Solon United Methodist Church

Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our world

 

The United Methodist Church has been engaged in a long eight-year process to revise the social principles that underlie the church positions on a long list of social issues.  The goal was to address social concerns facing communities and individuals and to create a document that is more focused, succinct and globally relevant with a strong theological grounding. Writers from UMCs from around the world drafted the revised the principles, solicited and considered feedback from over 4000 members and completed and translated the Revised Principles into eight languages.

The UMC Church and Society launched a new website, www.umcsocialprinciples2020.org, to introduce the revised Social Principles to the Church. Here you can access a copy of the Revised Social Principles. There are introductory videos that explain the principles, why they were revised and how the new document is more globally relevant.

The Church challenges United Methodists to pray, study and work in areas of social concern.

To that end, the Solon UMC Church and Society Committee will be sharing the Revised Principles on selected social topics through the newsletter and website.

We will share the updated revised position and provide a link to the Fact and Faith Sheets which detail what the Bible says, what the Church says, what the facts say and what actions you can take for the Social Justice Issue of the Month.

This month:    Poverty and Income Inequality

(Taken from SOCIAL PRINCIPLES 2020: United Methodist Revised Social Principles)

As United Methodists, we follow in the footsteps of our founder, John Wesley, who sought to improve the lives of those who suffered from debilitating conditions such as poverty, starvation, illiteracy, imprisonment, slavery, addictions and disease.

We decry the widening gap between the rich and the poor and the concentration of wealth in the hands of ever smaller percentages of the global population. We lament that too many of the world’s people lack the basic resources necessary for survival and pledge ourselves to work toward the eradication of the roots and effects of poverty. We further lament the multiple causes of poverty, such as war, famine, diseases and desertification.

We reject religious teachings that view the accumulation of wealth as a sign of God’s favor and poverty as a sign of God’s disfavor. We confess that we have not always heeded the words of Jesus, who preached good news to people living in poverty, taught that they were not far from God’s coming reign, and challenged the rich young man to give up all that he had to follow him (Luke 6:20; Matt. 19:23–25).

We commit ourselves to be in active ministry with impoverished communities by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and by supporting their efforts to secure equal opportunities and meet human needs, including food, water, health care and education. We reject preferential treatment in the church on the basis of wealth and income. We also commit to work toward eradicating unjust practices, policies, and systems that have condemned entire generations to live in unrelenting poverty.

Faith and Facts Card Hunger and Poverty

Please contact Keela Herr at keela.herr@gmail.com if you have questions or would like to join the SUMC Church and Society Ministry Team.

 

 

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Welcoming Statement

(Adopted January 23, 2018) 

Church and Society Ministry Team of the Solon United Methodist Church

Solon, Iowa

The Church & Society Ministry Team of SUMC welcomes & accepts ALL people regardless of where they are on their life’s journey.

• If you are faithful, doubting, or seeking we welcome you,
• If you are 3 days old, 30 years old, or 103 years old,
• If you were born in Mexico, Syria or anywhere else in the world,
• If you are male, female, transgender, or gender non-conforming,
• If you are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual or asexual,
• If you are a person with a disability, without a disability, or a person with mental health issues,
• If you are single, married, divorced, widowed, with children, without children, or partnered,
• If you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, Socialist, or not registered to vote,
• If you are Asian, Hispanic, African American, Native American, White, or multi-racial,
• If you have, or had, addictions, bankruptcies, or a criminal record,
• If you own your home, rent, live with your parents, or are homeless.

All are welcomed to join us in a journey toward greater Christian love, understanding, and mutual respect.

The Church & Society Ministry Team of the Solon United Methodist Church is committed to fostering a loving, welcoming interfaith community centered in the Good News of Jesus Christ, which is for ALL people. Therefore, in faithfulness to the Gospel and to the best of our ability, we strive to demonstrate our commitment through connecting, igniting and loving all who seek to experience God’s abiding love and to become disciples of Jesus the Christ.