What if I’m not a Methodist?
We have a number of active persons at Wesley who are not members or even United Methodists! There are very few things that non-members can’t do (one is represent us to our United Methodist Conference), and we encourage non-members to plunge right in and get involved in anything at Wesley that interests you: ministry groups or projects, classes, committees, events. In fact, we hope you will get involved before you make a membership decision to check out whether Wesley is really a good fit for you as a faith community.
What are the expectations of members?
Membership at Wesley is about making promises (both to this faith community and to God) that you will “go deeper” with this community of disciples — that you will commit your presence, participation and prayers, that you commit your time and treasure, that you commit yourself to a shared journey of deepening, growing Christian discipleship. We expect that in some way that reflects your unique spiritual journey, you will engage the 6 Practices of Discipleship.
Do I have to give a certain amount of money to the church?
We welcome all to participate with us whether or not they are able to contribute money. We do invite all who consider Wesley their church home (whether they are official members or not) to make a commitment to contribute (to “pledge”) a certain amount, either weekly or monthly. We consider this commitment a spiritual discipline that is a part of our discipleship. Pledges are confidential, and are known only by the bookkeeper and the finance secretaries who keep records of giving (to be able to give you records of your giving at year end). It is entirely up to you to decide how much to give, and a pledge is not binding. We know that the financial circumstances of families and individuals can change quickly, and your pledge can be modified or withdrawn at any time. In deciding what to give, we offer the guideline of a percentage of income as a way to level between those who have more and those who have less. We commend the biblical practice of a “tithe” or 10% of your income, but the important thing is to do what you can. Some have found that reaching 10% was less of a struggle when they started with their current giving level and increased it by 1% per year (or even 0.5% per year).