Social Justice Ministries

Social Justice is creating sustainable changes in a community that improves people’s well-being and quality of life personally and collectively. The United Methodist Church has 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, the humane treatment of animals.

The United Methodist Church believes God's love for the world is an active and engaged love, a love seeking justice and liberty. We cannot just be observers. So we care enough about people's lives to risk interpreting God's love, to take a stand, to call each of us into a response, no matter how controversial or complex. The church helps us think and act out a faith perspective, not just responding to all the other "mind-makers-up" that exist in our society."

Social Justice works on a one to one personal and on the community level to show Christ’s love, make disciples and transform society as we believe is within Christ’s vision for the world and God’s kingdom come on earth. Community includes neighborhood, city, state, nation and world.

If someone falls into a well and a traveler hears his/her cry for help, goes over, looks in the well and asks, “How are you?”, then says, “I’ll get you a sandwich”. When he comes back s/he drops a sandwich down the well” that is a work of mercy. If the traveler says, “I’ll go and get a rescue team” and does so that is social justice on a one to one personal basis. After rescuing the person from the well, the traveler, rescue team and other nearby townspeople come together and develop a plan to search out all open wells in the community and fill them to prevent others from falling in, that is community social justice.

For more information on our Social Justice Ministries contact Dale Shotts. Read Dale's Blog.

We Act In Society

"Taking an active stance in society is nothing new for followers of John Wesley. He set the example for us to combine personal and social piety. Ever since predecessor churches to United Methodism flourished in the United States, we have been known as a denomination involved with people's lives, with political and social struggles. having local to international mission implications. Such involvement is an expression of the personal change we experience in our baptism and conversion.