ArticlesStories, guides, and grace-based reflections from Beaverton First — on visiting, faith and life, and the Methodist tradition that shapes us.
New Here? Start With TheseIf you are checking us out or planning a first visit, these are the friendliest places to begin.
WelcomeAn Affirming Church in Beaverton: What Being a Reconciling Congregation MeansYes — you’re welcome exactly as you are. What it means that Beaverton First is a Reconciling Congregation and an affirming United Methodist church in Beaverton.Read the article →WelcomeLooking for a Welcoming Church in Beaverton? An Honest GuideAn honest guide to finding a welcoming church in Beaverton — what to look for, questions worth asking, and how Beaverton First (historic, affirming, 11 a.m.…Read the article →WelcomeWhat to Expect at a United Methodist Church ServiceFirst time at a Methodist church? Exactly what happens in a United Methodist service — dress, the order of worship, the open Communion table, kids, and what to…Read the article →WelcomeChristmas Eve Services in BeavertonLooking for a Christmas Eve service in Beaverton? Join Beaverton First for a candlelight service on December 24 — carols, the Christmas story, and a warm welcome…Read the article →WelcomeEaster & Holy Week in BeavertonLooking for an Easter service in Beaverton? Join Beaverton First on Easter Sunday at 11 a.m. — the resurrection story, music, and a warm welcome, whether you…Read the article →WelcomeWhere ‘Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors’ Comes FromYou have seen it on the signs. Where ‘Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors’ actually came from (a 2001 United Methodist campaign) — and what each word means to us…Read the article →
Faith & LifeGrace-based, real-world reflections — for the curious, the questioning, and the whole person.
Faith & LifeA Faith That Welcomes Your QuestionsDoubt is not the opposite of faith. A warm, grace-based look at loving God with your mind — where questions, science, and honest thinking are welcome, not shut down.Read the article →Faith & LifeFaith and Mental Health: Caring for Mind, Body, and SoulYour struggle is not a lack of faith. A warm, grace-based word on faith and mental health — caring for your whole self, mind, body, and soul — with real…Read the article →Faith & LifeFaith and Science Were Never EnemiesYou do not have to choose between faith and science. John Wesley gave free electrical treatments to the poor — and the United Methodist Church holds that science…Read the article →Faith & LifeLoving Our Neighbors: How Beaverton First Shows Up for the CommunityA church is only as real as how it treats its neighbors the other six days a week. How Beaverton First shows up — the Free Food Market, Adult ESL, kids, the…Read the article →
Methodism & Our RootsWhere this tradition comes from — Wesley, grace, justice, and our story here in Oregon.
MethodismWhat Do Methodists Believe? A Plain-Language GuideWhat do Methodists believe, in plain words? It starts with grace you can’t earn — and leads straight to caring for the poor and working for justice. A hands-on,…Read the article →MethodismWho was John Wesley?He was a failed missionary who feared he had no real faith of his own — and became the founder of a movement that now spans the globe. The short life of John Wesley.Read the article →MethodismWesleyan TheologyGrace you didn’t earn, a faith you can actually feel, and a holiness that shows up in how you treat your neighbor — the distinctive emphases of Wesleyan theology.Read the article →MethodismWorship in the Wesleyan TraditionMethodist worship aims at the heart — through hymns you can feel, plain preaching, and a table open to all. What shapes it, and how we live it out in Beaverton.Read the article →MethodismSocial Justice in the Wesleyan TraditionFor Methodists, justice isn’t an add-on to faith — it’s faith showing up. The biblical roots, Wesley’s own activism, and why it begins with our own history too.Read the article →MethodismJason Lee and the Methodist Mission That Helped Found OregonA young Methodist preacher crossed a continent in 1834 to plant a mission in the Willamette Valley. He largely failed at what he came to do — and helped set…Read the article →
Women in MinistrySeventy years of full clergy rights, and the women who built the movement long before: their history, their fight for the pulpit, and where we stand.
MethodismThe Women Who Built MethodismSusanna Wesley’s packed kitchen congregation, the letter that changed John Wesley’s mind, and the women who carried the movement to America.Read the article →MethodismSeventy Years in the Pulpit: How Methodist Women Won Full Clergy RightsIn 1956 one sentence opened the pulpit fully to women. Seventy years later, here is how long the road was, and who walked it.Read the article →MethodismAnna Howard Shaw: The Methodist Preacher Who Helped Women Win the VoteRefused ordination by her own church, she got ordained anyway, earned an M.D., and helped win American women the vote.Read the article →Faith & LifeWhy We Fully Support Women in MinistryWomen preach, lead, and pastor here, as a conviction rooted in Scripture and carried by our Methodist story.Read the article →
Justice & Truth-TellingThe honest chapters of our story: what the church got wrong, and the repair work underway.
JusticeFacing Our History: The Church, Slavery, and RacismA movement born fighting slavery made peace with it, split over it, and segregated its own members. How the church has learned to say so, and to act.Read the article →JusticeTelling the Truth: The Church, Indigenous Peoples, and the Work of RepairSand Creek, the boarding schools, the 2012 Act of Repentance, and how our own conference returned land and a church to the Nez Perce.Read the article →
