Public input needed on social principle revisions

The General Board of Church and Society is in the process of drafting a major revision of the social principles of the United Methodist Church and they are looking for review, comments and suggestions from every corner of Methodism – including the Oregon-Idaho Conference.  This is the first major revision since the 1968-1972 quadrennium which was necessitated by the merger of the Untied Brethren and the Methodist Episcopal churches.

A draft of the proposed revisions for the social principles will be made public later in April and the public will be able to download a copy from the Board of Church and Society website, www.umcjustice.org. There will also be instructions for how to submit comments and suggestions.

In addition, there will be an opportunity to participate in a group discussion about the revisions on Wednesday, June 13 in Boise. This will be in the afternoon prior to the start of Annual Conference.  The event will be held at Boise First UMC. The opening worship of Conference will also be at Boise First UMC, so participants will have time to eat and get back to the church the start of Annual Conference.

The event is open for anyone to participate. Organizers would like to see a broad array of perspectives and participants interested in social principals to be represented. The church encourages younger people to attend since they will be the ones living into the social principles as they are revised. 

All areas of the social principles will be discussed, except for those dealing with human sexuality because those revisions will be dealt with by the Commission on a Way Forward and the special General Conference session in 2019. 

All of the other revisions made to social principles will be voted on at the 2020 General Conference.

To attend the discussion in Boise on June 13, please let organizers know as soon as possible.  Contact Donna Boe at donnaboe@cableone.net or Claudia Roberts at clarobb@juno.com soon so that an appropriate-sized room can be reserved.

If unable to attend the Boise event, there are opportunities to consider changes to social principles through group discussion, individual churches, districts or specific groups like RUMS, UMW, UMM, Youth events, could host a discussion.  There are written instructions on how to conduct these events at the General Board of Church and Society website including a short introductory video. All responses and comments need to be submitted to GBCS by the end of this summer.