Board of Church and Society meets in San Antonio

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Board of Church and Society meets in San Antonio
Approved grants, resolutions, budget and statement on General Conference 2019

Nov. 6, 2018
Contact: Warren Gill, wgill@umcjustice.org
(202) 770-1332

WASHINGTON — The board of directors for the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church met Oct. 24-26, 2018, in San Antonio, Texas. 

The board received a report from the Social Principles revision task force. The task force conducted a survey, which received more than 2,500 responses. The task force also reported 56 public conversations on the proposed draft were held throughout the denomination. More than 2,000 people participated in these conversations. The task force and the editorial team continues to process all of the feedback it received and is working on edits to the document. The team will write the sections regarding human sexuality following the conclusion of the called General Conference in February 2019. The full board will consider the revised Social Principles at its spring 2019 meeting.

The board also received a report from several of its members who toured the U.S.-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas, immediately before the board meeting. They reflected on what they learned and asked the board to issue a statement about the Trump administration’s plan to send military troops to the border. That statement, released Oct. 29, opposed the decision to send U.S. troops to the border and called upon United Methodists to prayer and action on behalf of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Videos of their report are posted on Church and Society’s Facebook page.

The board issued a statement of values to help guide delegates to the special session of General Conference to be held in February 2019. The board did not endorse any of the proposed plans, but did urge delegates to choose a plan that “maintain[s] our unity in the midst of diversity, recognize[s] the sacred worth of all people, and [is] broadly inclusive in terms of the mission and ministries of The United Methodist Church.”

The board approved $70,000 in grants to ministries working to promote justice. Ten grants were awarded from the Ethnic Local Church grant fund, and one was awarded from the Human Relation Day grant fund.

The board joined a statement celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The board endorsed four petitions to be submitted to the 2020 United Methodist General Conference. The petitions focused on adoption, the world’s population, pornography and sexual violence, and genocide. 

The board approved a $6.9 million operating budget for 2019.

The next board meeting will be April 24-27, 2019, in Columbia, Maryland. 

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