Join the NC Conference Media Center’s Study Harder Challenge! Your group is invited to expand your circle of influence and try something new by studying resources that apply any of 12 characteristics that will help you think outside the box. Read more about the Study Harder Challenge and download your worksheet.
Challenge: Related to the
Social Principles
The Social Principles of The United Methodist Church are a prayerful and thoughtful effort on the part of the General Conference to speak to the human issues in the contemporary world from a sound biblical and theological foundation as historically demonstrated in United Methodist traditions. First, read the Social Principles. They are available online and in print.
The Social Principles are divided into six broad areas of concern and each area is divided into narrower sections by topic. The Media Center has created pathfinders for each area. Each pathfinder then provides relevant resources for each topic. Click the red links below to view them. The areas and topics on each pathfinder are as follows:
- Culture and Identity
- The Family
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Single Persons
- Women and Men
- Human Sexuality
- Family Violence and Abuse
- Sexual Abuse/Harrassment/Assault
- Abortion
- Faithful Care for Dying Persons
- Suicide
- Pornography
- Bullying
- Rights of Racial and Ethnic Persons
- Rights of Religious Minorities
- Rights of Children
- Rights of Young People
- Rights of the Aging
- Rights of Women
- Rights of Men
- Rights of Immigrants
- Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Equal Rights Regardless of Sexual Orientation
- Population
- Alcohol and Other Drugs
- Rural Life
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Urban-Suburban Life
- Right to Health Care
- Mental Health
- Work and Leisure
- Consumption
- Poverty
- Foreign Workers
- Gambling
- Political Responsibility
- Education
- Civil Obedience and Civil Disobedience
- The Death Penalty
- Criminal Justice and Restorative Justice
- Military Service
- Nations and Cultures, National Power and Responsibility
- War and Peace
By no means do we have comprehensive coverage of each topic, but we have brought together relevant resources in these lists to get you started with learning and discussion.
Companion Resources
The following two resources would be helpful companions to any study of the Social Principles:
Justice in Everyday Life: A Look at the Social Principles of The United Methodist Church by Neal Christie; Discipleship Resources, 2014. This book offers a 5-session study that takes an in-depth look at the Social Principles.
The Social Principles (DVD) by Bishop James S. Thomas; General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church. This 35-minute video explains the origins and meanings of the Social Principles.
Request These Resources
These resources can be borrowed for free by anyone involved with a United Methodist church in the North Carolina Conference. We can even mail them to you! All you need to do is fill out the Resource Request Form.