Petition to the General Conference, 2004,
The United Methodist Church

In accordance with the instructions for preparation of petitions,
the following is submitted for action by the General Conference, 2004.

PAGE NUMBER: Page 1 of 5

SUGGESTED TITLE/SUBJECT MATTER: The United Methodist Church, Justice and World Hunger

PETITION CONCERNS: New Resolution

FINANACIAL IMPLICATIONS: None

PETITION TEXT:

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the throngs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly: your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. (Isaiah 58:6-8, NRSV)

I. Introduction

In 1996, the World Food summit held in Rome, Italy, reaffirmed “the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger.” It declared that urgent action must be taken to create food security. “Food security exists when all people at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy live.”

Although globally enough food is produced to feed everyone, 840 million people are undernourished, 799 million of them in the developing world. Children and elderly are particularly at risk. Each year, six million children die as a result of hunger. Although hunger is also a problem in cities, seventy-five percent of the world’s hungry people live in rural areas.

The reasons for this continuing tragedy are complex and interrelated. Some causes of world hunger are:

  • Drought and other weather-related problems;
  • Poverty and greed;
  • Inequitable distribution of wealth and unjust economic systems
  • Insufficient food production in developing nations;
  • Use of arable land for non-food and cash crops such as tobacco;
  • Increasing emphasis on export-oriented agriculture;
  • Over-fishing of the oceans;
  • Population growth;
  • Internal displacement of people;
  • Wasteful consumerism in richer countries;
  • Militarism, war, and civil unrest;
  • HIV/AIDS pandemic;
  • Corruption in governments;
  • Lending policies of the World Bank (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF);
  • Production of unnecessary goods and services that waste resources; and
  • Environmental degradation;
  • Use of farm subsidies in richer nations that export to poor countries causing them to reject their own products;
  • Lack of participating in decision making processes and access to land by women;
  • Poor regulations on Multi-national corporations;
  • Dwindling water resources.

(Refer to 2000 Book of Resolutions, “Global Economic Justice,” # 195, section III for more detailed information.)

It is especially important to note that the causes of hunger are intricately related to the problems of poverty and greed. Hunger cannot be dissociated from people and systems that keep people in poverty.

II. Theological Bases for Action

The Bible reveals that, from the earliest times, God’s faithful community has been concerned about hunger and poverty. Helping those in need was not simply a matter of charity, but of responsibility, righteousness, and justice (Isaiah 58:6-8; Jeremiah 22:3; Matthew 25:31-46). For example, the Israelites were commanded to leave the corners of their fields and the gleanings of harvests for the poor and aliens (Leviticus 19:9-10). Jesus taught that whatever people do to “the lease of these,” they also do to him (Matthew 25: 31-46). That Jesus was born to a poor, unmarried woman who was living in a small nation occupied and oppressed by a might foreign empire, concretely reveals God’s full identification with poor, powerless, and oppressed people.

As Christians, a key question that we must ask ourselves is: What does God require and enable us individually and corporately to do? We know that God loves and cares for all creation. Jesus stressed that the two greatest commandments were to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40). He also challenged the rich young ruler who said he was keeping all of the commandments to sell all of his possessions and give his money to the poor (Matthew 19:1626).

In the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the promise and the first fruits of redemption were brought to sinful and selfish humanity. Jesus’ own concern for human need in his ministry is a model for the church’s concern. His opposition to those who would ignore the needs of the neighbors make clear that we grossly misunderstand and fail to grasp God’s grace if we imagine that God overlooks, condones, or easily tolerates our indifference to the plight of our neighbors, our greed and selfishness, or our systems of injustice and oppression.

We believe that God’s Holy Spirit continues to move today, refashioning lives, tearing down unjust structures, restoring community, engendering faith, hope and love. The work of the Holy Spirit impels us to take action even when perfect solutions are not apparent. We engage in the struggle for bread and justice for all in the confidence that God goes before us and guides us. That struggle includes examination of our personal and congregational lives in the light of God’s love and concern for all and Jesus’ question, “Who is your neighbor?”

As United Methodists, we also look to our ongoing tradition of social concern. Methodism’s founder John Wesley preached and wrote about the importance of simpler lifestyles. He emphasized ethical stewardship of time, money, and resources as important means to enable ministry with those suffering from hunger and poverty. Wesley preached the gospel to people who were poor, visited them, and lived with them. He donated most of the money that he earned – not just a tithe (ten percent of his income) – to the church and charitable ends.

