Since the prime charge of the Board of Church and Society is to seek the implementation of the Social Principles and other policy statements of the General Conference on Christian social concerns, these changes reshape the nature of the Boards work for the next quadrennium. The authoritative version of the 2000 Book of Discipline and the Book of Resolutions are edited and published by the United Methodist Publishing House and will be available for purchase before going into effect January 1, 2001. A pamphlet version of the Social Principles will be available from the Board of Church and Society in the autumn in English, Spanish and Korean. Here are the significant changes which will take place for the new quadrennium. Only paragraphs which were altered are included here.
New language appears in bold.
All creation is the Lords and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are Gods creation and not solely because they are useful to human beings. God has granted us stewardship of creation. We should meet these stewardship duties through acts of loving care and respect. Economic, political, social, and technological developments have increased our human numbers, lengthened and enriched our lives.