The 1908 Social Creed of the Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, a predecessor of The United Methodist Church, adopted a Social Creed that called for an end to child labor, a fair wage and safety standards.
The Methodist Episcopal Church stands –
For equal rights and complete justice for all (people) in all stations of life.
For the principle of conciliation and arbitration in industrial dissensions.
For the protection of the worker from dangerous machinery, occupational diseases, injuries and mortality.
For the abolition of child labor.
For such regulation of the conditions of labor for women as shall safe guard the physical and moral health of the community.
For the suppression of the “sweating system.”
For the gradual and reasonable reduction of hours of labor to the lowest practical point, with work for all; and for that degree of leisure for all which is the condition of the highest human life.
For a release from employment one day in seven.
For a living wage in every industry.
For the highest wage that each industry can afford, and for the most equitable division of the products of industry that can ultimately be devised.
For the recognition of the Golden Rule and the mind of Christ as the supreme law of society and the sure remedy for all social ills.
You can learn more about the 1908 Social Creed on The United Methodist Church’s website.