Pastor Patricia’s Pauses

As we enter into May, I thought we would look more into the Book of Discipline to see what it says about “Our Social Creed”. In the 2016 Book of Discipline, the Social Creed can be found on page 144. It says:

We believe in God, Creator of the world; and in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of creation. We believe in the Holy Spirit, through whom we acknowledge God’s gifts, and we repent of our sin in misusing these gifts to idolatrous ends. We affirm the natural world as God’s handiwork and dedicate ourselves to its preservation, enhancement, and faithful use by humankind. We joyfully receive for ourselves and others the blessings of community, sexuality, marriage, and the family. We commit ourselves to the rights of men, women, children, youth, young adults, the aging, and people with disabilities; to improvement of the quality of life; and to the rights and dignity of all persons. We believe in the right and duty of persons to work for the glory of God and the good of themselves and others and in the protection of their welfare in so doing; in the rights to property as a trust from God, collective bargaining, and responsible consumption; and in the elimination of economic and social distress. We dedicate ourselves to peace throughout the world, to the rule of justice and law among nations, and to individual freedom for all people of the world. We believe in the present and final triumph of God’s Word in human affairs and gladly accept our commission to manifest the life of the gospel in the world. Amen.

One of my favorite doctrines of the United Methodist Church is the church’s awareness of its responsibility to the social needs of people. This doctrine puts our words into actions. We cannot stand idly by when human rights violations are happening in our own country or in other areas of the world. The United Methodist church stands firmly on the side of the underdog, fighting for human dignity for all people, regardless of their gender, their race, their age, or their disabilities. Certainly, the church models after how Jesus treated people as well. May we continue to work for justice of all people in the world!