Social Creed for the 21st Century
- Text of the Creed
- Korean Translation
- Spanish Translation
- Connecting to the Creed: Background and Application Ideas
- Poster
Policies and Studies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
- Why and How the Church Makes a Social Policy Witness. 205th General Assembly (1993).
- Hope for a Global Future: Toward Just and Sustainable Human Development. 208th General Assembly (1996).
- God’s Work in Our Hands. 207th General Assembly (1995).
- Theology of Compensation Studies. 195th General Assembly (1983—two studies), 188th General Assembly (1976).
- A Reformed Understanding of Usury for the Twenty-first Century. 217th General Assembly (2006).
- Social Creed for the Twenty-first Century. 218th General Assembly (2008).
- Economic Security for Older Adults. 217th General Assembly (2006).
- Resolution on Just Globalization: Justice, Ownership, and Accountability. 217th General Assembly (2006).
- Living through Economic Crisis: The Church’s Witness in Troubled Times
- From Homelessness to Hope: Constructing Just, Sustainable Communities for All God’s People
- Neither Poverty Nor Riches: Compensation, Equity, and the Unity of the Church
- God’s Work in Women’s Hands: Pay Equity and Just Compensation
Recommended Reading
Anderson, Ray C., Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model, The Peregrinzella Press, Atlanta, Georgia, 1998. vii + 207 pages.
The author, founding chairman of Interface, Inc., a company which manufactures and sells carpet tiles, describes his conversion to environmentally sustainable management and his efforts to transform Interface through this vision. He discusses the economic benefits of running an environmentally sustainable business and illustrates the ways in which Interface adopted and benefited from this vision. A model of an ideal business that is both environmentally sustainable and also profitable is presented.
Bluestone, Barry, and Bennett Harrison, Growing Prosperity: The Battle for Growth with Equity in the 21st Century, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 2000, xv+345 pages.
Describes the typical Wall Street approach to growth based upon balanced budgets, free trade, flexible labor markets, and vigilant monetary policy and proposes an alternative based upon public investment and productivity growth through organizational learning.
Brown, John Seely and Paul Duguld, The Social Life of Information, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 2000, 332 pages. Reviews in Los Angeles Times Book Review, September 3, 2000, p. 1, and Science, 290, 1304 (2000).
Discusses the need for human interaction with information in order to gain the most value from it. Refutes the proposition that corporations will someday be able to operate on information alone without human intervention.
Cobb Jr, John B. (ed.). Progressive Christians Speak: A Different Voice on Faith and Politics. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.
Members of the grassroots organization Progressive Christians Uniting implore Christian churches to take a more active role in addressing contemporary social problems. Issues examined include food security and the ever-expanding world population, the welfare system, and the destruction of ecosystems. The article published in Unbound, “Do Corporations Serve – Or Exploit – the Human Family?” can be found here.
Cobb, Jr., John B., ed., Speaking of Religion & Politics: The Progressive Church Tackles Hot Topics, Pinch Publications, Claremont, California, 2000, 268 pp.
Published by the Mobilization for the Human Family, a progressive Christian organization, this book discusses issues like abortion, homosexuality, drugs, immigration, and sweatshops from a progressive Christian point of view.
Daly, Herman E. and John B. Cobb, Jr., For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future, Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts, 1994. viii + 534 pages.
An excellent alternative set of principles for redirecting the economy toward community, the environment, and a sustainable future. Includes a proposed index for measuring sustainable economic welfare. Required reading for understanding why we are where we are today and how to make sure we seize the moment to assure a future for Planet Earth and the human family.
Dommen, Edward and James D. Pratt (eds.). John Calvin Rediscovered: The Impact of His Social and Economic Thought. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
Greenleaf, Robert K., The Servant As Leader, The Robert K. Greenleaf Center, Indianapolis, 1991.
Greenleaf, who died in 1990, has been a powerful voice in the dialog to reshape management and leadership policy. He developed his theory of servant leadership while an executive at AT&T. The Center he founded eventually became the Robert K. Greenleaf Center, located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Harper, Nile. Journeys into Justice: Religious Collaboratives Working for Social Transformation. Minneapolis: Bascom Hill Publishing Group, 2009.