Wesley’s teachings about ministry and frugal lifestyle stand in stark contrast to today’s reality. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 20% of the world’s people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures whereas the poorest 20% account for only 1.3% (1998). For example:

The richest fifth consumes 45% of all mean and fish – the poorest fifth 5%.

The richest fifth consumes 58% of total energy, the poorest fifth less than 4%.

The richest fifth consumes 84% of all paper, the poorest fifth 1.1%.

In faithfulness to our understanding of God’s good intentions for all peoples, we, as members of The United Methodist Church, set for ourselves, our congregations, institutions, and agencies no lesser goals than repentance for the existence of human hunger and increased commitment to end world hunger and poverty.

III. A Call for United Methodists

Change is not easy. Movement toward the abolishment of hunger and poverty requires commitment and stamina. All nations, particularly the developed nations, must examine and modify those values, attitudes, and institutions that are the basic causes of poverty and underdevelopment, the primary sources of world and economic hunger. United Methodists must act corporately and individually.

  1. We call for The United Methodist Church to engage in an educational effort that would provide information about the scale of world and domestic hunger and its causes and to engage in study and effort to integrate the church’s missional programs into a coherent policy with respect to a just, sustainable, and participatory development.
  2. We call for The United Methodist Church to develop effective public policy strategies and educate the constituency on hunger issues through its appropriate agencies that would enable church members to participate in efforts to:
    1. decrease mother/child mortality;
    2. promote environmental justice and sustainable practices for using and restoring natural resources;
    3. provide safe drinking water and sustainable water-management systems;
    4. support community organizing to effect change in systems that keep people poor and powerless;
    5. organize and work to retain programs such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), food stamps, and food co-ops;
    6. develop and implement agricultural policies that increase food production on family farms, provide just wages and working conditions for farm workers, and provide incentives for farmers to produce crops using appropriate technology with equitable access to land by all;
    7. become advocates for reduction of military spending and reallocation of resources to programs that provide human services, convert military facilities to provide for civilian needs, and protect and restore the environment;
    8. become advocates of trade policies that alleviate economic disparities between rich and poor countries while protecting labor and human rights; environmental, health, and safety standards; and respecting the need for agricultural and food security;
    9. protect craftspeople and artisans from exploitative trade practices; and
    10. support community-based economic development that provides jobs; recycles money within communities; provides low-cost, high q\-quality services to meet basic human needs; and combats unemployment and underemployment.
  3. We specifically call upon each local church, cooperative parish, district, and conference to:
    1. increase sharing resources through support of church and community agencies dedicated to eliminating hunger and poverty at home and abroad;
    2. become involved in Fair Trade activism through efforts such as purchasing fair trade products from fair trade companies such as SERVV International, asking grocery and specialty stores to carry fair trade coffee and other fair trade items, and participating in UMCOR’s Coffee Project. (More ideas are on Global Exchange’s web site at: http://www.global exchange.org);
    3. promote World Food Day, which is observed on October 16 (see http://www.worldfooddayuse.org) and National Hunger Awareness Day observed on June 5 (see http://www.hungerday.org).
  4. We call on United Methodists to strive for “Christian perfection” and to recover the Wesleyan tradition of simpler lifestyles and generosity in personal service and financial giving. Therefore, individuals are encouraged to:
    1. study and discuss John Wesley’s sermons (and related scripture passages) that address “acts of mercy” and Christian stewardship, including “The More Excellent Way,” “The Use of Money,” “On the Danger or Riches,” “On the Danger of Increasing Riches,” “On Dress,” and “On Visiting the Sick.” 8
    2. simplify their lifestyles, moving away from consumerism and toward caring;
    3. compost, recycle, conserve energy, practice or support organic gardening, and participate in other environment-friendly practices;
    4. commit themselves to give more of their time and money to programs that address hunger and poverty including United Methodist Advance projects and UMCOR’s World Hunger/Poverty Advance (#98920);
    5. participate in projects such as “The Souper Bowl of Caring” and Bread for the World’s annual “Offering of Letters.”

8 These sermons are available in books and online at http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/.

DATE: November 24, 2003

SUBMITTED BY: Kathryn J. Johnson, on behalf of

PETITIONER IDENTIFICATION: Methodist Federation for Social Action
(endorsing petition as authored by GBGM)

TELEPHONE: 202-546-8806
FAX: 202-546-6811
E-MAIL: kj@mfsaweb.org

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