Our Mission & Vision
The United Methodist Church’s mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
LOOKING AHEAD: Join Us in 2024 as we continue planting & partnering with God to become God’s Beloved United Methodist Church in Marysville. Beloved UMC gathers every Sunday for meaningful Worship Services at 10 a.m.! Beloved UMC can be found in either the National Guard Gym or the Union County YMCA Gym each Sunday at 10 a.m.!
Our mission is to be a United Methodist church focused on Jesus Christ’s command to love God and your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22: 37-39), with authentic inclusivity, compassionate service, and overwhelming grace.
Rev. McSwords grew up in the Worthington area, received her bachelor’s degree in public relations (with a music minor) from Otterbein in 1995, and earned her M.Div. from Methodist Theological School of Ohio in 2017. Prior to answering the call to ministry Sara worked in membership and public relations for trade associations, non-profits, and a managed health care organization. Sara also has experience serving churches in a variety of ways, including a focus on communications and music ministries. Pastor Sara lives in Marysville, Ohio with her amazing husband Joe. Joe is a teacher at Marysville High School. They have 4 children ranging in age from 16 to 24 – and all of them are engaged in education in either Highschool, Undergraduate studies or in graduate school. The McSwords also have two dogs – Cisco and Archie.
Pastor Sara is passionate about cultivating engaging, safe spaces where all can freely listen for God’s guidance as we grow in our faith together. She looks forward to Beloved’s beautiful next chapters as we share the love of Jesus Christ with all people!
For Our Visitors
Frequently Asked Questions
What do United Methodists believe?
As part of the worldwide United Methodist Church, we are connected at an open table by a set of Bible-based, God inspired beliefs set forth by our denomination. To learn more about what we believe, CLICK HERE.
What makes you different as a church?
Our “why” for planting this church is because we believe that Jesus meant it when he said the greatest commandment is to love God and love all neighbors (Matthew 22). And we believe that God is Love (1 John 4) – so as a Jesus follower -we are called to cultivate safe and healing spaces of beloved belonging where all can grow in our understanding of who God is and who we are called to be. We believe there is a longing to build a community that looks like God’s gracious, radical, overwhelming all inclusive love. Beloved UMC will strive to be kind, be merciful, be radically inclusive, and be loving… towards all.
No church is perfect – but together we can learn to love more fully .. We hope to cultivate a climate where all people feel loved, inspired, invited to serve, encouraged to lead, dream, ask questions. We long for a church to be an invitational place of compassionate curiosity where we all open ourselves to be challenges and comforted and be as authenticate and vulnerable and involved as they are called to be in this season.
We believe that Jesus calls us all together to be authentically, vulnerably and fully committed to serve Christ and our community. Beloved UMC will be made up of imperfect people who are striving to love God and love one another better.
When did regular services begin?
Our weekly services began on April 2, 2023.
Do you have a children's ministry?
We are working to build opportunities for Beloved Children’s and Youth Ministries – stay tuned for special events and opportunities to engage.
Do I have to be United Methodist to attend?
Nope – all are welcome – we are grateful for the connectional support and our beliefs and creeds are articulated through the tradition of the UMC. However – all are welcome – and we believe that the UMC offers a big table opportunity for us to share our common beliefs and our differences in ways that all can learn and grow.
What outreach ministries do you have planned?
We are hoping to partner with Impact Station to offer Sunday morning breakfast – stay tuned as we continue to discern and develop intentional outreach ministries and missions to reflect the love of Christ and meet the needs of our neighbors. We will also work to provide support to a variety of local missions and needs. Do you have an outreach or missions opportunity for Beloved UMC to consider? Please reach out share your community engagement ideas with Pastor Sara at pastorsara@belovedumc.org!
