Messiah Church is a Christian community rooted in the love found in the life of Jesus where everyone is welcome to be one’s authentic self. We seek to provide a safe space to listen, learn, and love. We celebrate the diversity found in our community and our world, such as age, physical or mental ability, economic status, education, ethnicity, faith background, family status, gender identity, immigration status, marital status, nationality, political affiliation, race, and sexual orientation.
[The LORD] has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you:
to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.
– Micah 6:8 CEB
If we are to love and serve God with our whole hearts, we will work to eradicate injustice toward our neighbors. Let Messiah Church be the place where we can show that everyone is welcome here. We lament that not all people have found love and respect within the Christian community. All people are God’s people, created in the image of God and worthy of being loved.
“I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other.
This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples when you love each other.”
– John 13:34-35 CEB
We believe in the vision of John Wesley that we can love alike, although we may not think alike.
These three general rules that John Wesley established serve as our guiding principles in the work of inclusion. For persons who identify as LGBTQIA+, sexual orientation and gender identity will never disqualify anyone from any activity at Messiah Church. We will honor and celebrate the wedding of any couple who seek to commit their lives to one another in marriage. All marriage ceremonies are performed at the discretion of the pastors.
We stand for Racial Justice. Our church community has not yet become the fully inclusive reflection of God’s kingdom that we yearn to be. We will continue to be intentional in our efforts to include people of color at every level of our leadership and staff and within our congregation. We will continue to work alongside community partners until our community looks like the peaceable vision Jesus referred to as the Kingdom of God.
Our focus is to love and serve God with our whole hearts. This is a living document in that we are committed to continue to learn, adapt, and grow in our understanding of inclusion and justice so that all feel welcome at Messiah Church.
