Bruen Chapel is a congregation of the United Methodist Church, a global connection of Christian churches in mission that has its roots in the Church of England of the late 1700s and a revival movement led by John and Charles Wesley. Our core Christian beliefs are rooted in scripture and expressed in affirmations of faith like the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, hymns, sacramental rituals, and prayers.
United Methodist beliefs reflect a number of traditional Wesleyan emphases that date back to the teachings of the Wesley brothers. These include:
- the importance of a warm and deeply felt spirituality (personal piety)
- a concern for a just and fair society (a social faith)
- a balance between a reasoned faith and an enthusiastic one
- God’s gracious love for everyone on earth that precedes all response to God’s love (prevenient grace)
- a grace that enables us to be right with God even though we may not deserve it (justifying grace).
God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, accepts us through justifying grace and grants us His provisions based on our need for God’s mercies rather than our merit. As spiritual heirs of John Wesley, United Methodists also believe that God’s sanctifying grace works within us and through all creation to renew, revitalize, and move us and all things toward perfection. United Methodists are famous, too, for a “method” for faithful living—a disciplined life of prayer and devotion, good stewardship of personal gifts and resources, generous giving, and showing mercy and kindness to others in Jesus’ name. We take the Bible seriously—but not literally—and see it as a guide for Christian beliefs and living in this world. (You find lovers of science and social and political conservatives, moderates, and liberals among us for this reason.)
In Jesus’s gracious life and teaching, sacrificial death, and victory over death in resurrection, we are given a revelation of God’s gracious, loving, just, and supremely good nature and a wonderful example of human loving for us to follow. As we at Bruen Chapel seek to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, we believe in reflecting God’s love and will in our daily lives by serving others in our church family, our community, and the world.
For a more detailed explanations of traditional Wesleyan emphases or contemporary trends in United Methodist belief and practice, check out our denominational website. It is a valuable repository of all sorts of information about United Methodism and its current missions and activities.