You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
There is no other commandment greater than these.
-Mark 12:30-31

This commandment is at the heart of the United Methodist faith. Throughout the church's history, Methodists have had a concern for social justice and holding true to Christian principles. Dating back hundreds of years, Methodists have expressed opposition to slave trade, to smuggling, and to cruel treatment of prisoners. Listed below are seven key social principles of the United Methodist Church.

 

All creation, including water, air, soil, and energy, is the Lord's and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it. The United Methodist Church supports the conservation of energy and responsible development of all energy resources. Technology and science are recognized as legitimate uses and interpretations of God's natural world.

Marriage: We affirm the sanctity of the marriage covenant that is expressed in love, mutual support, personal commitment, and shared fidelity between a man and a woman. We reject social norms that assume different standards for women than for men in marriage.

Divorce: When a married couple is estranged beyond reconciliation, divorce is a regrettable alternative. Other covenantal relationships, such as the nurture and support of children, remain after divorce. Divorce does not preclude a new marriage.

Human Sexuality: Homosexual persons, no less than heterosexual persons, are individuals of sacred worth. Although we do consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching, we affirm God's grace is available to all. We encourage families and churches to not reject or condemn their homosexual members and friends. The United Methodist Church commits to be in ministry for and with all people.

Abortion: The beginning of life and the ending of life are the God-given boundaries of human existence. While individuals have always had some control over life, we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother. While we recognize there are tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify the legal option of abortion, we unconditionally reject it as a means of gender or birth control.

All persons are equally valuable in the sight of God, regardless of religion, age, gender, disability, ethnicity, race, and sexual orientation. We deplore acts of hate or violence against groups or people based on these characteristics. We support basic rights of all people to have equal access to housing, education, employment, medical care, and legal and physical protection.

We support measures that would reduce the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. We further support efforts to revise tax structures and to eliminate governmental support programs that now benefit the wealthy at the expense of other people. Funding and support for charities or other organizations should not be promoted through means of gambling.

While our allegiance to God takes precedence over our allegiance to any state, we acknowledge the vital function of government as a principal vehicle for the ordering of society. We believe it is the duty of Christian citizens to give moral strength and purpose to their respective governments through sober, righteous, and godly living.

 

God's world is one world. The primary moral duty of all nations is to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises between or among them. War is incompatible with the teachings and examples of Christ. All members of a society, including nations, must feel secure in their life and right to live in the world.

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 racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.

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.