Site
Contents
 |
General Information about the Area Office
North Indiana Conference Office
South Indiana Conference Office
Prayer Guides
(Courtesy of the NIC Prayer Team)
Area United Methodist
Foundation
For resources to assist your congregation in welcoming guests,
click here
Seashore District Volunteer Center VIM project -- Completed
Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodists together |
Nov./Dec. 2004 |
Church and Society to study Social Creed, end magazine
WASHINGTON (Newscope) -- In his report to the recently held organizing meeting of the General Board of Church and Society, General Secretary James Winkler sought support to study the United Methodist Social Creed in advance of its 100th anniversary and announced plans to discontinue publication of the agency's magazine, Christian Social Action.
The Methodist Social Creed was first adopted in 1908 and was revised in 1972. While the Discipline recommends it for frequent use in Sunday worship, Winkler said the creed, found in the Discipline, ¶166, "is not particularly pleasing as a unison prayer." The new board agreed to create a five-member task force to revise the creed for eventual presentation to the 2008 General Conference. The goals for the project would be to make it better suited for worship (perhaps set to music) and to look at present challenges in the church and world in a manner consistent with UM doctrinal standards and theological tasks.
For three years the board has been sending the Christian Social Action magazine to every local church free of charge. Winkler, while praising the benefits of reaching out to local churches, announced that the staff has concluded that it would be poor stewardship of resources to continue the print publication.
The 2004 November/December issue will be the last in print. Winkler said the agency would redirect resources into improving communication through Internet and Web-based publications. CSA was founded as engage when The Methodist Church and The Evangelical United Brethren were merging. The previous Methodist magazine, Concern, ended in early 1968 after a decade of existence. In 1973, engage merged with the United Church of Christ's magazine, Social Action. The UCC eventually dropped out of the joint effort; and in 1987, the magazine became Christian Social Action.
While new subscriptions continue to arrive from a drive to convert people to paid subscriptions, GBCS has determined that ending the publication is the best course of action.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008