Church prioritises equality, inclusivity and truth about poverty

The Methodist Council agreed further work on poverty, equalityand inclusivity when it met at Uplands House in High Wycombe on 13- 15 April.

Council members discussed a number of reports on the issues ofinclusion and diversity, and considered plans to improve the waysthe growing contributions of the diverse communities representedwithin the Church are valued. The Belonging Together project hasinvolved engaging with a range of people and groups within andconnected to the Church.

"This is not about committees and conditions," said BelongingTogether Partnership Officer Katei Kirby. "The Church has aresponsibility to love all God's people, to affirm them, bring themtogether and celebrate them."

The Council also received an update on the Church's work onchallenging the stigma around poverty.

Presenting the report, Public Issues Policy Adviser Paul Morrisonsaid: "One of the things that the Church should do is stand up whenpeople are misrepresented and when people who are in poverty aretreated as less than they are. Everybody is valued, everybody isloved and everybody should be treated with dignity and respect. Wehave to challenge the narrative that people in poverty are somehowless deserving than the rest of society."

The Church, together with the Baptist Union of Great Britain,United Reformed Church and Church of Scotland, produced a report onthese issues which was launched last month. Entitled The lies wetell ourselves, the report says that statistics have beenmanipulated and misused by politicians across the spectrum, as wellas by the media, to support the belief that the poor deserve theirpoverty, and therefore deserve the cuts. The Council commended thereport and associated resources for use by churches and groupsthroughout the UK.

Council members also heard that significant progress had been madeon establishing the Church's new Discipleship and MinistriesLearning Network and discussed the details of the changes. "It isexciting to see the vision of the Methodist Conference for a freshapproach to learning and development becoming real," said JudeLevermore, Interim Head of the Discipleship and MinistriesCluster.

Other matters discussed by the Council included plans to recommendthat the Methodist Conference set up a working group to considerthe implications of the Government's plans to legalise same sexmarriage.

Notes

The Methodist Council meets three times annually to undertakeongoing work on behalf of the Methodist Conference, which is thegoverning body of the Methodist Church. Methodist Conference 2013will take place in London from 4 to 11 July. Visit the MethodistConference website for more information.
The Council papers can be found online here