An examination of the organization, strategy, experience, and complex array of issues underlying faith-based community organizing across the nation. Issues include living wage, affordable housing, care of creation, economic development, and worker justice. The article published in Unbound, “Religious Action for Affordable Housing,” can be found here.
Iosso, Christian and Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty (eds.). Prayers for the New Social Awakening: Inspired by the New Social Creed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.
Walter Brueggemann, John Buchanan, Tony Campolo, Katie Geneva Cannon, Marian Wright Edelman, Michael Kinnamon, Sister Helen Prejean, and William H. Willimon are among the contributors to this collection of original prayers for Christians of every denomination in honor of the one-hundredth anniversary of the 1908 Social Creed and the development of a Social Creed for the Twenty-First Century. The prayers published in Unbound, “Against Corporate Domination” and “For Farmworkers,” can be found here.
Kinsler, Ross and Gloria Kinsler. The Biblical Jubilee and the Struggle for Life. New York: Orbis Books, 2001.
An exploration of personal, social, and ecclesiastical transformation in a global context and from the perspective of the Jubilee calling for celebrating life; liberation from debt, slavery, and poverty; building up community; and learning how to collaborate for the common good.
Korten, David C., When Corporations Rule the World, Kumarian Press, West Hartford, Connecticut, and Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, California, 1995, x + 374 pages.
A comprehensive discussion of the effect corporations have had around the world on people who are not part of the power élite, with recommendations for improving society’s ability to help these people take care of themselves. A new edition of this book was published in 2001.
Maguire, Daniel. A Moral Creed for All Christians. Augsburg Fortress Press, 2005.
Meeks, M. Douglas. God the Economist: The Doctrine of God and Political Economy. Augsburg Fortress Press, 1989.
Mount, Eric. Covenant, Community and the Common Good. Pilgrim Press, 1999.
Owensby, Walter L. Economics for Prophets: A Primer on Concepts, Realities, and Values in Our Economic System. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988.
Peters, Rebecca Todd and Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty (eds.). To Do Justice: A Guide for Progressive Christians. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.
Encourages Christians to call for public policies to benefit the most vulnerable in our nation. Offers tools for studying complex domestic social problems and serves as a guidebook to becoming involved in social action. Issues include workers rights, financial security, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, and “funding our values.” The article published in Unbound, “For Workers,” can be found here.
Poverty Initiative, The. A New and Unsettling Force: Reigniting Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s Poor People’s Campaign. New York: The Poverty Initiative, 2009.
Examines King’s commitment to ending poverty and vision for a Poor People’s Campaign as a historic effort of the poor to unite across racial, gender, ethnic, religious, and geographic lines. Documents ongoing efforts that carry the cause of the Poor People’s Campaign. The article published in Unbound, “Finishing the Unfinished Business of Dr. King,” draws on text from this work.
Senge, Peter, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Currency/Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., New York, New York, 1990, 424 pages.
The seminal book on the concepts involved in creating a learning organization.
Schettkat, Ronald, “How Bad Are Welfare-State Institutions for Economic Development? The Amazing Vitality of the European Tigers,” Challenge, 44:1, 35-55 (2001).
Shows that the recent successes of the economies of Austria, Netherlands, Ireland, and Denmark, which surpass those of the United States in certain respects, occur in part because of, not in spite of, the ways they protect their working populations.
Sklar, Holly and Paul Sherry. A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future. New York and Philadelphia: National Council of Churches, and the American Friends Service Commission, 2005.
Economic and ethical basis for making the minimum wage an actual living wage sufficient to support a family. Available from rbray@gbgm-umc.org.
Smith, Sydney. Grapes of Conflict. Pasadena, CA: Hope Publishing Company, 1987.
A dramatic story told from the inside by one of the key participants; powerful description of the human situation of agricultural workers in California seeking to unionize.
Stackhouse, Max. Public Theology and Political Economy. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987.
Exploration of theological ideas as the basis for responsible economic life in society in a global framework. A public theology to influence the shape of structures and policies for the common good.
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