Core Values
Every member at Wylie UMC is to know these values and to live them
out. Everyone who commits to these values will worship, grow, pray,
serve and give in such a way that makes these values a reality.
FOUNDATION
Christ-Centered
We are
God’s people and members of His household, built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ
as our cornerstone. Ephesians 2:19-20
Wylie
UMC exists to honor, glorify and serve Jesus Christ. In all that
we do, we seek to lift up Jesus Christ as the savior and hope of
the world. Our profession of faith in Jesus Christ is the one,
common bond among our church and the rock of our faith.
Rooted
in Scripture
Your
word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm
119:105
Bible
teaching permeates every program of Wylie UMC. We seek to live
out the scriptures in our lives because the Bible is God’s
Word for what we believe and do.
Informed
by Tradition, Experience and Reason
Scripture
is primary, revealing the Word of God “so far as
it is necessary for our salvation.” Scripture is the primary
source and criterion for Christian doctrine. Through Scripture the
living Christ meets us in the experience of redeeming grace. Yet,
United Methodist are informed by tradition, experience, and reason.
Tradition
Scripture
remains the norm by which all traditions are judged. Yet,
the story of the church reflects the most basic sense of tradition,
the continuing activity of God's Spirit transforming human life.
Tradition is the history of that continuing environment of grace
in and by which all Christians live, God's self-giving love in Jesus
Christ. As such, tradition transcends the story of particular traditions.
In this deeper sense of tradition, all Christians share a common
history.
Experience
We follow
John Wesley's practice of examining experience, both individual
and corporate, for confirmations of the realities of God's grace
attested in Scripture. Our experience interacts with Scripture.
We read Scripture in light of the conditions and events that help
shape who we are, and we interpret our experience in terms of Scripture. Experience
authenticates in our own lives the truths revealed in Scripture and
illumined in tradition, enabling us to claim the Christian witness
as our own. Christian experience gives us new eyes to see the
living truth in Scripture. It confirms the biblical message for our
present. It illumines our understanding of God and creation and motivates
us to make sensitive moral judgments.
Reason
We recognize that God's revelation and our experiences of God's
grace continually surpass the scope of human language and reason,
we also believe that any disciplined theological work calls for the
careful use of reason.
By reason:
• we read
and interpret Scripture
• we
determine whether our Christian witness is clear
• we
ask questions of faith and seek to understand God's action and
will
• we
organize the understandings that compose our witness and render
them internally coherent
• we test
the congruence of our witness to the biblical testimony and to the
traditions that mediate that testimony to us
• we relate
our witness to the full range of human knowledge, experience, and
service.
The
informing resources of tradition, experience, and reason are integral
to our study of Scripture without displacing Scripture's primacy
for faith and practice. These four sources—each making
distinctive contributions, yet all finally working together—guide
our quest as United Methodists for a vital and appropriate Christian
witness.
A
Community of Love, Joy and Hope
We will
shout for joy and lift up our banners in the name of the Lord! Psalm
20:5
We gather
in joyful worship as God’s people, loved by God
since before creation. We go forth in his joy to bring hope to a
troubled world. We want to be known in this community as a place
of God’s great love, joy and hope.
A
Community of Forgiveness
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive
us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Forgive
as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13b
We are a community who lives in the saving grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ that affords forgiveness of sin.
A
Passion for Making Disciples
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. Matthew 28:19, 20
We seek to grow disciples - believers who are learning and changing
to be more like Jesus Christ. Our church is to be a training ground
of classes, support groups, relationships and opportunities to grow
in faith and practice.
Impacting
Our World With God’s Love
This
is my commandment, that you love one another. John 15:
17
We seek
to impact and change our families, communities and this world through
the transforming power of God’s love. We value
changed lives over numerical growth and we count it a privilege to
go in love to the least, the lost, the hurting and the forgotten.
We want to embody the love of God for all people in everything we
say and do. |
