When it comes to living abundantly, being advocates for justice and against oppression are also important to the spiritual health of Christians.
For more than 150 years, United Methodist Women have been committed to this kind of spiritual health, according to Becky Warren, president of the Oregon-Idaho Conference UMW, who writes the following:
In Scripture, the Wesleyan tradition and church experience, we are called to be advocates for justice. Oppression in the form of personal actions and systemic -isms contradict God’s will for all of creation and societies. The Social Principles of the United Methodist Church 2017-2020 “are an expression of the common ground we share, reflecting our priorities and helping us learn about and advocate for vulnerable peoples and a vulnerable planet.” These Social Principles share a vision of a “just and equitable world.” Resources from United Methodist Women include spiritual growth, social action and education opportunities.
Check out the National UMW website: unitedmethodistwomen.org and the Oregon-Idaho United Methodist Women umoi.org for information about Faith Talks, Justice Issue Priorities for 2021-2024, and 2021 Mission u classes. Priorities are the “Criminalization of Communities of Color: Interrupt the School-to-Prison Pipeline” and “Climate Justice: Just Energy for All.” At Mission u the spiritual growth studies are “Finding Peace in an Anxious World” and “Bearing Witness in the Kin-dom: Living into the Church’s Moral Witness through Radical Discipleship” and the issue study is “Pushout – The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.”
