Learn More About
Nevada City UMC and the United Methodist Church! We invite you to explore the beliefs, practices, and history that guides our church and shapes our local community.
Welcome
I would love to meet you!
Rev. Suzanne Calhoun and her family have been serving our church since July of 2023. She has a bachelors of Science in Wildlife Biology from Humboldt State University and a Masters of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology. In addition to being a Senior Pastor she has worked in youth and family ministry; taught music, theater, math, and science; worked with hospice & home health services; and as an interpretive ranger for the National Park Service. Suzanne feels called to rural church ministry and sees hope in the changes that will lead to the church of the future.
What We Believe
The United Methodist Church shares a great deal with other denominations. We are trinitarian believing in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; reflected in our two sacraments baptism and communion. United Methodists serve an open table meaning all are welcome to join in communion. Christians, of any age (including infants) and any Christian denomination are welcome to the Lord’s table. It is Christ’s table and he welcomes all (baptism is not required, but encouraged).
The primary aspects that inform our faith are the Bible, the traditions of our Wesleyan Heritage, our knowledge, our ability to reason, our life experience and our experience of the holy spirit. We regularly talk about grace, hope, prayer, and faith. God’s Love for all creation and how we can serve people in our community, nation, and around the world are foundational to our local congregation. As individuals and a local church we actively seek ways we can grow as disciples of Jesus. United Methodists believe in the work of the Holy Spirit still today and strive to live into God’s Kin-dom.
“The United Methodist Church believes God’s love for the world is an active and engaged love, a love seeking justice and liberty. We cannot just be observers. So we care enough about people’s lives to risk interpreting God’s love, to take a stand, to call each of us into a response, no matter how controversial or complex. The church helps us think and act out a faith perspective, not just responding to all the other ‘mind-makers-up’ that exist in our society.”
Excerpt from The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church 2016. Copyright © 2016 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.
Our Social Principles are a prayerful and thoughtful effort to speak to the issues in the contemporary world from a sound biblical and theological foundation. We affirm our unity in Jesus Christ while acknowledging differences in applying our faith in different cultural contexts as we live out the gospel.
Following Jesus, Thriving in Community, Healing the World
The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
“We celebrate God’s gift of diversity and value the wholeness made possible in community equally shared and shepherded by all. We welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more. We acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities. As followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed.”
Our Local Church History
The church on the top of Broad Street has been a Nevada City landmark for years.
