Hastings First United Methodist Church Information

We are an open church that welcomes differences and celebrates diversity. Our unity is not in the uniformity of our opinions but rather in the mutuality of our concerns. We, as our founder John Wesley once said, "Think and let think". People here may hold very different opinions on a particular issue affecting our church life, but we try to be respectful of each other and we know that WHAT we believe matters to each of us but it is WHO we believe in that holds us together and gives us our strength and reason for living. We hold to The Wesley Quadrilateral in forming our faith. Scripture, Reason, Tradition, and Experience are all needed to make responsible decisions and to form our own beliefs and values. The United Methodist Church is a global church, and we support missions all over the world: orphanages in Nigeria, colleges in Africa, new churches and pastors in China and the former Soviet Union, an emergency relief organization that may well be the best in the world, hospitals, rural and city missions in every country, just name a few. The United Methodist Church tries to be that church that balances personal piety (that each of us has that personal relationship with the Lord) AND social responsibility (we are caring for the most vulnerable people in the world, the lost, the broken, the hurting, and the victims of injustice everywhere). We are people who are sometimes accused (by some who misunderstand us) as doing "works righteousness". That is not us, but we do understand that our faith is something that Jesus calls us to live out into the world. It makes no sense to say you love Jesus and then do nothing about the ills of the world.