As you know I am in Philippines for a meeting of the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) where among other things we visited a few ministries that are related to the United Methodist Church. One of them is Kapatiran (brotherhood) -Kaunlaran (improvement) Foundation Inc. (KKFI), which was founded as a response to the challenge to work among and with the poor in their struggle for genuine human development. For the past 72 years, the KKFI has been at the forefront of the struggle for social transformation.

This week, the Illinois Supreme Court issued their decision of the Pretrial Fairness Act being constitutional, and directing courts across the state to implement the law and end the use of money bond on September 18, 2023. The Pretrial Fairness Act was signed into law in February 2021. You can read more about the Pretrial Fairness Act. 

As you may have noticed we are in a 6 week sermon series on the “Social Principles” of the United Methodist Church. We often hear that because of the separation between church and state church should not get involved in political matters, and while we as United Methodists affirm that separation, but Methodists have also been actively involved in social and political matters since their founding in 18th century England.