What's New in the Book of Resolutions, Part 4: The Political Community

All articles in this series may be found here as they are published.

• The Political Community now includes 72 resolutions, 22 of them new.
• The subtopics now included in this section reveal an awareness of direct political action The United Methodist Church can take to address them in the church and its societies.
• While a US-centric perspective continues in some of these new resolutions, others reflect a growing appreciation of the worldwide nature of the church's witness and social teaching. 

With the reorganization of the Social Principles in 2024, the fourth section of the Book of Resolutions, The Political Community, has expanded more than all others. It is now the largest section, including 72 resolutions. Of these, 22 are new.

The reorganization brings a number subtopics that had been under other sections into this section for the first time. The largest number of these were previously categorized under The Social Community. These include “Health Care” (“Health Care,” now includes the former “Mental Health”), “Children and Young People” (formerly two separate sections), “Indigenous, Native and Aboriginal Communities” (formerly “Native Americans”), “Elders and the Aging” (formerly “Aging”), “Women and Girls” (formerly “Women”), “Migrants, Immigration, and Refugees” (formerly “Immigration”), “People with Disabilities (formerly “Accessibility/Equal Access”).

From The World Community in the previous Social Principles, The Political Community now also includes Government Responsibilities (formerly “Nations and Cultures”) and “War and Military Service (formerly “War and the Military”).

Entirely new sub-topics, several with entirely new content, include “Civil Disobedience” (new resolution), “Restorative Justice,” (one relocated from “Criminal Justice”), and “Religious Minorities” (two new resolutions).

These category changes represent a shift in awareness in The United Methodist Church. A large number of issues we had considered to be “social” are now understood to have significant political impacts that can be addressed effectively through political means. There is also a heightened awareness in the subtopics of the degree to which previous approaches to political issues had been driven by the politics of the United States rather than on political matters that have worldwide applicability.

Increased Focus on Children Worldwide

Of the 22 new resolutions included in The Political Community, 6 address children. “Child Incarceration” (Resolution 4151) is a first step toward calling United Methodists toward taking decisive action to end child incarceration, including in juvenile detention centers, worldwide. “The Church Caring for Palestinian Children” (Resolution 4217) focuses on calling attention to the incarceration of children of Palestinians. Resolution 4128 (“The Rights of the Child”) states “the worldwide United Methodist Church encourages and expects all countries to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child… [and]… make policy that enforces the content of that convention. Resolution 4219 (“Addressing Israeli Detention of Children”) covers much of the same ground as Resolution 4217 but with a focus on specific actions by the United States: “to adopt legislation preventing the United States from financing Israel’s military detention, interrogation, abuse and ill-treatment of Palestinian children, and … to proceed with ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.”

While the previous five resolutions have focused primarily on issues related to rights for children generally, “The Girl Child” (4241) addresses female children specifically, and from a global perspective, as its recommendations are based on the Report of the Secretary-General on the Girl Child to the 2017 United Nations General Assembly. The resolution calls on United Methodists at all levels of the denomination, worldwide, to “ensure access to inclusive and equitable education for girls,” improve access to safe water and sanitary conditions when they are menstruating while also reducing stigma around menstruation, advocate for the nutritional support and reproductive health education and services they need related to puberty, menstruation and prevention and treatment of HIV, and work to end child marriage, female genital mutilation, and other practices that harm and exploit girls.  

People with Disabilities

The second highest concentration of new resolutions is found in a series of five related to people with disabilities. Resolution 4282 reminds the denomination of the advocacy, education and empowerment roles of the the DisAbiilty Ministries Committee, which is related to the work of the General Commission on Religion and Race.

Resolution 4283, “Disabilities and the Ordination Process” notes that committees and boards of ordained ministry sometimes improperly conclude that a person with disabilities is incapable of functioning competently in ordained or licensed ministry. Instead, the proper question is whether, with reasonable accommodations, a given disabled person may be effective.

“Mental Health Discrimination in Disability Compensation” (Resolution 4284) addresses disparities in or the entire lack of disability insurance coverage for disabling conditions related to mental health and calls on the General Board of Church and Society to advocate worldwide for the end of this discrimination against persons with disabling mental health conditions.

Resolution 2585, “Overcoming Ableism and Audism,” defines these two terms, provides a theological warrant for addressing them, and calls on general agencies, annual conferences, bishops and local churches to take a variety of specific steps to overcome them in the life of The United Methodist Church. Among other things, general agencies are to do a thorough review of all of their publications, training materials, policies and resources to ensure that ableism and audism are nowhere supported nor committed by them, and annual conferences are to create a staff position focused on helping congregations fully include people with disabilities and people who are d/Deaf in their ministries and commonlife.

“The Church and Disability” (Resolution 2586) functions as a kind of manifesto for the entire denomination, at all levels, to understand, fully include, and become effective advocates for people with disabilities of all kinds. It also includes directives to annual conferences, local churches and several general agencies to generate awareness and resources to help the church do this.

Human Rights

Four new resolutions address human rights.  Three are worldwide in scope; one focuses on the United States. Topics addressed include rights to address injustice (Resolution 4120), full human rights for all women (Resolution 4240), religious freedom (Resolution 4300) and voting rights in the United States (Resolution 4103).

