WHAT WE BELIEVE

We are committed to diversity and social justice. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. We are a distinct and diverse community of Christians that come together as one church united in Spirit to love all, welcome all and seek justice for all.

We are an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ.

Our Open and Affirming Statement: 

"We declare ourselves to be open and affirming. With God's grace, we seek to be a congregation that includes all persons, embracing differences of sexual orientation, gender, marital status, age, mental and physical ability, as well as racial, ethnic, or social-economic background.  We welcome all to share in the life and leadership, ministry, and fellowship, worship, sacraments, responsibilities and blessings of participation in our congregation." .

We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother, and to whose deeds we testify:

God calls the worlds into being, creates humankind in the divine image, and sets before us the ways of life and death.

God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.

God judges all humanity and all nations by that will of righteousness declared through prophets and apostles.

In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the whole creation to its Creator.

God bestows upon us the Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.

God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at his table, to join him in his passion and victory.

God promises to all who trust in the gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no end.

Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto God.

Amen.

Q: Is Bethel a Bible-based church?

A: While we are people grounded in a faith that is 2000 years old, we are always searching for new ways of understanding and interpreting scripture in light of 21st century experience and knowledge. We take the Bible seriously but not necessarily literally. In our tradition, we take it so seriously that we take the time to study the social and historical context in which it was written. So you will hear us talk about the history of the Jewish and Christian people, as well as the work of modern scholars. We believe that God intentionally planted the word in the middle of history and culture, and therefore that background is part of the story we need to learn. We believe that the Bible is God’s own holy word passed down to us through fallible human beings.

We believe in the Bible so much that we think it deserves our best questions. We believe that the Bible is the opening of a conversation in which God is still speaking. We do not think the Bible will shrivel up and die because we dare to question why it says what it does. We believe that the Bible has withstood similar questions for thousands of years and that in asking the questions together, in communities of faith, over time, we are part of a life-changing conversation that will go on forever.

We honor the word so highly that we do not take one phrase out of context and fling it around. We do not use phrases as stand-alone weapons to  prove our point or to injure another person. Rather, we read the phrase as it has been nested in the text. We read the story around it.

Q: I don't feel that I fit in at most Christian churches that I visit.  It is not that I don't believe in God or Christ and all that, but I am pretty sure that I don't believe in exactly the same way that they all say they do. There is an odd way of talking that goes on in these churches and I continually feel that I am being "tested" to determine whether or not I believe the "right" way and I worry that one day I will be "found out" and someone will try to "save" me. What can I expect at Bethel?
 

A: Bethel is an open kind of place where you are free to believe what you believe and think what you think and everyone else is free to do so as well.

Now, this doesn't mean that individually our members aren't concerned with beliefs or are wishy-washy. Indeed, just the opposite: for us, belief is too personal and important for it to be the type of thing that we could ever hope to all be in agreement about. As such, we talk about beliefs in ways that challenge each others thinking, but ultimately, the right interpretation is between you and God.

Q: My partner and I have attended other churches only to be prayed over and condemned for our sexual orientation. Will we be "welcomed" at Bethel, as in merely tolerated, or truly welcomed?

A: As a denomination, the UCC has been at the forefront of being Open and Affirming (ONA) to the LGBT community. What this means is that all people welcome in the FULL life and ministry of a UCC Church.

Bethel UCC Ontario is an Open and Affirming Congregation. 

Our Open and Affirming Statement is :

"We declare ourselves to be open  and affirming. With God's grace, we seek to be a congregation that  includes all persons, embracing differences of sexual orientation,  gender, marital status, age, mental and physical ability, as well as  racial, ethnic, or social-economic background.  We welcome all to share  in the life and leadership, ministry, and fellowship, worship,  sacraments, responsibilities and blessings of participation in our  congregation."

Click the button below and check out a video  ("Declaring the Sanctity of Life and the Dignity of All") for more about this!