“Are our Social Principles still relevant today?” by Rev Dr. Su Chii Ann

John Wesley himself was renewed spiritually and he preached the Gospel of justification through faith in Jesus Christ. For the two main aspects of the Gospel we are to share the Love and Grace of God and practice personal holiness and social holiness. The preacher advised that we have to live a holy life i.e. by participating in the Spiritual disciplines such as community worship and Holy Communion in Church, Small Groups etc. We need to fulfil the Social Holiness obligation i.e. doing no harm and doing all good. An early example was of Mr. Wong Nai Siong who brought Christianity to Sibu of which was followed by Bishop Wane who continued his work through religion, education and agriculture. Then came James Hoover, the first missionary from U.S. to Sarawak who brought so many developments to Sibu town. He created history and modernised Sibu Town by pioneering a number of “firsts” in Sibu such as planting the first rubber seedlings, rice huller, agriculture school, bicycle and so on. The preacher briefly touched on the 6 categories of social principles from the Book of Discipline, one of which was “The Family and Marriage”. He also reminded that according to the Book of Discipline, it was recommended that the “Social Creed” be presented to our congregations orally or in printed form at least once a year, and that frequent references be made to it. So, are our Social Principles still relevant today?