Gainesville UMC is part of the United Methodist denomination and as part of our beliefs,
we hold to the historic essentials of the Christian faith.
We believe in a God who exists in the persons of the
Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the primacy of the Scriptures, as contained in
both the Old and New Testaments. We hold the Bible to be the divinely-inspired
words of God. We go to Scripture first in search of answers and inspiration.
Holding Scripture as primary, we also believe in using reason, experience, and
tradition to better understand how we can live fully into the teaching of our
faithful God.
We believe that God has made his grace available to all of us and there is nothing we have done or can do to earn that grace, it is offered freely to us through the blood, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God's grace exists before we are even aware of it, goes before us always, justifies us back to God through salvation, and continues to work in us and leads us onto perfection in Christian love.
We believe in two sacraments, those of Baptism and Holy Communion. We believe these to be the two acts ordained by Christ for us to continue to follow as the church.
We believe water baptism, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is a
sacrament to be observed by the Church today, a means by which we experience
God’s grace tangibly, though not a requisite to salvation. Baptism is available to persons of all ages, from birth throughout life, and because God's grace is an action of God that is valid once and for all, baptism is an act that does not need to be repeated.
Holy Communion is another way we can experience God's grace in tangible means, through the bread and cup at Christ's table. We believe that God's grace is available to all and therefore all are welcome at the table. We currently offer communion weekly at our Wednesday evening service and at our Revive House Church gatherings, and monthly at our Sunday morning services.