Mercy & Justice
In line with Methodist teaching, acts of Mercy are those that respond to immediate needs. This may take the form of direct assistance,
such as providing food for those who are hungry.
Acts of Justice are those that respond to long-term needs. They address root causes. For example, why are people in our community hungry?
What is Mercy?
The benevolent or compassionate treatment
of someone suffering or in need.
Mercy is an extension of and expression of love.
John Wesley believed that performing acts of mercy increases our ability to do God’s will by loving God and loving our neighbors. Wesley believed that these two loves were inseparable and that God’s love for us leads us to love our neighbor. Acts of Mercy can include visiting prisoners and the sick, feeding the hungry, and housing the homeless.
Acts of Mercy Opportunities at Cargill UMC:
Volunteer: ECHO, GIFTS, Bountiful Blessings
Multiply Your Blessings – Reach out to neighbors with financial or support.
Appeals for local giving: ECHO, Gifts, Bountiful Blessings,
School District of Janesville, Project 16:49 Give Here
Appeals for response to global disasters: UMCOR
What is Justice?
Justice requires that every person be treated according to the same standards and with the same respect, regardless of class, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, or of any other social category.
According to John Wesley, justice is treating people as creatures with dignity and value because they are “made in the image of God, bought by his Son, and designed for his kingdom”. Active engagement in the pursuit of justice is a means of grace, a way through which God transforms us into the divine image. Acts of Justice can include learning about social injustices, having conversations about how to correct them, and striving to persuade others to do the same.
Acts of Justice Opportunities at Cargill UMC
Banned Book Club – A new book is chosen every six weeks and then we meet to discuss the book and why its banned.
Cargill Conversations – Cargill UMC supports open and honest conversations such as PURPLE: America We Need to Talk and others.
Check the church calendar for most recent events.
Mercy and Justice | Two Sides of the Same Coin
Justice insists that illicit drug users be brought up on charges; mercy sentences them to rehabilitation instead of incarceration. Mercy moves us to set up programs to help minorities do better in school; justice identifies and ends the systemic biases that cause them to lag in the first place.
Want to be involved? Contact Dianne Edson