What we believeWe Believe in the Triune God, the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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Our HistoryThe Community United Methodist Church of Cumberland County in Pennsylvania initially separated from its parent church, Trinity Church New Cumberland in 1925. It became incorporated as the Community Evangelical United Brethren Church in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on July 7, 1925 as an affiliate subsidiary of the Evangelical United Brethren Christ Church. The Community United Methodist Church (CUMC) adopted its new name as a result of the merger with the United Methodist Church. The new corporation document was filed on April 29, 1969 with the Corporate Bureau, Department of State, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. CUMC was anointed with the word community as its mission to reach out in the new Cumberland area, as it continues today. We continue to open our doors for worship and support community initiatives and groups. |
oUR ROOTSOur United Methodist heritage is rooted in a deep and profound understanding of God’s grace. This incredible grace flows from God’s great love for us. Grace can be defined as the love and mercy God gives us because God wants us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it. We read in Ephesians 2:8-9 (NRSV), “For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” In Living Our Beliefs: The United Methodist Way by Bishop Kenneth L. Carder, we read, “Grace is God’s presence and power to create, heal, forgive, reconcile, and transform persons, communities, nations, and the entire cosmos. Where God is present there is grace, God’s power to renew and transform.” John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, described God’s grace as threefold: prevenient, justifying and sanctifying. The Book of Discipline (Paragraph 102) states, “Although Wesley shared with many other Christians a belief in grace, justification, assurance, and sanctification, he combined them in a powerful manner to create distinctive emphases for living the full Christian life.” |
Christian LifeChristian life is a growth in knowledge, facilitated through the Word of God. Mastery of the Bible and theology, while remaining a humble servant are the first elements in spiritual development. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’ ” (Isaiah 55:8–9). Christian life is an increasing awareness of the presence of God and a releasing of His divine power inside of you. It is manifested through deep spiritual experiences and/or transcendent encounter with the living God, changing our hearts forever. I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. (Ezek 11:19-20) The act of doing the outward expression of God’s love, compassion, and mercy, particularly in service, evangelism (spreading the Gospel “The Good News”), and mercy. Christian growth is most evident not by what we believes or feels, but in actions. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your?” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (Jas 2:14-17) |