Frequently Asked Questions  

1.  What does First United Methodist Church believe…?
ABOUT GOD
God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He exists eternally in three personalities: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is both holy and loving.

ABOUT JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God. He lived a sinless human life and died on the cross to atone for our sins. He rose from the dead and ascended to heaven and will return again to earth.   Jesus Christ is God’s one and only plan for salvation.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No man can come to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6

ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is present in the world to make people aware of their need for Jesus Christ. When we receive Jesus as the leader of our lives and the forgiver of our sins, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. He provides us with power for living, enables us to understand spiritual truth, and guides us in doing what pleases God. As Christians we seek to live under his control daily.

ABOUT THE BIBLE
The Bible is God’s word written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the final authority for determining our Christian beliefs and how we are to live.

ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS
People are made in the spiritual image of God - we are rational and moral beings. Because we are God’s creation made in God’s image, each person possesses great self-worth. Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us are marred by an attitude of self-centeredness which the Bible calls “sin”. This attitude and its resultant actions separate us from God, others and ourselves.

ABOUT BEING MADE RIGHT WITH GOD
Becoming right with God and having our relationship with God restored is what the bible calls salvation. Salvation is God’s free gift to us. We can never earn it or achieve it by self-improvement or good works. We accept God’s gift of a new life when we turn from our self-ruled life and accept Jesus as our Savior. The new life that God gives us is an abundant life in this world and eternal life in the world to come.

ABOUT THE KIND OF LIFE WE ARE SUPPOSED TO LIVE
Thou we are not made right with God by our own goodness, “good works” are not optional for the Christian life. When we give our lives to Christ, it is expected that we will grow towards loving God with all our being and our neighbors as ourselves.

2.  Where is the church located?
We are located at 805 East Denman Avenue across for the Lufkin Middle School. (Click here for map)

3. What is the mission of the church?
The mission of our church is to Make Disciples by Receiving the Life, Living the Life, and Sharing the Life of Jesus Christ.  We do this by fulfilling the 5 purposes of the New Testament Church found in the Gospel of Matthew; Worship, Evangelism, Discipleship, Fellowship, and Ministry.  

4.  How can I join First United Methodist Church ?
You can join our church one of three ways:

  Statement of Faith in Jesus Christ

  Baptism – then statement of Faith

  Transfer of Letter from another Methodist church or denomination

5.  How can I get married at the church?
If you desire to marry in our church, you must meet with one of our ordained ministers for appropriate counseling.  You don’t have to be a member of our church or even a baptized Christian to marry in our church.  You must have one of our ministers perform the ceremony or aid in the service.  For more information call Maria Bryant @ 936-631-3222 or e-mail her at mbryant@lufkinfirst.com .

6.  How often do you celebrate Holy Communion?
We celebrate communion every month on the first Sunday in all of our services.

7.  What is the structure of the UMC?
The organization of each unit in the church is carefully spelled out in the Book of Discipline. All members are at least acquainted with the local church. It includes those who have professed their belief in Christ, have been baptized, and have taken the vows of membership. The local church is the context for hearing the Word of God and for receiving the Sacraments. It reaches out in the name of Christ to bring persons into its fellowship, to nurture the members in their faith, and to witness to and serve the community, both local and global. Groups of local churches work together as a district and are supervised by a clergy superintendent. These districts are part of an Annual Conference, the basic unit of the denomination. Central Conferences are those regional units outside the United States . Conferences in the United States are grouped into five geographic jurisdictions.

Checks and balances are built into all aspects of church life. The organization of the denomination resembles that of the U.S. government. The General Conference is the top legislative body; the nine-member Judicial Council is the "supreme court"; and the Council of Bishops is similar to the executive branch.

Church wide agencies are primarily accountable to the General Conference. Their staff are governed by boards of directors who are lay and clergy persons.

8.  What does your logo, the cross and flame, mean?
Each time you see the cross and flame emblem, you are looking at United Methodism's official symbol.

Known informally as the cross and flame logo but formally known as the denomination's insignia, it has been in use nearly three decades. It is seen in cities, towns and rural areas at every point on the globe.

The insignia is a cross linked with a dual flame. This symbol relates our church to God by way of the second and third persons of the Trinity; the Christ (cross) and the Holy Spirit (flame).

Apart from Wesleyan Trinitarian theology and warmth, the flame has two other connotations. The flame suggests Pentecost when witnesses saw "tongues as of fire." And the duality of the flame was meant to represent the merger in 1968 of two denominations: The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church .

The General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) has custody of the emblem. Because the cross and flame is an official insignia, any reproduction must be faithful to the original design. For that reason, reproduction proofs are available from GCFA.  

Links to other helpful websites:
The United Methodist Church
Texas Conference of the UMC
Lufkin District Office of UMC

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