“Right to Peacefully Address Injustice” (Resolution 4120) cites the underlying commitment of The United Methodist Church to support non-violent means of addressing injustices, including but not limited to demonstrations and boycotts. It states “The United Methodist Church opposes any interference by any local, regional, or national government in the right to address injustice through non-violent economic means” and calls on United Methodists to send this resolution, in full, to their government officials at all levels and to advocate against suppressing such means.

“The Status of Women: Toward Realizing Human Rights for All Women” (Resolution 4240) notes critical areas of concern for full equality for women in the arenas of economics, power and decision-making, violence against women, education, health and reproductive health care, the environment, media, and armed conflict. Citing that “The United Methodist Church recognizes that equality between women and men in a just, sustainable society is a matter of biblical righteousness,” it calls on the denomination to urge all nations to sign and live into international agreements affirming the equality of women and to examine and change laws and corporate policies to ensure women have the same access to education, health care, career and decision-making opportunities as men.

“Religious Freedom: Grounded in Love” (Resolution 4300) is the denomination’s first comprehensive statement on the topic of religious freedom. With multiple citations from scriptures, particularly the Epistles, the resolution calls upon United Methodists and their organizations to honor and engage in interfaith dialog and sharing with people of other religions, act with others to protect religious freedom wherever it is threatened by individuals, organizations, or governments, care for those who are persecuted because of their religion, and support UN and other international efforts to protect religious freedom as a human right.

Resolution 4103 (“Voting Rights Protections in the United States”) cites the history of the initial constrictions and ongoing expansion of voting rights to cover all adults citizens of The United States, regardless of sex, race, or class. It notes as well a growing body of judicial, legislative, and executive actions at all levels of government in this country to re-constrain these rights, especially against Black and Native Americans and persons formerly incarcerated. It calls upon the Department of Justice to ensure the widest possible participation of all citizens in elections and upon the denomination at all levels in the United States to report voter suppression efforts to appropriate governmental authorities, to advocate for the end of felony disenfranchisement, and to strengthen the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Immigration

Two new resolutions related to immigration call The United Methodist Church to a variety of specific actions. “Concerning Immigration” asks the General Board of Church and Society to contact immigration-related entities in the United States to “demand” the reunification of families separated by deportation, the end of policies allowing for the detention of families and individuals seeking asylum, public inspection of detention facilities, and legislation enacting comprehensive immigration reform that is humane and treats all migrants with dignity.

Resolution 4276, “The United Methodist Church Is a Sanctuary Church” cites examples from scripture and the social teaching of The United Methodist Church as grounds to declare that The United Methodist Church is a sanctuary church. The resolution seeks not to force but to encourage “our local churches to be in ministry with immigrants and refugees." It asserts that "The United Methodist Church is on the side of justice and radical hospitality for immigrants and refugees.” It also asks the General Board of Church and Society to provide resources to local church for how they can be in ministry with immigrants and refugees as sanctuary congregations.

Older Adults

Two new resolutions address older adults. “Abuse of Older Adults” (Resolution 4232) directs The United Methodist Church to call attention to the reality and increasing prevalence of elder abuse. Resolution 4233, “Aging in the United States: The Church’s Response” is a US-centric approach to the situation of older adults. It calls governments to end all discriminatory policies against older adults and to implement laws and policies that provide for their care in life and their dignity in dying. It details actions for denominational policymakers, general agencies, annual conferences, local churches, retirement and long term-care facilities and educational institutions to ensure that older adults related to these ministries have full and meaningful lives. It concludes by calling on Discipleship Ministries to develop a new resolution that would address these kinds of concerns from a worldwide, rather than US-centric, perspective.

Other Issues

The final three new resolutions address diverse subjects. “In Support of Vaccination” (Resolution 4208) encourages all United Methodists and all people everywhere to make full use of government-authorized vaccination programs, notes the denomination does not support United Methodists who seek to use religious claims to refuse vaccination, and urges its local churches and related entities to act as host sites for vaccination clinics as they are able.  

Resolution 4163 (“Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide, War Crimes”) cites the reality of these atrocities, defines each using precedents in international law, and asserts the duty of every nation to protect, and, if need be, take action to end them. It calls on United Methodists to be become and remain aware of such atrocities as well and how to prevent them where possible, to be present alongside people experiencing these things, and to seek to be involved in non-violent means both to de-escalate such situations and to ensure that justice is done through proper means such as the International Criminal Court.

Finally, the New Federation of Asian American United Methodists declared their opposition to the persecution of Christians and other violence perpetrated by Hindu Nationalist groups in India, such as Hindutva, and calls United Methodists in the United States to make the State Department and the House Foreign Affairs Committee aware of these actions against religious minorities and end all US funding of Hindutva groups.  

Taken together, the 22 new resolutions in The Political Community reflect at least some awareness of the need for a greater appreciation of the denomination’s worldwide character, even if a number of them were written with the US-based concerns and US ways of addressing them in mind. If the regionalization amendments approved by the General Conference are ratified by aggregate vote of the annual conferences, a number of resolutions in this section may no longer appear in future editions of the Book of Resolutions, as they would be handled primarily within the US Regional Conference.

As The United Methodist Church lives more fully into its worldwide identity, perhaps there may be a re-thinking of the title of this section in the Social Principles. “The Political Community” seems to suggest there is only one viable version of political life, or perhaps one best model for all. Renaming this to something like “Our Political Communities,” with subtopics making space for resolutions relating to the varieties of political communities within the embrace of the United Methodist Church, might better reflect the denomination’s worldwide nature.