Who is Collister UMC?
We are a friendly Christian community located in Northwest Boise. We have been welcoming our neighbors into fellowship since 1913 when the Collister neighborhood was just an orchard! Whether you're checking out God and church for the first time or looking for a new place to call home, Collister welcomes you to worship with us (10:30 a.m.).
The two things that best define our community are hospitality and authenticity. We believe that all people are children of God and worthy of respect, love and a church family. All are welcome here. But we also believe that many churches fail to be truly authentic. Many who attend church feel that they must hide their problems, their shortcomings and their insecurities at church. This is so damaging. At Collister we feel strongly that authenticity is a core ingredient to the Christian life. Here we practice sharing our pain, our shortcomings and our need for one another in an open and loving community. Honesty is the key to every successful relationship and that includes our relationship with God. Because of this conviction, Collister works hard to ensure that everyone who feels excluded from church or from the love of God has a place to call home.
The two things that best define our community are hospitality and authenticity. We believe that all people are children of God and worthy of respect, love and a church family. All are welcome here. But we also believe that many churches fail to be truly authentic. Many who attend church feel that they must hide their problems, their shortcomings and their insecurities at church. This is so damaging. At Collister we feel strongly that authenticity is a core ingredient to the Christian life. Here we practice sharing our pain, our shortcomings and our need for one another in an open and loving community. Honesty is the key to every successful relationship and that includes our relationship with God. Because of this conviction, Collister works hard to ensure that everyone who feels excluded from church or from the love of God has a place to call home.
Strategy and Purpose
Our goal is to be a loving church family where all people can grow in faith, discover their gifts, and find opportunities to do ministry. We seek to be a community church where lives are changed and individuals find purpose and meaning through service. We seek to be a vital part of the Collister community in providing assistance to those in need and offering ourselves as God's people in mission and ministry.
Guiding Principles
- We believe in developing deep and lasting relationships. To become a church family we must love one another, share joys, pains and burdens with one another, and break bread regularly with one another.
- We believe in cultivating authentic faith. To do this we must be honest with ourselves, with others and with God. Doubt is not the enemy of faith. Dishonesty is the enemy of faith.
- We believe in unconditional love. To do this we must create space for vulnerability and forgiveness. We want every person, especially those who have been marginalized, to know that they are not defined by their worst moments. Instead, they are loved and forgiven just as they are.
- We believe that every person is a child of God, created with sacred worth, regardless of the color of their skin, sexual orientation, who a person loves, their ethnicity, their religious backgroun, or their lifestyle choices. Every person is welcome here.
- We believe in fiscal responsibility. Every penny the church has comes from the donations of parishioners. It is our gift and our responsibility to use this money responsibility to bring about the kingdom of God. Care for One Another
About the United Methodist Church
We seek to live out John Wesley’s (founder of Methodism) vision of a two-fold approach to faith combining personal spiritual growth with social involvement and justice. We are active in both deepening our faith and in living that faith out in our world. We value the intellect and believe Christians should love God with their whole mind. At the same time, we believe the Bible is the authoritative guide for faith and practice.
Methodists have a passionate faith with strong convictions, but we also recognize that the world is not always black and white. We are willing to ask questions, to wrestle with difficult issues, and to do so with grace and compassion. Methodists have been known for our emphasis on a personal faith, lived out in concrete ways in the world. We have historically valued well-informed and passionate preaching, lively worship, and small groups where people grow in faith. Methodists have open hearts, and open minds.
Methodists have a passionate faith with strong convictions, but we also recognize that the world is not always black and white. We are willing to ask questions, to wrestle with difficult issues, and to do so with grace and compassion. Methodists have been known for our emphasis on a personal faith, lived out in concrete ways in the world. We have historically valued well-informed and passionate preaching, lively worship, and small groups where people grow in faith. Methodists have open hearts, and open minds.
