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Foundry's mission is based on its statement of call to deepen faith through transcendent worship and challenging study, to create engaged community through inclusiveness and caring, and to transform the world through active service and prophetic leadership.
Foundry is a historic, progressive United Methodist Church that welcomes all, worships passionately, challenges the status quo, and seeks to transform the world through God’s love. Drawing upon long-established rituals and spiritualities, we aim to be innovative in our efforts to be a place of positive change within Christianity, within our denomination, within ourselves, and in the world.
Love the Lord your God with your passion, prayer, intelligence and energy, AND love others as you love yourself.
Everything we do begins with Christ. We remember how he ministered to the poor, fed the hungry, healed the sick, befriended sinners, welcomed the shunned, and sacrificed himself to save us. He rose from the dead and gives us hope.
Our close proximity to power gives us the chance to speak for the powerless. We are mindful that prophets examine themselves closely before sharing their message with the world.
We remember the second of Christ’s greatest commandments is to love each other. We make personal commitments to working with people in our neighborhood and around the world.
We are intellectually honest and curious. We view science, scholarship, and other religious traditions as tools to discover the wonder of God’s Word and creation.
We sing, pray, and study with passion, intellect, and energy. We are an Easter people, and we are glad.
We believe all people are children of God, and we treat them that way.
We make especially sure that people who feel excluded elsewhere are welcomed and invited to be an integral part of our congregation.
God blesses us with time, talent, money, opportunity and the Earth we now call home. We strive to be responsible stewards of God’s great bounty.
We work to dismantle white supremacy, rectify systemic racial inequities and injustices, and commit to intersectional approaches in our anti-racist work. We are a beloved, diverse and inclusive community where all of God's children can bring their full selves.
We challenge our UMC community to build awareness of and a capacity to confront racial
injustices and inequities. Foundry recognizes that centuries of structural racism have
created systems of white privilege and white supremacy in this country. We also recognize
that Foundry, through its history, has contributed to the exclusion and oppression of people
of color and that our church has often failed to champion racial justice, equity, and
inclusion. We participate in, and move toward the Beloved Community* by doing the hard work
of understanding and taking specific and assertive action to dismantle these systems.
Foundry commits to ongoing confession and atonement fully reflective of the community of
God.
We challenge ourselves and each other to build awareness and a capacity to confront racial
injustices and inequities. We will use our time, talents, gifts, and voices to effect
meaningful change.
*Beloved community: a community in which everyone is cared for, absent of poverty, hunger,
and hate. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. popularized the term during his lifetime of activism
and imbued it with new meaning, fueled by his faith that such a community was, in fact,
possible. But he always acknowledged that realizing his vision would involve systems of law,
education, infrastructure, health care, and municipal reform — no one sector, much less one
person, could create it in isolation. (Harvard Graduate School of Education)
As approved by LGBTQ Advocacy Team, 5/16/17
Foundry United Methodist Church strives to be an inclusive congregation committed to the
reconciliation of all people to
God and to one another through Jesus Christ. We believe the Holy Spirit dwells in all, and
we invite all people to share
our faith, our community life and our ministries. We celebrate diversity; whether you
identify as lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, straight, queer or any other identity, we affirm you and we believe
God does the same. To all,
regardless of age, race, color, ethnicity, immigration status, gender identity, sexual
orientation, marital status,
economic condition, or physical or mental ability, we proclaim: God loves you, and we love
you. We welcome you, and we
invite you to join us on our shared journey.
To be an intentional covenant community that:
The Methodist branch of Protestantism traces its roots back to 1739 where it developed
in England as a result of the teachings of John Wesley. While studying at Oxford,
Wesley, his brother Charles, and several other students formed a group devoted to study,
prayer and helping the needy. They were labeled “Methodist” because of the way they used
“rule” and “method” to go about their religious affairs.
Of the 11 million worldwide members, more than 8 million live in the United States, and
more than 2.4 million live in Africa, Asia and Europe.
The United Methodist Church is organized in a heirarchical system with the highest level
being the General Conference (GC). The GC is the only organization that can officially
speak for the United Methodist Church. Beneath the GC are Jurisdictional and Central
Conferences, composed of Annual Conferences. Annual Conferences are further divided into
Districts.
The Bible, the Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, the Twenty-five
Articles of Religion.
John Wesley founded the Methodist religion with the primary motivation and ultimate goal
of devout godliness. Today United Methodist beliefs are similar to many mainline
Protestant denominations, with more liberal or tolerant views with respect to race,
gender, and ideology.
The Methodist branch of protestant religion traces its roots back to 1739 where it
developed in England as a result of the teachings of John Wesley. Wesley’s three basic
precepts that began the Methodist tradition consisted of:
Shun evil and avoid partaking in wicked deeds at all costs, Perform kind acts as much as
possible, and Abide by the edicts of God the Almighty Father.
God is all-knowing, possesses infinite love and goodness, is all-powerful, and the
creator of all things.
God has always existed and will always continue to exist.
God is three persons in one, the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit.
God is the master of all creation and humans are meant to live in a holy covenant with
him. Humans have broken this covenant by their sins, and can only be forgiven if they
truly have faith in the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was God on Earth (conceived of a virgin), in the form of a man who was crucified
for the sins of all people, and who was physically resurrected to bring them the hope of
eternal life.
The grace of God is seen by people through the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives
and in their world.
Close adherence to the teachings of Scripture is essential to the faith because
Scripture is the Word of God.
Christians are part of a universal church and must work with all Christians to spread
the love of God.
Baptism is a sacrament or ceremony in which a person is anointed with water to symbolize
being brought into the community of faith.
Communion is a sacrament in which participants eat bread and drink juice to show that
they continue to take part in Christ’s redeeming resurrection by symbolically taking
part in His body (the bread) and blood (the juice).
Wesley taught his followers that Baptism and Communion are not only sacraments, but also
sacrifices to God.
People can only be saved through faith in Jesus Christ, not by any other acts of
redemption such as good deeds.
The most fundamental distinction of Methodist teaching is that people must use logic and
reasonin all matters of faith.
Also important is the acknowledgment of “prevenient,” “justifying,” and “sanctifying”
graces. It is taught that people are blessed with these graces at different times
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Prevenient grace is present before they are saved from the error of their ways.
Justifying grace is given at the time of their repentance and forgiveness by God.
And sanctifying grace is received when they have finally been saved from their sins and
the sins of the world.
And lastly, the Methodist Church puts a great emphasis on missionary work and other
forms of spreading the Word of God and His love to others.
