Our Vision
“We Envision a World where all people know that they are beloved, and that changes everything“
Our Core Values
Proclaiming and Demonstrating “You Are Beloved!“
“This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We read these words spoken about Jesus at his baptism and then again when he is transfigured. At Mount Vernon Place, we believe God speaks these words about every single person. Not only are we all made in God’s image, we are also the reason God’s heart beats and sometimes skips a beat. And we believe that living into our belovedness can change everything.
If we believe we are beloved, then we know that our worth is not tied to what we do or how much we have.
If we believe we are beloved, then we can vulnerably allow others to see who we are without being afraid of someone judging us.
If we believe we are beloved, then we can admit our wrongdoings because we know we are more than the sum of our mistakes.
If we believe we are beloved, then we might be able to imagine God not only glancing our way but actively taking the initiative God takes in Luke 15 when we read about a lost coin, a lost sheep, and a lost son. God is one who gets down on her hands and knees to find us whenever we are lost. God runs toward us when we have wandered away before lifting us up, placing us around God’s shoulders, and carrying us back into a community where we are accepted just as we are. And God welcomes us home no matter what we have done or how far we have traveled.
~If a person knows they are beloved, they can rest in God no matter what.~
Belovedness then moves from our internal being to our outward living as we realize how love, acceptance, mercy, justice, and affirmation are not limited resources but rather gifts that multiply when shared. People who are beloved know how easy it is to become lost but have somehow been found and want to find others in a similar way—vigorously looking for people who might be hurting or alone; seeking to protect what belongs to others whether it is property, freedom, dignity, or even life; and actively working to ensure people have basic necessities that enable one to continue to feel beloved—food, health care for bodies and minds, shelter, safety, the capacity to become clean when living without shelter.
Embodying Inclusive and Authentic Christian Community
We have experienced God as passionately creative, one who relishes in the gift of diversity. And we believe God’s handprint is most evident in communities that reflect this diversity. We seek to be a congregation that intentionally welcomes everyone, creating a space where all people are fully seen, deeply included, and faithfully loved into becoming the fullness of who God calls us to be.
“What if we all put on the mark of a good therapist on our way to church—a commitment to approach each person with unconditional positive regard?
What if we sought to always be clothed with love that seeks to remember how we felt when we first arrived in the city or the sadness that enveloped us last Friday when another weekend rolled around during which we had no plans?
What if we understood how we could be the answer to someone’s prayer who is longing for community after working from home all week?
What if this place could be experienced as a foretaste of heaven—an experience that proved to not only be unforgettable but had a lasting impact on how we live, move, and have our being?” –Pastor Donna in a sermon preached on October 15, 2023
Cultivating Spiritual Depth
Most of our members have chosen to participate in A Disciple’s Path which is a six-week small group designed to help people learn about our church and what it means to live as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. During the first week, participants are invited to ponder where they are in their relationship with Jesus: ignoring or strangers, exploring or acquaintances, getting started or friends, going deeper or good friends, and finally, centering or intimate friends. We all start somewhere. Our relationship with Jesus can then change over time with seasons of feeling very close to Jesus and other seasons where Jesus feels more distant. At MVP, we seek to do all we can to help people of all ages grow in their relationship with God through encouraging people to practice spiritual disciplines like praying, studying scripture, serving others, embodying generosity, and participating in a small group. We seek to cultivate spiritual depth because we have witnessed what God can do with people who are faithfully seeking to align their lives around the teachings of Christ. In such communities, the needs of neighbors are met, justice is sought, the oppressed are set free, enemies are forgiven, weapons are transformed into plowshares, and love is embodied in tangible ways that impact the wider community. We long to be such a place.
Our Statement of Welcome
Just as Jesus Christ invited everyone, we seek to faithfully extend Christ’s life-giving welcome to all people. Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church recognizes that diversity is one of the greatest expressions of God’s creativity, presence and grace. As a congregation, we are grateful for the many differences apparent in our community and in our experiences of God. We welcome all people into the life of this church, and celebrate and give thanks for our diversity of race, ethnicity, citizenship, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical and mental ability, faith background, economic status, appearance, marital condition, political persuasion, education, and life experience. We hope you will join us as we continue to discover how we can most faithfully include, learn from, and grow with all people in our community.
Our Denomination
We are a United Methodist Church. You may learn more about our beliefs and practices at www.umc.org. At the heart of Wesleyan theology is grace. God’s grace is prevenient. It is infused within each of us long before we ever think about turning to God. Another tenant of our theology is social holiness. None of us can be Christian on our own. We are shaped into more faithful disciples in community as we hold each other accountable and encourage one another to become more like Christ. Another core belief is something known as practical divinity. While we are saved by grace and not our own doing, we are also called to live out our beliefs – to be good news to the world around us and seek to be part of God’s transformation of all of creation. To this end, we seek to be a vital presence in broken places of our city.
We are part of the Baltimore Washington Annual Conference. You can learn about our conference at www.bwcumc.org.
Reconciling Congregation
We are a Reconciling Congregation, and part of the Reconciling Ministries Network. We became a reconciling congregation on October 31, 2009 and we passionately believe that all people should be welcomed and included in the life of the church and are working for change in our denomination when it comes to LGBTQ+ equality.