The United Methodist Church describes a member as someone who puts faith and love into action, believing God loves all people and that members share in expressing that love. Founded by Protestant theologian John Wesley in 18th century England, the church centers on what Wesley called “practical divinity,” or living the faith.
That raises a practical question for the modern investor: Can you do well by doing good when you invest in, or divest from, corporations that fall short of those ideals? And does the church itself require divestment?
The church’s own portfolio offers a revealing, if imperfect, answer.
According to the website Methodists Helping Methodists, the church’s investments returned 8.99% over the past five years and 7.66% over the past 10 years. Those returns include holdings in fossil fuels and other categories that sit uneasily with Methodist ideals.
The gap between stated values and actual holdings is real. A coalition of church activists recently pushed for divestment from fossil fuel stocks and fell short. The group, Fossil Free UMC, reported that the legislation was referred and deferred in the final moments of General Conference rather than brought to a vote. Members described it as a missed opportunity, while vowing that the work would continue with a growing coalition.
It is worth noting that the larger fracture within the denomination came from social issues, not investment policy.
Thousands of congregations have left the United Methodist Church amid debates over sexuality, including disputes over gay marriage and LGBTQ+ pastors. The rift represents the largest denominational schism in U.S. history. As of Dec. 31, roughly a quarter of the church’s approximately 30,000 congregations said they planned to separate from the denomination, one of America’s largest Protestant bodies.
That division stemmed from social questions rather than how the church invests its money. On the investing front, church policy points toward eventual alignment with its principles.
Churches in the Wesleyan tradition carry a long record of advocating for justice in the economic order. Wesley and the early Methodists opposed the slave trade, smuggling, and conspicuous consumption. Beginning in 1908, social creeds adopted by predecessor churches focused on working conditions and child labor.
For decades, the church has promoted humane working conditions, the right to organize, and protection against workplace discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, or disability. More recently, it has championed sustainable corporate practices and stronger stewardship of the natural world.
The church frames every investment as carrying ethical weight. Its guidance instructs church-related investors to make a conscious effort to invest in institutions whose practices align with the goals in its Social Principles. That philosophy rests on the biblical idea that all resources are God-given and meant to advance God’s reign, both now and into the future.
The church’s investment goals, laid out in its Book of Resolutions, are among the most specific of any faith tradition. The guidance asks Methodist investors to:
It is a demanding list. It is also one the church itself does not fully meet, given its continued fossil fuel holdings. The breadth of the guidance shows how seriously the tradition treats the moral dimension of money, even where practice lags behind principle.
The central worry for any values-driven investor is whether principles cost returns. The Methodist experience suggests they need not.
Wespath, a nonprofit that has served the church for a century, reports that its attention to social and environmental factors has contributed positively to the financial security of both individual and institutional investors. Its Positive Social Purpose Lending Program has delivered competitive returns while supporting the creation or preservation of more than 52,000 units of affordable housing since 1990.
As Wespath Chief Investment Officer Dave Zellner has put it, sustainable investing is smart, not political.
The Methodist case is honest about its own contradictions. The church preaches a high standard, falls short in places like fossil fuels, and continues to debate how far divestment should go. Yet the financial record points to a clear conclusion: careful investors operating within tight faith guidelines have not sacrificed returns to honor their values.
Methodists, even within demanding church guidelines, can indeed do well by doing good.
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References:
“What is a United Methodist?” United Methodist Church website.
Kayla Jimenez, “Historic Methodist Split is Part of Larger Christian Split Over LGBTQ Issues,” USA Today, Jan. 19, 2024.
“Support for Fossil Fuel Divestment Grows,” United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, May 4, 2024.
Methodist Book of Resolutions, Investment Ethics, 2016.
Dave Zellner, “Sustainable Investing is Smart, Not Political,” United Methodist Insight, Aug. 9, 2023.
Wespath, Positive Social Purpose Lending Program data.