to a life that is the exact opposite. Such a life says that the will of God and living this faith daily is a greater priority than our own will, that being the people of God is more important than anything, that giving and sharing are better than taking and accumulating. Our lives are changed by God to lives that affirm others—lives of healing and wholeness. Being saved means that we have awakened to the wondrous opportunities to share each day with our brothers and sisters and see what God is doing in our lives together. Most people who are rescued begin to evaluate their lives, take stock, and find ways to improve their lives.

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United Methodists do believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way the Bible presents as the way of salvation and heaven, as Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to atone for sin and is the gift of God to all who believe.

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If you have never been baptized, you will prepare for baptism. If you were baptized as an infant or young child and have not made a profession of faith and been confirmed, then you will prepare to reaffirm your baptism when you take the membership vows. If you are a member of another part of the church (such as Baptist, Presbyterian, or Lutheran), then you can transfer your membership from that church to a local United Methodist Church. If you are a member of another Christian church that does not transfer membership, you can make a profession of faith and be received as a member. Talk to the pastor about becoming a member, and the pastor can answer your questions and help discern what next step to take.

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Baptism is a sacrament in which God uses common elements, water, as a means of divine grace. Through baptism we are joined with the church and with Christians everywhere. Baptism is a symbol of new life and a sign of God’s love and forgiveness of our sins. We baptize by sprinkling, immersion or pouring. A person receives the sacrament of baptism only once in his or her life.

Our church has always offered to people being baptized and to the parents of infants the choice of sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. We believe that “the power of the Spirit in baptism does not depend upon the mode by which water is administered, the age or psychological disposition of the baptized person, or the character of the minister. It is God’s grace that makes the sacrament whole.” (By Water and the Spirit)

The United Methodist Church recognizes the baptism of other Christian denominations. We do not re-baptize those who have already received Christian baptism in any form.

The United Methodist Church strongly advocates the baptism of infants within the faith community: “Because the redeeming love of God, revealed in Jesus Christ, extends to all persons and because Jesus explicitly included the children in his kingdom, the pastor of each charge shall earnestly exhort all Christian parents or guardians to present their children to the Lord in Baptism at an early age.” (1992 Book of Discipline, par.221, para. 226, 2012 Book of Discipline).

Preparation for confirmation begins in 6th grade when youth enter their middle school years. The middle school years are when young people begin to move from concrete thinking to abstract thinking and is when many people begin to make lifelong faith decisions. During these middle school years, youth are seeking a sense of belonging. Belonging to the community of faith is an appropriate response to that developmental task.

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The table of Holy Communion is Christ’s table, not the table of The United Methodist Church or of the local congregation. The table is open to anyone who seeks to respond to Christ’s love and to lead a new life of peace and love, as the invitation to the table says.

We do not believe that the the communion elements actually become the body and blood of Christ, but that the change is spiritual. They signify the body and blood of Christ for us, helping us to be Christ’s body in the world today, redeemed by Christ’s blood. We pray over the bread and cup that they may make us one with Christ, ‘one with each other, and one in service to all the world.’

In The United Methodist Church, children are welcome to receive communion. Our Book of Worship explains, “All who intend to lead a Christian life, together with their children, are invited to receive the bread and cup.” Parents may decide when their child can begin receiving communion. The article “How Should Parents and the Church Welcome Children to the Lord’s Supper?”  helps parents and congregations develop appropriate ways to welcome children to the Lord’s table.

Bethesda United Methodist Church offers gluten-free bread for those with gluten intolerance. Persons wishing to partake in gluten-free communion should go up the aisle and take communion from the line on the right side of the sanctuary. Tell the communion server that you would like the gluten-free option.

We believe that the Bible reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received and studied through the Holy Spirit as the rule and guide for faith and practice. We are convinced that Jesus Christ is the living Word of God in our midst whom we trust in life and death. The biblical authors, illumined by the Holy Spirit, bear witness that in Christ the world is reconciled to God. The Bible bears authentic testimony to God’s self-disclosure in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as in God’s work of creation, the pilgrimage of Israel, and in the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in human history. (The Book of Discipline, paragraph 105)

Throughout history people have wondered what happens after death. While we may want a clear cut answer, we are called simply to trust God that ultimately we will be in His care, and that His kingdom will come. The traditional Christian view has always been that those who believe will share eternal joy with God in heaven, while those who refuse God’s love suffer endless separation from God.

Thomas G. Long, professor at Candler School of Theology said “There are two images in the New Testament about what happens. First, the Resurrection Day, when the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised up incorruptible. If you only had that image, what we would imagine is that when people die, they lie in some intermediate state awaiting the great Resurrection Day.

The other image, however, is that death contains no victory over us at all. As soon as we die, we are with God. We get this in the Book of Revelation where John looks up and already the saints who have died are praising God around the throne. In terms of linear time, we can’t work this out. We’ve got these two competing images: You either wait until the general resurrection or you go immediately to be with God.

Whatever happens after death, we live with hope in life eternal and in the assurance that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, not things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor dept, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

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