A justice-seeking church

Last week the Methodist Conference welcomed a report by Rachel Lampard on how the Methodist Church can work for justice in our world. It recognised basic principles born out of our belief in God:

• God desires the flourishing of all creation, that will shape our decisions about human impact upon the environment
• Everyone is created in God's image, and that has consequences for decisions we make about how people are treated
• In the world as it is at the moment the poorest always lose out. We believe God has particular regard for them and for those who are marginalised in society, and so should we
• Christians won't always agree about the means, but we hope that these principles will help us to be clearer on what is importan.

It also identified five key priorities for us to focus our activities around: poverty, refugees, climate, discriminationand peace.

Rachel Lampard commented: "Having these priority areas will help us to focus our efforts together to achieve change by sharing expertise, communicating and working with others to make a difference ... we work together for a world that is more just and where everyone experiences life in all its fullness."