The United Methodist Church, Branford is a community of people and families from all walks of life in the Shoreline area who come together to worship and to serve God, the source of creation and of unconditional love, made manifest in Jesus Christ and in those who unite in Christ through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
As Heirs of John Wesley‘s standards and commitment, we celebrate the Lordship of Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture, celebrated through Tradition, vivified in personal Experience, and further explored with Reason. We understand our faith to be an active presence in our daily lives, and life itself as a process, strengthened and guided by the Holy Spirit.
We invite you to join us as we seek God’s guidance toward faithful discipleship through study, worship, prayer and service as a community of faith. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are called to share the love of God through word and deed as we seek to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We welcome in particular young and growing families of all kinds who seek an open, affirming and nurturing environment for themselves and their children through worship, study and community service.
United Methodists profess the historic Christian faith in God, the Creator, Jesus Christ, the son, and the Holy Spirit, at work among us. We believe that God’s love is available to all through grace, God’s undeserved love, not earned by our good works nor withheld because of our weaknesses.
We identify ourselves as part of the universal church, a community of faith established by Christ to worship and serve God and to share the good news of God’s love by word and action.
United Methodists recognize the authority of Scripture in matters of faith. We believe that Scripture is the primary way that God is revealed to us, and it contains all things necessary to salvation and reconciliation of persons to right relationship with God. To aid in our study of Scripture, we call on the traditions of the church established by mothers and fathers in the faith, our forebears who have lived and served throughout the church’s 2,000 year history.
United Methodists believe that God gifts us with personal and collective experiences, which interact with Scripture to help us interpret our beliefs and our calling to live them out. Additionally, we believe that our understanding of God and our relationship to God is mediated by reason, the “common sense” that helps us relate teachings of Scripture to our own call to discipleship.
United Methodists invite all persons to participate in our worship services and ministries, receive the sacraments of baptism and communion, and become members of a local congregation. Baptism is an essential step in church membership, as we recognize baptism to represent the remission of our sins and our incorporation into the Christian family. United Methodists believe in one baptism, so that baptized Christians from other denominations are not re-baptized upon joining a United Methodist church.
Born out of the need to provide a ministry with Methodist traditions for people living in and moving to Shoreline communities, a Methodist Society was founded in Branford in the Fall of 1965. The Methodist Society officially organized as a Methodist Congregation on October 2, 1966, with services in the “Wayside Chapel”, a part of the old Oasis Restaurant property.
The first all-purpose hall was built in 1968. Only 11 years later, on September 19, 1979, ground was broken for our current Sanctuary; blended into the landscape as an expression of simple elegance at one with both earth and sky. The new Sanctuary was opened and dedicated on October 4, 1981 – “The Church Built On Rock.”
On May 19, 2002 our new Education wing was opened and dedicated to accommodate our ever-increasing Sunday school and Preschool programs. As part of that expansion project our steeple was relocated to its current location above the main entrance.
