Our Beliefs

A Wesleyan Community for the City

What is a Wesleyan Community? 

When we call ourselves a Wesleyan community, we are defining the core beliefs and practices that center us in the rich legacies of John and Charles Wesley. The Wesley brothers birthed the Methodist movement in the early 18th century at Oxford College through their deep conviction “to reform the nation and, in particular, the Church; to spread scriptural holiness over the land”. This driving conviction paired with their organizational excellence created the Wesleyan or Methodist movement and became one of the greatest missionary forces the world had ever seen. 

New Covenant Church is a continuation of that legacy.

Core Beliefs and Practices of the Wesleyan Way

BASIC AFFIRMATIONS OF CLASSIC HISTORICAL BELIEFS

  • The Trinity and God’s activity in the World – The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existed before the world began and is active in creation.  God in the Trinity continues to work. 

  • We believe in the mystery of salvation in and through the person and work of Jesus. At the heart of the Gospel of Salvation is God’s incarnation in Jesus. 

  • We believe that God’s redemptive love is manifest in humankind through the activity of the Holy Spirit both individually and communally. 

  • We believe we are a part of the Body of Christ – the Church—through baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit who transforms us. 

  • We recognize the reign of God in both present and future reality. 

DISTINCTIVE WESEYAN BELIEFS

  • We believe salvation is a personal decision made within the life of the church. 

  • That grace is available to all persons and that grace is experienced in three distinct ways; Prevenient—the grace that goes before, Justifying— grace that saves, Sanctifying—grace that enables holiness of heart and life. 

  • We affirm the historic doctrine of original sin and the absolute inability of humans to save themselves through good works. John Wesley emphasized the Apostle Paul’s exhortations, as found in Romans and Galatians, of law & Gospel and sin & justification insisting that the grace of God is freely available to all who would hear, repent, and believe. 

  • An important Wesleyan Distinction is the role of free will in response to the teachings of the Reformed theology of election, predestination, and irresistible grace. 

  • Our understanding of free will and salvation originates from the activity of prevenient grace where God calls every person to repentance but does not trample an individual’s moral freedom to choose. 

  • We believe that salvation and justification come through faith in Christ alone, not through our works.

  • John Wesley believed there are only three things needed for salvation: 

    • The infinite grace of God; 

    • Satisfaction of God’s righteous judgment of sin based on the sacrificial, atoning death of Jesus; 

    • A personal faith in the merits of Jesus Christ – not simply an intellectual assent, but a heartfelt trust in Christ's forgiveness and confidence that God saves all who believe.

WE BELIEVE IN THE DOCTRINE OF HOLINESS

  • Grounded in the command of Lev. 19:2 and Jesus' command in Matthew 5:48, we believe that we are called to “be holy as God is holy”.  

  • We believe that genuine faith produces inward and outward holiness or the holiness of heart and life.  Holiness bears the fruit of an individual’s transformed life and moral character lived out in the community. 

  • Holiness is not our starting point. Grace is. Holiness has to do with maturing in character and growth in the love of God. 

  • We are all called to be moving on to perfection. John Wesley viewed Christian holiness Biblically as a linear move forward, yet always aware of our bent to sinning, or the root of sin in the individual.  This is why we are always “moving on to perfection.” 

For a more robust statement of faith follow the button below.