We’re excited to welcome Chris Logan to The Table this Sunday as our special guest preacher. Chris recently graduated from St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City and is just beginning the ordination process. Chris plans to move to northern California in the coming year to pursue his sense of call to ministry in our region of The Untied Methodist Church.
Worship this Sunday will invite reflection on how our Christian faith relates to Labor Day. Chris’s message will be rooted in Mark 5.1-20 and will challenge us to practice our faith through justice-making.
This week, read and reflect upon our denomination’s statement on poverty. The United Methodist Social Principles (Paragraph 163.E) states:
In spite of general affluence in the industrialized nations, the majority of persons in the world live in poverty. In order to provide basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, education, health care, and other necessities, ways must be found to share more equitably the resources of the world. Increasing technology, when accompanied by exploitative economic practices, impoverishes many persons and makes poverty self-perpetuating. Poverty due to natural catastrophes and environmental changes is growing and needs attention and support. Conflicts and war impoverish the population on all sides, and an important way to support the poor will be to work for peaceful solutions.
As a church, we are called to support the poor and challenge the rich. To begin to alleviate poverty, we support such policies as: adequate income maintenance, quality education, decent housing, job training, meaningful employment opportunities, adequate medical and hospital care, humanization and radical revisions of welfare programs, work for peace in conflict areas and efforts to protect creation’s integrity. Since low wages are often a cause of poverty, employers should pay their employees a wage that does not require them to depend upon government subsidies such as food stamps or welfare for their livelihood.
Because we recognize that the long-term reduction of poverty must move beyond services to and employment for the poor, which can be taken away, we emphasize measures that build and maintain the wealth of poor people, including asset-building strategies such as individual development savings accounts, micro-enterprise development programs, enabling home ownership, and financial management training and counseling. We call upon churches to develop these and other ministries that promote asset-building among the poor. We are especially mindful of the Global South, where investment and micro-enterprise are especially needed. We urge support for policies that will encourage equitable economic growth in the Global South and around the world, providing a just opportunity for all.
Poverty most often has systemic causes, and therefore we do not hold poor people morally responsible for their economic state.
We invite you to reflect on this statement from our global denomination. What encourages you? What troubles you? What questions do you have in relationship to this document?