Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.

We believe in God

The nature of God is much more complex and mysterious than any of our descriptors or categories can adequately define, so all of our affirmations about God necessarily begin with faith. Ultimately, we believe God is so great as to be the eternal source of life and of love, and yet God is so personal as to know and love each of us as if there were only one of us.

We receive the Bible as inspired and inspiring, instructive for life and faith

In faith, we receive the Bible's stories, testimony, songs and traditions from people's experience and worship of God as instructive for our understanding of God's nature and God's work. Thus we come to believe in God as Creator, Savior and Sustainer of life, among many other "names."

We believe Jesus reveals God

Our best understanding of who God is, what God is like, how to know God's will and how to live God's vision of the heavenly life comes from studying and following Jesus of Nazareth. We believe that Jesus is "God with us" in the flesh. We believe that God was in Christ Jesus, in his faithful life, his self-giving love, his death and his resurrection, reconciling a straying, war-torn, wounded world to our original relationship in shalom (peace, wholeness) with God.

We believe that Jesus invites us to follow him

We don.t have to be perfect before we follow. Following Jesus. way of life has a way of cleaning up our acts. We follow by loving those Jesus would love. We follow by forgiving, others and ourselves. We follow by searching our own hearts for God's still, small voice. We follow by putting our trust in God and placing our lives in God's hands. We believe that following Jesus brings us Life that this Earth can't contain.

We believe that God is still present and working through Holy Spirit.

We believe that prayer connects us with God and others in healing, transforming, peace-restoring ways.

Our Church is made up of many members with many different beliefs

But the guiding principle which binds us, even in our very different beliefs, is that which Jesus identified as "the greatest commandment: Love God and your neighbors with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."

We believe that Westlake United Methodist Church has been blessed by God to bless to others, a community of open hearts, open minds and open doors serving God and the community in all that we do.

Does your church have a vision statement?

We do! At Westlake United Methodist Church we have discerned a vision and value statement that provides focus to our mission as a church. We refer to our vision and value statement routinely as we seek to be the church that God is calling us to be. Click here for the WUMC Vision & Value Statement.

We also faithfully employ a long term strategic planning process so that we can listen for and embrace God's desires for the future of this church. Our strategic initiative is called Come, Grow, Share. Click here to read more about it.

What is distinctive about being a United Methodist?

While we share in common with all Christians the faith that God was in Christ, recovering and restoring our lives to wholeness ("salvation"), the energy that fuels United Methodism stems from a historic emphasis on "practical divinity." In simple terms: "Now, Walk the Talk."

We believe that in response to God's incredible, amazing grace in our lives, we are called to "re-present Jesus," extending his same indiscriminate, unmerited grace to others. We believe that this life of loving and serving others is, in fact, worked in us by God, who empowers us to live with "Christ in us." The $20 U.M. term for God-powered lives of loving response is "sanctification."

United Methodists didn't invent the following, but we also tend to be pretty fierce about inclusiveness: regarding men and women as equally gifted and called by God for a variety of ministries, and holding all persons, regardless of age, class, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation as individuals of sacred worth.

We respect others' faith traditions. We do not ascribe to a narrowly defined creed. In the spirit of our founder, John Wesley, we "think and let think," understanding that no single belief system can adequately express or fully comprehend the totality of God. United Methodism is proud to be a diverse community of people with diverse beliefs.

For more info about the United Methodist Church, visit the national website: www.unitedmethodist.org

How long has Westlake United Methodist Church been around?

Westlake United Methodist Church was established in 1825. The rich history of the Church has helped define who we are as a congregation. Visit our History page to find out more about our church's 180 plus year journey to the present.