About Us
Opened in 1895, we have been a presence in the Hemet community sharing a message of hope and shedding light on the redemptive power in the love of God. We are a christian church with activities for all ages Worship and Music Ministry, Women’s, Men’s, Youth and Children’s Ministries. Preschool & Kindergarten Academy. After School Tutoring and Sports Programs.
We Believe
United Methodists are part of the larger Christian faith and affirm all of the historic beliefs of the faith as articulated in the historic creeds of the church. We affirm the God of Israel who has been decisively revealed in Jesus of Nazareth and continues to be present and at work in our lives in the form of the Holy Spirit. This understanding of God is known as the Trinity. We believe that God has been revealed through the Bible, and especially through the witness of the New Testament.
These core Christian beliefs were laid out in the Articles of Religion and in an alternate form of the Articles known as the Confession of Faith. Both of these are contained in the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church and are accepted as doctrinal standards.
There are no additional beliefs that are needed in order to be Methodist. However, Methodists have a proud and unique heritage within the larger Christian family. And there are some things we tend to emphasize. These emphases arise out of our origins historically, the unique personality of John Wesley, and later historic developments.
John Wesley
The founder of the Methodist movement. John Wesley (1703-1791) was born at Epworth, England, the son of a Church of England clergyman. He was graduated from Christ College, Oxford, England. For a brief period he was a missionary to Georgia. In 1738 he had an intense religious experience at a meeting on Aldersgate Street, London. Following this he began to preach throughout the country. He was a prolific preacher and writer, and his writings provided a core of standard doctrine and interpretation to guide the new Methodist movement. In 1784, he sent instructions to America for the formation of a separate Methodist church for the United States.
Sacraments
The United Methodist Church recognizes two sacraments in which Christ himself participated: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Baptism
Baptism marks the beginning of our lifelong journey as disciples of Jesus Christ. Through baptism, we are joined with the Triune God, the whole of Christ’s church, and our local congregation.
The water and the work of the Holy Spirit in baptism convey God’s saving grace, the forgiveness of our sins, and new life in Jesus Christ. Persons of any age may be baptized—infants, children, youth, and adults. United Methodists baptize in a variety of ways—immersion, pouring, or sprinkling. A person receives the sacrament of baptism only once in his or her life.
For further study:
By Water and Spirit, the church’s official statement on baptism. (Download as PDF)
Renewing waters: How United Methodists understand baptism
This Is Your Baptismal Liturgy, a guide to the baptism ritual
A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism
The Lord’s Supper (also called Holy Communion, Eucharist)
The Lord’s Supper is another name for the Eucharist, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving the church offers to God for all God has done, is doing, and will do to save us and renew all things in Christ.
Through offering ourselves in praise and thanksgiving, and through receiving the bread and cup—which the Spirit makes for us the body and blood of Christ—celebrating the Lord’s Supper together nourishes and sustains us in our journey as disciples of Jesus Christ.
As we pray together and receive the body and blood of Christ together, we are united with Christ, with one another, and in ministry to all the world.
All who love Christ, earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another are invited to join us in offering our prayer of thanksgiving and receive the body and blood of Christ—regardless of age or church membership.
Congregations serve the elements of the Lord’s Supper several ways, but always include both bread and cup. The Lord’s Supper is to be celebrated and received regularly—John Wesley said, “as often as [one] can.”
Our Mission
Hemet UMC is a church that seeks to build disciples who KNOW Jesus Christ, who seek to GROW in faith, to SERVE Christ in the community and in the world in which we live and to SHARE the love of God to all.
Our Vision
At Hemet UMC we believe in a “lifestyle of worship” that includes:
To KNOW God personally and help others who are seeking a relationship with God. We will reach out to all and warmly welcome any who walk through our doors, by utilizing the gifts God has given to us. 1 Peter 1:21 “Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.”
Values: KNOW
Showing love to others
Developing a close relationship to God and to others
Prayer
Community interaction
We will GROW in our faith by enriching our personal relationship with God though active participation in worship, prayer, study, fellowship, and love. We will help others to do the same in their faith journey. We will work to strengthen the spiritual lives and faith relationship of all who come to Hemet UMC. Colossians 2:6-7 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
Values: GROW
Being involved in worship, prayer, study, fellowship
Continue opportunities for study and education of living lives as Christians
Engaging in active participation during worship.
We will SERVE the Lord Jesus by empowering ministries of compassion, justice and outreach that include: helping others in our church family plus reaching outside the church walls to the local community and the world. The people of Hemet UMC will faithfully serve others. We will be joyful examples of disciples of Jesus both as the corporate Body of Christ and as individual believers to all we serve. John 12:26 “Whoever serves me must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be. My Father will honor whoever serves me.”
Values: SERVE
Helping and caring for others
Participate and serve in church and in the community
Treat all equally
We will SHARE God’s love with the world by embracing our community with God’s love and grace.
Hemet UMC strives to respond to the needs of the community. We will be a presence of God’s bountiful grace in Riverside County and the world around us. John 13:34-35 “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.”
Values: SHARE
Using talents and giving of time
Being active in the community
Be living examples of God’s love
Sharing with visitors
Inclusion
Hemet United Methodist Church 