What's a Wesleyan

Every church group has its "distinctives"; the practices or beliefs that set it apart from other groups. Sometimes this is confusing to people. They say, "If the Bible is true and Jesus was who he claimed to be, why are there so many different types of churches?"

While some would call this division, in most cases it is more accurately labeled diversity. We believe that when you step back and look at the Christian church as a whole, you get a fuller, clearer picture of the depth and breadth of what the Bible calls 'the Body of Christ'.

We are even optimistic enough to believe that with all this diversity in belief and practice, most churches still agree on 90-95% of Christian teaching, and the other 5-10% we do not agree on falls in this category of distinctives.

WORD OF HOPE is part of the Wesleyan denomination, but we share many things in common with other believers. So, what in the world is a Wesleyan?

• Like the Lutherans, we believe in salvation by faith alone, as a gift of God's grace alone, through Jesus Christ alone, and on the authority of Scripture alone.
• Like Catholics, we believe in the seriousness of sin and in the need of a Savior.
• Like the Anglicans, we believe in the power of preaching the Word of God to bring about God's healing and hope in people's lives.
• Like the Baptists, we believe in calling people to turn to God wholeheartedly (repentance) and to make known their new life in Christ through public baptism.
• Like the Pentecostals or Charismatics, we believe that God's Spirit in those who love and trust him brings new life, and power for living it.
• Like the pietistic groups, such as Mennonites or Quakers, we believe in living a careful life that testifies to the watching world that we belong to the family of God.
• Like the Methodists, we grew out of John Wesley's revival movement in the 1700's and 1800's and identify with Wesley's emphasis on honoring God through holiness.

The Wesleyan Church is orthodox in belief, adhering to orthodox positions regarding the nature of God, Christ, the Trinity, and Christ's birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return.

We are confident in the Bible as our written source for spiritual guidance. We believe that personal faith in Christ is our only hope for salvation. We look to Christ and his Word for our example for life. And we believe that we need each other for effective spiritual growth, encouragement and maturity in our daily Christian walk. For more information about The Wesleyan denomination, click here.

At the core, we are a warm and friendly group of people who try, with God's help, to live the kind of life that brings honor to Him. We look to the Bible as our primary source of direction in our worship and lifestyle.

We are life-centered in our teaching and sensitive to the needs and concerns of others. We give people the opportunity to put their faith into practice through any number of avenues of service. We are honored to take our place among the many who are called Christians. We laugh and cry together, rejoice and grieve together, grow together and walk in faith together. We aim to be a family for all.

There is room for you at WORD OF HOPE!

To learn more about John Wesley, click here