Our Values
We pray and hope that our affirmation of wholeness of all people will bring reconciliation to all who find themselves in exile from the family of God because of any manner of prejudice, intolerance or lack of understanding.
Covenant of Inclusiveness
Created in God’s Image
We believe all people are created by God in God’s own image, are infinitely and equally worthy, and are equal beneficiaries of God’s love and grace.
God’s Vision for the Church
We believe that God’s vision for our world includes the church as a community which embodies love, grace, reconciliation, acceptance, peace, and justice for all people.
Our Intention to Be Faithful
We declare our intention to be faithful to God’s vision and commit ourselves to the struggle to create a Christian community open to all of God’s children.
Full Participation for All
We affirm the full participation of every person in all aspects of our life together, in the church, in the family, and in society.
Standing With LGBTQ+ Persons
We seek at this time specifically to address and advocate the needs and concerns of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons in our church and in our society.
Welcoming Every Gift
We strive unconditionally to enable and utilize the gifts of all people in all pastoral and lay capacities of the church.
Opening Every Benefit
We strive to open all benefits of the church to all people and will actively work to change current societal and denominational prohibitions regarding sexual orientation.
Repentance
We repent of our participation in and/or passive acceptance of all beliefs that separate us from God, ourselves, and each other.
Created in God’s Image
We commit ourselves to faithful discipleship, which we believe includes challenging the heterosexism present in the Church at large, in our own United Methodist denomination, and in our society.
Faithful Discipleship
We pray and hope that our affirmation of wholeness of all people will bring reconciliation to all who find themselves in exile from the family of God because of any manner of prejudice, intolerance or lack of understanding.
Reconciling Congregation
In April 2000 our church adopted a Covenant of Inclusiveness and became part of the Reconciling Ministries Network.
This network of United Methodist individuals, congregations, campus ministries, and other groups worked for the full participation of all people in the United Methodist Church, despite longstanding prohibitions against gay clergy and same-sex marriage.
Then, between 2020 and 2023, a number of conservative congregations disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church, largely because of continuing disagreement over LGBT issues. In 2024 the United Methodist Church adopted inclusive language and eliminated prohibitions against LGBT clergy and same-sex marriages.
