Call for feedback from United Methodists across the Connection
WASHINGTON — The draft of the revised Social
Principles was released Thursday after years of listening and writing
sessions. United Methodists are invited to weigh in on the content
throughout the following months.
The draft and the mechanism through which individuals can submit comment are accessible at www.umcjustice.org/sp2020.
The draft and subsequent materials are available in English, French, Portuguese and Swahili.
General Conference in 2012 tasked the General Board of Church and
Society with conducting listening sessions across the connection. From
these listening sessions, Church and Society concluded that the Social
Principles needed to be more theologically grounded, more globally
relevant, and more succinct. At the 2016 General Conference, Church and
Society was further tasked with bringing revised Social Principles to
the 2020 General Conference.
“The current draft of the Social Principles is very much a work in
progress,” stated Dr. Randall Miller, vice president of the General
Board of Church and Society and chair of the Social Principles Task
Force. “Very often in our Church what is made public is close to a
finished draft, but in this case the GBCS Board and the members of the
Writing Team made a very deliberate decision to make this working draft
available for comments and suggestions by United Methodists from around
the world. As much as humanly possible, we want the new Social
Principles to reflect the diversity of our worldwide connection.”
“The Social Principles strengthen the witness of United Methodists
across the world,” said the Rev. Neal Christie, assistant general
secretary for education and leadership formation at Church and Society.
“These words reflect who we aspire to be as a Christian community
engaged in the timely realities of our world. I hope this revision
process energizes United Methodists to use the Social Principles in
their congregations and communities.”
Readers of the draft will notice that two sections are not drafted:
“Human Sexuality” and “Rights of Persons of All Sexual Orientations and
Gender Identities.” Church and Society has decided to be informed by the
actions of the special session of the General Conference in regards to
the content for these sections. Following the called session of the
General Conference in 2019, language will be developed in preparation
for the 2020 General Conference.
“This has been a yearslong process, and we are excited about this
next step,” shared the Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe, general secretary of
the General Board of Church and Society. “I am grateful for the hundreds
of United Methodists who have devoted time to this endeavor in service
to the Church, and urge everyone to read the draft and submit feedback.”
The opportunity to weigh in on the draft will run until the end of
August. At which point, an editorial team will compile the feedback and
edit the document for presentation to the General Board of Church and
Society.
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