The concern of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church for the social well-being of humankind springs from the act of God in Jesus Christ as revealed in the Gospel, and from the life and witness of John Wesley and other fathers of Methodism who ministered to the physical, intellectual, and social needs of the people to whom they preached the gospel of personal redemption.

The interest and activity of the C.M.E. Church in the improvement of the human condition parallels the very history of our Church. In the opening editorial of the Gospel Trumpet published in 1897, Bishop Lucius H. Holsey stated that its purpose would be to "discuss without hesitation, any phase of the civic, social, and those economic and political questions that may affect the well-being of the Church and race." This policy of active participation in the solution of social problems has not been restricted to literary and journalistic endeavor. It can be seen in the individual contributions of some of the leaders of our church during its history -- Lucius H. Holsey, Isaac Lane, C. H. Phillips, Randall A. Carter, J. A. Hamlett, J. A. Bray, J. A. Martin, and Channing H. Tobias. It can be seen in those official programs and practices on the local, regional and national levels that were designed to eradicate crime, disease, ignorance, poverty and racial injustice. It has been demonstrated by unknown thousands who are members of the Christian Methodist Episcopal church as they have resisted oppression, and pursued liberty and justice for all humankind.

This is the historical tradition that undergirds and challenges our accomplishments in this day.