First Church Social Justice
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:24
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and the break every yoke?
Isaiah 58:6
Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness?...He judged the cause of the poor and needy…Is not this to know me? says the Lord.
Jeremiah 22:15-16
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.
Matthew 23:23
And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your god?
Micah 6:8
The Gospel of Christ knows no religion but social, no holiness bus social holiness. You cannot be holy except as you are engaged in making the world a better place. You do not become holy by keeping yourself pure and clean from the world but by plunging into ministry on behalf of the world’s hurting ones.
John Wesley
United Methodists have a long and rich history of engagement on issues of social concern. John Wesley was a forthright advocate on prison reform, human rights, abuse of spirituous liquors, labor justice, healthcare, slavery, and the humane treatment of animals.
The Methodist Church formally entered into the social justice era in 1908 when the Methodist Episcopal Church adopted the first Social Creed. The creed was primarily a response to miserable working conditions for those working in mines, mills, factories and tenements.
Today, the FUMC Social Justice Team is governed by the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society. The General Board of Church and Society, which was created in 1972, is one of four international general program boards of the United Methodist Church as set out in the UMC Book of Discipline. At that time, the general conference of the United Methodist Church also adopted the church’s first Social Principles, which spell out the church’s position on specific social justice issues.
Today, the Social Justice Team strives to fulfill the mission of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society through the celebration of Justice Days, educating the congregation and others on social justice issues, and encouraging the congregation to participate in advocacy on social justice issues.
