Carlisle United Methodist Church

Church Profile

Carlisle United Methodist Church (CUMC) is located in Carlisle, PA. Carlisle is in Cumberland Valley, part of the Great Appalachian Valley in southcentral Pennsylvania. Carlisle is 20 minutes from Harrisburg PA, 2 hours from Philadelphia and Baltimore/Washington, and right off I-81 and the PA Turnpike. Three institutions of higher education are the primary employers in the borough: Dickinson College, the U.S. Army War College, and Penn State Dickinson School of Law. Carlisle is the county seat, which makes it a center for non-profits and county agencies and provides many opportunities for partnership. Carlisle is a vibrant town with small community charm and an urban, international flair.

CUMC was formed from three local United Methodist Churches that merged in 2013 and built a newly constructed church facility with the doors opening in 2020. CUMC is a growing congregation that welcomed over 40 new members in 2023. Weekly worship attendance in 2023 averaged 363 in-person with an average of 265 views online. There are three worship services with two traditional and one contemporary. The congregation is passionate about creating a church for kids and families and reaching out to our community. Our community outreach focuses on building partnerships with non-profits, schools, county agencies and other churches in the areas of kids, hunger, and homelessness/housing.

CUMC is a Lighthouse congregation of the Susquehanna Annual Conference committed to strengthening the UMC. At CUMC we try to live into the big tent identity of the United Methodist Church. We have people in our congregation and community of all varieties of political and theological spectrums. We believe that together we better represent the body of Christ and work to listen, share and respect views of each other. As a church, we adopted a new Welcoming Statement in 2022, as we are all, no matter the theological perspective, committed to welcoming people of every gender, race, cultural background and sexual orientation into our congregation.

Our Mission: Inviting all to become disciples of Jesus Christ serving the greater Carlisle community and beyond

Our Vision: Living like Jesus improves our lives, our families, the Carlisle community and beyond. At Carlisle United Methodist Church, we strive to LIVE LIKE JESUS

Our Welcoming Statement:

At CUMC, you can be yourself. All are welcome. All means all – no exceptions.

We believe:

· Jesus lived with arms wide open to love all people

· Every person is created by God and reflects God’s image

We commit to Live Like Jesus by:

· Welcoming and loving everyone in our church, our community, and beyond

· Establishing a place where people who have not felt safe and accepted in a church can be fully themselves and find belonging

· Honoring our differences as a gift from God

· Actively building a community of unconditional love and grace that honors the image of God in every person.