The United Methodist Church's members share beliefs with other Christian groups, including faith in God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Traditionally, we have emphasized the following:
- God will comfort, guide, and forgive every person, no matter who they are or what they've done.
- Serving others and Christian faith go hand in hand.
- We find peace with God and spiritual fulfillment both in solitary moments of reflection and in a community of faith.
- Our Church is made up of people who share faith in Jesus Christ.
- We seek to make our private and our public actions congruent with our faith.
- We are a global movement of churches that's making a difference in the world.
In practice, we are similar to other Protestant denominations, affirming our beliefs through the sacred symbols of baptism and communion.
Through baptism, we accept God's gifts through Jesus. There is no strict rule among United Methodists about how baptism must be performed, although sprinkling water on the head of the person being baptized is most common. Everyone is accepted and welcome at the communion table, whether members of the Church or not, kids or adults.
