You have probably seen it on a church sign or a bumper sticker: “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.” Here is where the phrase actually came from — and why we try to mean it, not just print it.

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

Some slogans are just marketing. This one started as marketing too, honestly — but it has aged into something a lot of us actually try to live by. The short history is worth knowing, and so is what each word has come to mean around here.

A welcome, and a call (2001)

“Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.” was created by United Methodist Communications in 2001, as part of a nationwide campaign called Igniting Ministry that followed the church’s 2000 General Conference.¹ It ran on television, radio, billboards, and bus shelters, with a simple double purpose: to say who United Methodists are, and to invite people to come see for themselves. It worked — within five years, public awareness of the phrase had roughly doubled.² The church itself described it as “a welcome and a call.”¹

What each word means to us

Open hearts is grace: a welcome that comes first, before you have your life or your beliefs sorted out. Open minds is the freedom to bring your questions and honest thinking right through the door with you — loving God does not require switching off your brain. And open doors means what it says: an openly affirming welcome for people of every age, background, ability, race, and sexual orientation or gender identity.³

A welcome you can only mean if the doors are actually open.

Trying to live it in Beaverton

A phrase is easy to print and hard to keep. We do not always get it right, but we try to make it concrete: a welcome that names who is included, a community that is genuinely glad you came, and a faith that shows up for its neighbors the rest of the week. That is the difference between a slogan on a sign and a door that is really open.

Questions people ask

What does “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors” mean?

It is The United Methodist Church’s welcome: grace that comes first, room for honest questions, and doors open to everyone.¹

Where did the phrase come from?

United Methodist Communications created it in 2001 for a national welcome-and-outreach campaign.¹²

Is Beaverton First open to everyone?

Yes — we are an openly affirming congregation, and the welcome is meant for all.³

The best way to know whether a door is really open is to walk through it. Whenever you are ready, here is how to plan a visit.