Methodist Federation for Social Action

The Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) is an independent network of United Methodist clergy and laity working for justice in the areas of peace, poverty, and people's rights since 1907.

History

Founding

The first decades of the 20th century were a time of heightened awareness in the United States of poverty and social inequality. In an effort to transform the social order and address human suffering, members of the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) created in 1907 the organization that would come to be called the Methodist Federation for Social Service and later the Methodist Federation for Social Action. The aims of their Methodist Federation for Social Service (MFSS) were inspired in a large part by the importance that Methodism founder John Wesley placed on work for the betterment of humankind, and shared the theological grounding of the broader Protestant Social Gospel movement, which articulated a normative relationship between the Biblical teachings of Jesus Christ and efforts toward systemic social change.