About
- Hear messages that will be your source of weekly encouragement;
- Enjoy and be blessed with inspirational hymns and praise songs;
- Entrust your kids to the faithful care of our Sunday School staff;
- Connect with others through our various community-life small-groups;
- Experience joy in the missional events where we share and serve together;
- Be welcomed by a loving community that upholds the mantra, “all means all.”
We the people of Fairwood Community United Methodist Church regard the love of God to be the foundation of our life and ministry. We believe in the ever-present love of God as witnessed through Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. We believe that each person is loved by God and is of sacred worth.
Therefore, by God’s grace:
We welcome and affirm all persons to our Church without regard to gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, theological perspective, political affiliation, or other means people use to categorize and discriminate against others.
We express God’s hospitality by creating a safe, healing and transforming place for all to enter. We celebrate the gifts of all who come seeking God, Christian community and justice in our world, and we welcome all into the life and ministry of our Church. We recognize the interrelatedness of all creation and we declare that we grow in grace and in the knowledge of God when we embrace diversity.
We uphold the motto of our denomination – Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.
The mission of Fairwood Community United Methodist Church is to build community through Christian faith, fellowship, service and social justice where all belong.
We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the Coast Salish, Duwamish, Muckleshoot and Stillaguamish Peoples past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. This calls us to commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit as well.
Social Justice
As people of faith called United Methodists, we are practitioners of peace while actively resisting acts of evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves. We seek intersectional justice for LGBTQIA+ and all marginalized people. We seek to recognize the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, and address those combined experiences, not just one factor at a time.
At Fairwood, our mission includes building community through social justice. Therefore, without supporting or opposing any particular political candidate or party, our faith calls us to take action to oppose empire, inequality, and violence.
Communion
We believe in regular participation in Holy Communion. It is also called The Lord’s Supper or Eucharist (the biblical Greek word for Thanksgiving). We believe that the spiritual presence of our Lord Jesus Christ is experienced in the sacrament of Holy Communion. The bread represents the body of Jesus, broken for humanity. We offer a gluten free alternative to the bread. The”wine” (we use grape juice to allow for the participation of all, including children and those avoiding alcohol) represents the blood of Christ shed for the forgiveness of sins. The liturgy of the sacrament of Holy Communion recalls the entire gospel story, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Holy Communion celebrates the unity of all the members of God’s family in heaven and earth.
Baptism
For United Methodists, baptism is the sacrament of belonging, of initiation that joins us with the Church of Jesus Christ and with Christians everywhere. It is a symbol of the new life in Christ and the promise of God’s saving love. By this act we acknowledge our entrance into the family of God. We baptize persons of any age, infants through adults. We believe a person should only be baptized once, but that rededication and renewal of baptismal vows is always to be encouraged. United Methodists may be baptized by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion.
Marriage
Christian marriage in The United Methodist Church is for those who choose to enter into “a sacred covenant reflecting the Baptismal Covenant”, and more specifically “a sacred covenant reflecting Christ’s covenant with the church” rather than a sacrament. Fairwood Community United Methodist Church affirms that Christian marriage is a sacred, lifelong covenant that brings any two adult persons of faith and consenting age, into union with one another, regardless of gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. A service of Christian marriage is a celebration of love, but not simply the romantic love of the couple. It also celebrates the love of God for us, and the love Jesus calls us as Christians to share with the world. Please contact Pastor Ferdie or Pastor Cathy.
Rite of Renaming
Through baptism we highlight the interconnectedness of believers and our shared journey of faith. At Fairwood, together in community, we honor new beginnings and new chosen names through the grace of God. So, we now offer a Rite of Renaming to anyone interested. The liturgy may be conducted in worship service or in private, and there is no fee. The full text of the liturgy is available Rite of Renaming.pdf. If you are interested or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Ferdie or Pastor Cathy.
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