Who We Are
We welcome you in the precious name of Jesus Christ our risen Lord!
In the day when hospitality is almost a lost attitude, with all of our busy-ness, we neglect to welcome one another into our churches, homes and lives.
Thankfully, we can know and experience the love and grace of our God who welcomes us in His Son, Jesus Christ our LORD.
As recipients of God’s grace, we seek to welcome one another and others to be part of this wonderful family of God.
Our hope and goal is that we would be “A church that loves like Jesus.” That is our mission statement and the criteria with which we determine where our energies and resources will be placed. “A church that loves Jesus, a church that loves one another and a church that loves the world.”
We seek to be a people with a heart for God and for what God’s heart desires, longing to grow more in love, in faith, and in service. If you have been looking for a church home and family, we invite you to come and join us on the journey, we’re not perfect but the One we follow is.
May the Lord bless you and lead you today!
Our Pastor
Rev. Micah J. Coleman Campbell
Rev. Micah J. Coleman Campbell (you can call him “Pastor Micah” or just “Micah”) was born and raised in the United Methodist Church out in the great state of Washington. He went to seminary in Madison, NJ at Drew Theological School. It was there he met his now wife, Kiren Coleman Campbell, another born and raised United Methodist, originally from Somers, NY. Pastor Micah has served the Hurdtown and Lake Hopatcong churches in New Jersey and the Fishkill, Wiccopee Community, and Cold Spring South Highland churches in New York. In the summer of 2022, he began his appointment at Warwick UMC. Two years later he was also appointed to the New Milford-Edenville United Methodist Church and now serves both churches.
Other good things to know about Pastor Micah include: He is the fourth of five siblings (one brother, three sisters); both of his parents are retired UMC elders; he’s a big fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder and a bit of a fair-weather fan of the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks; his favorite hobby is playing video games, but he also enjoys watching movies and television, playing board games, and eating good food; he’s a “cat person” but he’s learned to accept and forgive the “dog people” in his life, including his wife.
Our Denominational Affiliation
The United Methodist Church
We are not a solitary congregation, but rather are small part of the larger United Methodist Church. Within that we are one of the over 400 churches of the New York Annual Conference.
The United Methodist Church is a Christian denomination that is both Mainline Protestant and Evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley within the Church of England. The church’s theological orientation is embraces both liturgical and evangelical elements.
The United Methodist Church seeks to create disciples for Christ through outreach, evangelism, and through seeking holiness, also called sanctification, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The flame in the church logo represents the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, and the two parts of the flame also represent the predecessor denominations, the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren, united at the base symbolizing the 1968 merger.
The United Methodist Church understands itself to be part of the holy universal Church and it recognizes the historic ecumenical creeds, the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed; which are used frequently in services of worship.
The Book of Discipline also recognizes the importance of the Chalcedonian Creed of the Council of Chalcedon. It upholds the concept of the “visible and invisible Church,” meaning that all who are truly believers in every age belong to the holy Church invisible, while the United Methodist Church is a branch of the Church visible, to which all believers must be connected as it is the only institution wherein the Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments are administered.
As a result of the American Revolution, John Wesley was compelled in 1784 to break with standard practice and ordain two of his lay preachers as presbyters, Thomas Vasey and Richard Whatcoat. Dr. Thomas Coke, already an Anglican priest, assisted Wesley in this action. Coke was then “set apart” as a bishop by Wesley and dispatched with Vasey and Whatcoat to America to take charge of Methodist activities there. In defense of his action to ordain, Wesley himself cited an ancient opinion from the Church of Alexandria, which held that bishops and presbyters constituted one order and therefore, bishops are to be elected from and by the presbyterate. He knew that for two centuries the succession of bishops in the Church of Alexandria was preserved through ordination by presbyters alone and was considered valid by the ancient church. Methodists today who would argue for apostolic succession would do so on these grounds.
While many United Methodist congregations operate in the evangelical tradition, others reflect the mainline Protestant traditions. Although United Methodist practices and interpretation of beliefs have evolved over time, these practices and beliefs can be traced to the writings of the church’s founders, especially John Wesley and Charles Wesley (Anglicans), but also Philip William Otterbein and Martin Boehm, and Jacob Albright (Evangelical Association). With the formation of The United Methodist Church in 1968, theologian Albert C. Outler led the team which systematized denominational doctrine. Outler’s work proved pivotal in the work of union, and he is largely considered the first United Methodist theologian.
“Christ is just like the human body—a body is a unit and has many parts; and all the parts of the body are one body, even though there are many. We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink… If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part gets the glory, all the parts celebrate with it. You are the body of Christ and parts of each other.”