When John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, began his
ministry in rapidly industrializing England, there was no labor movement
in the way we understand it. But he preached to and cared for those
working for low wages in very poor conditions: coal miners, oppressed
workers and indentured servants, and invited his followers to do the
same.
As early as 1908, the Methodist Episcopal Church adopted the first
social creed, dealing exclusively with labor practices. The creed called
for "a living wage in every industry," the abolition of child labor,
regulation of labor conditions for women, a reduction in work hours and a
one-day-in-seven release from labor and a living wage.
Today we continue to believe that "persons come before profits."
That’s putting beliefs into action. That’s church.
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