What is the creed of The United Methodist Church? The Social
Creed was originally adopted by the Methodist Episcopal Church
in 1908. “The Methodist Social Creed originated...to express
Methodism's outrage over the lives of the millions of workers in
factories, mines, mills, tenements and company towns....The
Methodist Federation for Social Service immediately took up the
challenge of getting the 1908 General Conference to address the
social crisis. The key strategy was to secure adoption of a
statement on "The Church and Social Problems. " Proponents of
the Social Creed came up with a "list of 11 social reforms the
group believed the church should champion, including the
abolition of child labor and an end to the sweatshop system."
(Interpreter, April 1988) The Social Creed was continually
expanded and revised until, in 1972, it was completely
redesigned and renamed the Social Principles. The Social Creed
now follows the Social Principles in the Book of Discipline.