Mabelvale Methodist Church is a congregation of the Global Methodist Church. Our faith is rooted in Holy Scripture, the historic creeds of Christianity, and the Wesleyan theological tradition. The GMC's doctrinal standards currently include the historic Articles of Religion and Confession of Faith, alongside its other recognized doctrinal standards.
For those who would like to explore our beliefs more deeply, the Global Methodist Church provides its complete Book of Doctrines and Discipline and a Catechism designed for teaching and spiritual growth.
Explore the Global Methodist Church's beliefs and doctrinal resources
At Mabelvale Methodist Church, what we believe shapes how we worship, how we live, and how we love and serve others. We stand within the historic Christian faith and the Wesleyan tradition, trusting in the saving and transforming grace of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
We believe in one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the Creator and sustainer of all things. God is holy, loving, gracious, and worthy of our worship and devotion.
We believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, the Son of God who came into the world for our salvation. Through His life, death on the cross, and bodily resurrection, Christ has defeated sin and death and offers forgiveness, reconciliation, and new life to all who trust in Him.
Jesus Christ is Lord, and He alone is our Savior.
We believe the Holy Spirit is present and active in the world and in the lives of God's people. The Spirit draws us toward God, brings new life, assures us that we belong to Christ, equips us for ministry, and continues God's transforming work within us so that our lives increasingly reflect the character of Jesus.
We believe the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God and contain all things necessary for salvation. Scripture is our primary rule and authority for faith and life, and we seek to hear, understand, and faithfully live according to God's Word.
This reflects the GMC's current doctrinal foundation, which describes Holy Scripture as the Church's primary rule for faith and practice.
We believe salvation is the gift of God's grace. We cannot save ourselves or earn God's favor through our own goodness.
God's grace is at work even before we recognize it, drawing us toward Him. Through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, justified, reconciled to God, and given new life.
Salvation is not merely about what happens when we die. God's grace begins transforming how we live now.
As Methodists, we place particular emphasis on God's transforming grace and the call to holiness.
We believe God desires not only to forgive our sins but to restore us into the image of Christ. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are called to grow in love for God and neighbor and increasingly reflect the character of Jesus in every part of our lives.
This lifelong journey of grace is what Methodists have historically called sanctification.
We believe God has given His people ordinary practices through which He meets us, strengthens our faith, and forms us as disciples of Jesus.
These means of grace include prayer, searching the Scriptures, worship, Christian fellowship, fasting, Holy Communion, and works of mercy and service.
We don't practice these things to earn God's love. We practice them because God loves us and uses them to help us grow in grace.
We recognize Baptism and Holy Communion as sacraments instituted by Christ.
In Baptism, we celebrate God's gracious work and our incorporation into the community of faith. At the Lord's Table, we remember Christ's saving work and encounter His grace as we share together in the bread and the cup.
We believe the Church is the Body of Christ, called to worship God, make disciples, proclaim the gospel, care for one another, serve those in need, and bear witness to Jesus Christ in the world.
The church does not exist only for itself. We are sent into our community and beyond to share the good news of Jesus in both word and deed.
We believe Jesus Christ will come again, the dead will be raised, and God will bring His work of redemption to its fulfillment.
Because Christ has risen from the dead, Christians live with hope. Sin, suffering, evil, and death will not have the final word. Our hope rests in Jesus Christ and the promise of everlasting life with God.