The short version: yes, you are welcome here — exactly as you are. Here is what it means that Beaverton First is a Reconciling Congregation, and an openly affirming United Methodist church in the heart of Beaverton.

Reviewed by the Beaverton First UMC editorial team · Fact-checked June 2026

If you have ever wondered whether you would really be welcome in a church — because of who you are, whom you love, or how a church has treated you before — this page is our plain answer. Beaverton First United Methodist Church is a Reconciling Congregation: an affirming church that welcomes people of every sexual orientation and gender identity into the full life of the congregation.¹²

What “Reconciling Congregation” means

“Reconciling” is not just a warm word we picked. It is a specific, public commitment. Through the Reconciling Ministries Network — a movement within the United Methodist Church that began in 1983 — a congregation studies, prays, and then votes together to declare that it welcomes people of all sexual orientations and gender identities into full participation: membership, leadership, and marriage.¹ Becoming Reconciling is a decision a whole congregation makes on purpose, and says out loud.

Our welcome, in our own words

Following the example of Jesus, Beaverton First welcomes every person — of every age, background, ability, race, and sexual orientation or gender identity — as a person of sacred worth in the sight of God.² We are one of the Reconciling congregations of the United Methodist Church’s Oregon-Idaho Conference,⁵ and that welcome is woven through our long story here in Beaverton and through the justice that runs deep in the Wesleyan tradition.

You are welcome here — exactly as you are.

The wider United Methodist Church has changed, too

Being an affirming congregation once meant being ahead of your own denomination. That gap has narrowed. In 2024, the United Methodist Church’s General Conference removed the longstanding bans on ordaining LGBTQ clergy and on clergy celebrating same-sex weddings, and deleted the language that had called homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.”³⁴ Those changes took effect January 1, 2025, and pastors keep the freedom to decide which weddings they officiate.³

What this looks like on a Sunday

In practice, being affirming is less a statement than a Sunday morning. Everyone is welcome at the Communion table — the United Methodist “open table” means you do not have to be a member, or even certain what you believe, to take part. Come as you are, wear what is comfortable, bring your family or come on your own. We gather at 11:00 a.m. in downtown Beaverton, in person and online.

If you are ready to see it for yourself, here is everything you would want to know before a first visit — service time, parking, what to expect, and our live stream: plan your visit to Beaverton First. Whoever you are, you would be welcome on Sunday.