What We Believe
These
are the core beliefs upon which the United Methodist church is founded:
§
The Trinity: We believe there is
one God, known to us in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
§
Jesus Christ: We believe that
Jesus is the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary, the
image of the invisible God.
§
The Resurrection: We believe that
Jesus Christ lived, died upon the cross for our sins, was buried, and on the
third day rose from the dead.
§
The Bible: We believe that the
Bible is God’s inspired Word. We believe that all that we need for
salvation is found in the Holy Scriptures of the Bible.
§
Free Will: We believe that all
people are created with free will. While we seek God’s guidance and
direction for our lives, God does not determine our actions. We are free
to make our own decisions, and are responsible for our actions. This
freedom includes the will to accept or reject Christ.
§
Salvation by Faith
Alone: We are saved by grace through faith in Christ. No amount
of good works can save us.
§
Good Works: Having accepted
Christ, we will want to express our faith by good works. However, these
good works are not a means to salvation.
§
Sanctification: The first step
in our faith journey is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and is often
called “Justification”. Justification is the beginning of a
lifelong process of becoming more Christ-like which is called sanctification.
§
Ministry of All
Believers: We are all gifted by God, and each of us has a calling to
express those gifts as a part of the work of Christ and his church. Therefore
we are all ministers of the Gospel.
While this
is not an exhaustive list, these are the things that we consider to be central
and essential to our faith as Christians. You can read more at this link to the Foundational Documents
of the United Methodist Church.
Additional information
can be found at these links:
The Bath UMC is part of the Mid-Maine
District
The Mid-Maine District is part of the New
England Annual Conference
The
New England Conference is part of the United Methodist Church