The Conference Board of Church and Society provides education in many social justice areas. Current offerings are listed below. They may be tailored to fit the audience, the time frame and the interest of the district or local church. For more information call Martha Rogers (512/345-3969) or Wanda Holcombe (512/252-2756).

What Every Church Should Know About the Culture of Poverty – using the book by Dr.. Ruby K. Payne and leaders trained at her seminar. Individuals accustomed to personal poverty think and act differently from people in the middle and upper economic class. We will consider some of the central issues in ministering to and serving with persons in poverty.

Restorative Justice – Healing the Victim, the Offender, and the Community. Using the United Methodist Women ’s study, we will look at alternatives to the current system of retributive justice and learn ways of healing broken relationships that can be used every day.

Community with Children and the Poor – new study prepared for the Bishops ’ Initiative on Children and Poverty. It includes Bible study and devotions and a variety of learning methods that encourage group participation. The Bishops call us to stretch our vision beyond our local congregation to look at systemic and global issues in the light of the Scriptures as informed by our Wesleyan heritage.

Our Social Principles – Following the Great Commandment. We will look at Methodism ’s long social justice heritage, the method of changing the Social Principles, and at the current UMC positions in the areas of the natural world and the nurturing, social, economic, political, and world communities. Must we agree with all of them? No, but we are called to interact with them and to form our own thoughtful positions.

Caring for God ’s Good Creation — This study will include global and local environmental issues as well as specific actions appropriate for individuals or churches. Loving God includes caring for the planet, water, air, plants, animals and people that God created. Loving our neighbor includes working for clean air, water, and food for everyone.

Texas Faith Looks at Texas Justice (3 studies produced by Texas Impact)

Criminal Justice –overview. On an average day in Texas, nearly 700,000 adults (5% of Texas adults) wake up under the control of the state ’s criminal justice system, which accounts for about 8% of Texas ’ general revenue spending. A broad overview of this generally retributive system helps us evaluate it within the context of Christian tradition. Principles of restorative justice are introduced.
Juvenile Justice – Uniquely Redeemable. In Texas, a juvenile is someone who is 10 to 16 years old; he or she is treated differently from an adult except in a few cases. We will look at the history of the system, the trend toward harsher sentencing in the ‘90s, growth in numbers of incarcerated juveniles, re-offender rates, and profile of a typical juvenile offender. What changes to the system would we as Christians recommend? What changes in our communities could reduce the number of juvenile offenders?
The Death Penalty in Texas. Texas executes more than any other state. In evaluating the death penalty, we will ask: Is it useful? Is it fair? Is it right? What does the UMC say about it? What do we as Christians think about it? Do we all agree? We will practice respectful disagreement.

Christian Living in a Consumer Society — Tired of hearing your children demand," Buy me that!” Learn ways to be a responsible consumer while being exposed to advertising and cultural pressure to “buy, buy, buy.” Discuss what scriptures say about greed and covetousness. Compare Christian values and consumer society values.

Beyond Blame: Challenging Media Violence — Today TV is our society ’s primary storyteller. What kinds of stories do you think that it is telling us? What is the impact of “gratuitous entertainment violence ” in television, movies, music and video games on our quality of life and on society as a whole? This interactive workshop will explore these questions and provide positive suggestions for challenging media violence.