What We Believe
The basic tenants of our beliefs at Wesley come from the Tradition of the Church through the Apostle's Creed and the United Methodist Church.
We are a faith community passionate spiritual growth, inclusivity, leadership development, mission, and outreach. Our mission is to Love Out Loud on the Virginia Tech campus to make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world**.
Our Values
Spiritual Growth
We desire to grow in our faith. We do this through Worship, Discipleship, Fellowship, and Mission.
Love
We believe that love is the heart of the Christian life. Our love of God, neighbor, and ourselves is central to being a follower of Jesus.
Grace
People matter to us, regardless of identity, relationship with God, or anything else. We believe everyone is worthy and accepted by God and us.
Community
We place an emphasis on community, and see it as the backbone of our ministry. Community is essential to the individual.
Love Out Loud
We believe that in being a part of God's creation we are called to "Love Out Loud" in all that we do in order to bring about the Kingdom of God here on earth. This means that we are called to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind...and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22: 37-39)
We understand that not everyone is the same; we have different understandings of faith, different backgrounds, different ways of living our life of faith, and in different places on our faith journey. However, we love that our God does create each of us in God's image...unique and wonderful...and that is a precious gift that we should celebrate! Therefore, ALL ARE WELCOME! (Genesis 1: 26-28, John 17, Ephesians 4: 1-6)
We believe that God never turns His back on His people! (John 3: 16) We understand God's grace as the love and mercy given to us by God because He wants us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it. (Ephesians 2: 8-9) This grace is active in our lives even before we are born, it brings us into relationship with God and enables us to grow in our love of God and neighbor.
We understand that God wants us to be in relationship with Him and others (Genesis 2: 18-25). This life of faith is not to be done alone, but in community with others.
We desire to put Jesus at the heart of all that we do! Understanding that Jesus lived his life in ministry to the marginalized, oppressed, forsaken, poor, and broken, we understand our call to live our lives in the same way.
Therefore, we believe that personal and social holiness are not mutually exclusive. We believe that mission is our call to be with others to share God's love. For Wesley, there was no religion but social religion, no holiness but social holiness. In other words, faith always includes a social dimension. One cannot be a solitary Christian. As we grow in faith through our participation in the church community, we are also nourished and equipped for mission and service to the world.
We believe that the holy spirit enables us to live out this mission through the use of our personal and God given gifts (Romans, Ephesians, 1 Corinthians 12).
Scripture
We believe that scripture is primary and authoritative.
Scripture is the unique testimony to God’s self-disclosure in the life of Israel; in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ; and in the Spirit’s work in the early church.
We understand that the tradition of the Church and our own reason and experience are lenses through which we read scripture. Therefore, the beauty and power of scripture is that it can speak to so many people, on so many different levels, in so many different ways, and in so many different understandings.
Sacraments
We believe that communion and baptism are two very important ways to experience God's grace. These sacraments shape the life of the Body of Christ in ways that are transformative.
Baptism: We believe in one baptism that it is neither essential to nor sufficient for salvation, but it is the “ordinary means” that God designated for applying the benefits of the work of Christ in our lives. We believe that through baptism we are joined with the Church and Christians everywhere. It is a symbol of new life and a sign of God's love and forgiveness of our sins. We believe that persons of any age can be baptized, by sprinkling, immersion, or pouring.
Communion: We believe in an open table! It is Christ's table; not the United Methodist table, not Wesley's table, and not a table that is exclusive. We understand this meal of bread and wine to symbolize the body and blood of Christ and that Christ is truly present in this meal. The Lord's Supper recalls the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and celebrates the unity of all the members of God's family. By sharing this meal, we give thanks for Christ's sacrifice and are nourished and empowered to go into the world in mission and ministry.