FAITH & SOCIAL ACTION

These Principles are not Methodist Church law. They are guiding principles that can help us respond to today’s most pressing social issues and lead to a more just and equitable world.  The Principles represent more than a century of decisions made by lay and clergy members of the UMC.  The most current statements, adopted in May 2024, are the prayerful and thoughtful effort of 4,000 United Methodists from around the world working for eight years. 

SEEK. LOVE. SERVE.


The Faith and Social Action Committee meets to explore how we respond to fulfill our UMC Christian mission “to make disciples for the transformation of the world.” 


The Faith and Social Action Committee invites each of you to thoughtfully read the online version of The United Methodist Social Principles, As Adopted by General Conference, Charlotte, 2024 at umcjustice.org. This revision of the UMC Social Principles should be available in print in the near future. Meanwhile this online version can be downloaded and printed (40 pages).

The contents of the revised Social Principles are organized into four areas:

  • Community for all Creation
  • The Economic Community
  • The Social Community
  • The Political Community


You are invited to join us as we discuss the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church and consider how we can advocate for justice for all people.  For more information contact Michael Perkins at mperkins1865@gmail.com.



ARTICALS FROM RECENT FIRST CHURCH NEWSLETTERS

December 18th of each year is Migrant Worker Recognition Day. In Florida, this time of year is one of the busiest for our migrant workers, as much of our agricultural production takes place in the winter months.


Our Social Principles endorse “worker’s freedom of association, including the rights to organize unions, engage in collective bargaining, and protest both unsafe working conditions and unjust employment policies and practices.”


We also affirm the dignity, worth, and rights of migrants, immigrants and refugees, including displaced and stateless people. In so doing, we acknowledge that the world today is facing an unprecedented crisis related to the displacement of vast numbers of people due to such factors as ongoing wars and other hostilities, foreign interventions, widespread famine and hunger, global warming and climate change, and the failure of nation-states to adequately protect and care for their people. 

January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Per the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church, “[w]e condemn human trafficking and slavery as profound violations of the inherent dignity and worth of every person and of their fundamental rights related to autonomy, including the ability of every individual to make personal life choices …. Those who are especially vulnerable include minor children and women, migrants, displaced people and others living in poverty.”


The United Methodist Church is committed to abolishing human trafficking and slavery of any kind and eliminating the social and economic inequities that provide fertile ground for the flourishing of such evils. For more information about this important issue and how you can take action for justice, please see the following links:

The General Board of Church and Society vehemently opposes the mass deportation plans put forth by President-elect Trump.  These proposals are not only antithetical to the foundational values of our democracy but also starkly contradict the United Methodist Church’s Social Principles on immigration and the Wesleyan theological tradition. 

 

Grounded in fear, hate and falsehoods, U.S. immigration policy calling for mass deportation of millions of people, is not an act of justice but a failure to recognize the sacred worth of every individual.  Wesleyan theology upholds prevenient grace – the belief that God’s grace goes before us and extends to all people, regardless of nationality, legal status, or social standing.  Policies that promote exclusion and violence against vulnerable communities deny this essential truth. 

 

Mass deportations tear apart families, destabilize communities, and exacerbate global suffering – actions that are incompatible with our Christian belief “to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).

 

UMC Social Principles call for United Methodists to “oppose all laws and policies that attempt to criminalize, dehumanize or punish displaced individuals and families based on their status as migrants, immigrants or refugees”. 

 

The above statements were published by The General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church.  The Faith and Social Action Committee of this church urges you to contact your state and national elected officials to express your personal and faith-based reasons for opposing unjust and inhumane immigration policies.  We also urge you to consider ways that our church and its members can provide concrete help and support to individuals whose lives will be impacted by mass deportation plans.

Holocaust Remembrance Day is Monday, January 27. The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The Faith and Social Action Committee asks that we all take some time this week to remember the millions of lives lost and dedicate

ourselves to not allowing hatred to rise again.


Our Social Principles call on us to “condemn racism, ethnocentrism, tribalism, and any ideology or social practice based on false and misleading beliefs or ideologies that one group of human beings is superior to all other groups of human beings. Additionally, we utterly reject laws, policies, and social practices that marginalize, discriminate and/or encourage the use of violence against individuals, communities, or other social groups based on perceived  racial, ethnic, or tribal differences ... We likewise urge governments,  businesses, and civil society organizations to renounce statements, policies, and actions aimed at promoting exclusion, discrimination, and violence.”


The Faith and Social Action Committee invites all interested people to participate in our meetings.  Contact Michael Perkins at mperkins1865@gmail.com for more information about how you can get involved.
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