We believe that God loved human beings so much that God came to live among us as Jesus of Nazareth, who was the Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ was both fully human and fully divine. So, as Christians, we are called to love God with all that we are, and to love other people as we love ourselves. We believe that “other people” includes everyone. We include people of all races, genders, nationalities, gender orientations and identities, ages, and financial means. When we say ‘include’ we don’t just mean with a welcoming smile on the surface. We recognize the sacred worth of all people, and recognize them as children of God. So we have all different kinds of people in leadership at our church. There’s no “bait and switch” on egalitarianism at Avondale United Methodist Church!

We believe in eternal life, trusting in the promises of Jesus: “Because I live, you will live too.On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14: 19 - 20). Some of us believe that “second coming” will happen in the same moment for everyone, alive and dead.Others of us believe that Jesus comes back for each of us at the time of our death(perhaps in the form of a loved one who passed on before us) to take us to our heavenly home.But since none of us have already died, and since we understand that the circumstances of the afterlife are beyond our human understanding; we trust the details to our loving God.

As United Methodists, we also follow the Christian teachings of John Wesley(Wesleyan theology).We believe that grace is not just a moment of repeating a canned prayer— we believe that God loves us enough to forgive us of all of our sins, as described in the Bible.And we believe that grace is a process of becoming the person that God created us to be, and that it lasts throughout our lives as we are transformed by the love of God through Jesus Christ.We believe that the scriptures offer us God’s guidance, but that we may get different messages from the same scripture based upon our personal life experience and our experience of the Holy Spirit’s guidance.So we accept that different people may interpret the same scripture differently—and that is okay with us—we don’t have to all agree about everything.We can think differently about the possibilities of heaven and hell, the intricacies of scripture and all kinds of social issues.We are not a “Stepford Church.” We don’t check our brains at the door.

We believe that as we share our faith through loving service and encouraging messages, the world is gradually moved closer to the Kingdom of God.So we use the facilities with which we are blessed, and the talents and gifts of our congregation, to be a “Community Hub for Kindness,” making this area a better place to live and grow.