All Are Welcome
We believe in a God of love and grace who welcomes ALL people. Every person matters to God so every person matters to us. We respect our diversity of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical and mental ability, family structure, marital status, socioeconomic status, education, political perspective, faith history and live experience. Everyone is welcome here.
We Are United Methodists
Salem is part of the United Methodist denomination, and we uphold our heritage by pursuing ministry in keeping with this tradition. We seek to be generous, kind, open-minded, devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We believe that faith and intellect go hand in hand. We strive for personal holiness by inviting people into a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ through worship, study, and small group interaction. We simultaneously pursue social holiness through service at home and abroad. We discuss the key issues of our time through the lens of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.
United Methodists share a common heritage with other Christians which focuses on the essentials of the Christian faith. We have a passionate faith with strong convictions, but we also recognize that the world is not always black and white. We are willing to ask questions, to wrestle with difficult issues, and to do so with grace and compassion. We are “people of the Book,” whose faith is firmly rooted in and built upon the scriptures but also values tradition, reason and experience in interpreting those scriptures. When we encounter theological differences, we bear in mind John Wesley’s approach, “in essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
We believe the goal of the Christian life is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.