Rev. Rachel Kwashe, Chair of the Church & Society Committee, introduced Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe, former General Secretary of the General Board of Church & Society, for the opening session on Friday, which focused on the Social Principles of The United Methodist Church.

Rev. Dr. Henry-Crowe began by telling the story of the Social Principles while volunteer artists worked on stage behind her, creating art that would be revealed later in the presentation. This session fell on Juneteenth, and Rev. Dr. Henry-Crowe connected the end of slavery in the United States to the anti-slavery work of John Wesley. Wesley advocated for better social conditions across many areas of public life, leading to the first Social Creed in 1908. The most recent revision of the Social Principles was the result of many United Methodists from around the world coming together to examine critical global events. The NC Conference’s own LaNella Smith and Bishop Hope Morgan Ward were part of the group that worked on these new Social Principles which were submitted to General Conference.

The newly revised Social Principles has four sections: Community of Creation, Economic Community, Social Community, and Political Community. Each section was represented by one of the artist groups on the stage. Rev. Kwashe and others led attendees in singing a song about how the church is the people all around the world. Rev. Dr. Henry-Crowe led a reading of the Preamble to the new Social Principles.

Henry-Crowe continued through each section of the Social Principles, listing the topics and highlighting quotes and stories from each. She consistently noted how issues were perceived differently across cultures.

The artists on stage revealed their artwork made entirely from trash. Each group presented a decorated poster board representing the topics in each section of the Social Principles. A video showed “how things can be made from trash and how joy and hope can come.” The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura in Paraguay, which was featured in the video, uses musical instruments made from trash. Rev. Dr. Henry-Crowe concluded her presentation with a reference to additional resources on the Social Principles. 

Article written by Laura Dallas
Photo by Chris Daniel