Heritage is a United Methodist Church. We expect our leaders to honor our denominational tradition and to pursue ministry in keeping with our tradition.
United Methodists are people who seek to love and serve God with our head, our heart and our hands. We are orthodox in faith, liberal in spirit, passionate and deeply devoted to Christ, and desire to be wholly surrendered to God. We bring together both the evangelical and social gospel – inviting people to a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ, and then equipping and challenging them to live their faith in the public sphere, being engaged in the issues of our time and seeking to shape a world that looks more like the Kingdom of God. Methodists have been known as “reasonable enthusiasts” – valuing both a personal, passionate faith and one that is intellectually informed. Methodists are constantly looking to connect our faith to the world in meaningful, relevant ways. United Methodists value spiritual disciplines and a “methodical” approach to growing in the faith. They strive for both personal holiness and social holiness.
United Methodists are not afraid to ask difficult questions, to take on tough subjects, and to admit that we do not always understand the answers. We are “people of the Book” – holding the Bible to be the inspired Word from God and encouraging people to read, study and live by its words. “While we acknowledge the primacy of Scripture in theological reflection, our attempts to grasp its meaning always involve experience, tradition and reason. Like Scripture, these become creative vehicles of the Holy Spirit as they function within the church.”1 United Methodists also believe the Bible came to us through people who heard God’s Word in the light of our own cultural and historical circumstances. And hence, we study the scriptures carefully, making use of scholarship and asking critical questions. And, as United Methodists encounter theological differences among Christians, we bear in mind John Wesley’s approach, “in essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
United Methodists are people who love God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength and love our neighbors. We pursue acts of piety toward God and acts of mercy toward others. We value passionate worship, relevant preaching, small groups to hold Christians accountable to one another, the need to address the social issues of our time and the need to be people whose faith is firmly rooted in and built upon the scriptures. Methodists value the full participation of women and men, people of all races, classes and backgrounds in all facets of fellowship and leadership within the church and society.
