What We Believe
Rooted in Christ and Growing in Grace
At Franklin United Methodist Church, our faith is centered on Jesus Christ and grounded in the love and grace of God.
We believe faith is more than something we profess on Sunday. It shapes how we live, how we treat one another, and how we serve the world around us. As United Methodists, we seek to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ and help transform the world through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Our Christian Faith
We share the historic beliefs of Christians throughout the world.
We believe in one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who created us, loves us, and calls us into relationship with God and one another.
We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, fully divine and fully human. Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus reveals God’s love, offers forgiveness and salvation, and invites us into new life.
We believe the Holy Spirit is present and active in the world, guiding, comforting, transforming, and empowering us to follow Christ.
We affirm the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed as historic expressions of the Christian faith.
The Bible
We believe the Bible is the primary source and foundation for Christian belief and faithful living. Through Scripture, we encounter the story of God’s relationship with humanity and the good news of Jesus Christ.
As United Methodists, we study Scripture prayerfully and thoughtfully. Following our Wesleyan tradition, we seek understanding through the combined guidance of:
Scripture, our primary source and standard
Christian tradition, the wisdom and witness of the Church through the centuries
Experience, including the ways we encounter God’s grace in our lives and communities
Reason, which helps us reflect, ask questions, and connect our faith with what we know about the world
We believe sincere questions and thoughtful conversation can help us grow in faith.
Grace at the Heart of Our Faith
Grace is central to the United Methodist understanding of God.
Grace is God’s freely given and undeserved love. It reaches for us before we recognize it, forgives and restores us when we turn toward God, and continues working within us throughout our lives.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, described God’s grace in three important ways:
Prevenient grace surrounds us before we are aware of God and draws us toward faith.
Justifying grace brings forgiveness and restores our relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Sanctifying grace continues transforming us so that we grow in love, holiness, and Christlike living.
We do not believe people must become perfect before coming to God. God meets us where we are and, through grace, helps us become the people we were created to be.
Salvation and New Life
We believe salvation is God’s gift, offered through Jesus Christ and received by grace through faith.
Salvation includes forgiveness, reconciliation with God, freedom from the power of sin, and the beginning of a transformed life. It is both a personal relationship with God and a lifelong journey of growing as a disciple of Christ.
Our response to God’s grace is expressed through worship, prayer, studying Scripture, receiving Communion, serving others, pursuing justice, and practicing love in our daily lives.
Baptism and Holy Communion
The United Methodist Church recognizes two sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ: Baptism and Holy Communion.
Baptism
Baptism is a sign of God’s grace and our entrance into the community of faith. United Methodists baptize infants, children, youth, and adults.
We recognize baptisms performed in other Christian traditions and do not require a person to be baptized again.
Holy Communion
In Holy Communion, also called the Lord’s Supper, we remember and experience the grace of Jesus Christ through bread and the cup.
The United Methodist Church practices an open table. You do not need to be a member of Franklin—or of any particular denomination—to receive Communion. All who love Christ, earnestly seek him, or desire to grow in relationship with him are welcome at the table.
At Franklin, we ordinarily celebrate Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month.
Faith Expressed Through Love
John Wesley taught that faith should be visible in the way Christians love God and care for their neighbors.
We grow in our love for God through worship, prayer, Scripture, Communion, and Christian fellowship. We express our love for our neighbors through compassion, service, generosity, advocacy, and the pursuit of justice.
Personal faith and social responsibility belong together. Because every person is created in the image of God, we seek to honor the dignity and sacred worth of all people.
Connected in Ministry
Franklin is part of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church, a connection of local congregations serving throughout Maryland, Washington, D.C., and portions of West Virginia.
Being United Methodist means we do not serve alone. We share in ministry with churches and people around the world, combining our prayers, gifts, service, and resources to accomplish more together than any one congregation could accomplish on its own.
Together, we participate in the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Loving Serving and Leading
As United Methodists empowered by the Holy Spirit, we seek to:
Love boldly by loving God and embracing people of every age, nation, race, gender, and walk of life.
Serve joyfully by offering care, compassion, hope, and partnership to our neighbors.
Lead courageously by working for peace, justice, reconciliation, and the dismantling of oppression.
The Baltimore-Washington Conference expresses this transforming vision simply: Transformed lives transform lives.
Come Grow With Us
You do not need to have every answer—or agree on every question—to begin exploring faith at Franklin.
We invite you to worship with us, study with us, serve alongside us, and discover how God’s grace can transform our lives and our community.
There is room here for faith, questions, growth, and service.