May 22, 2025 – As United Methodists in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference, we are called by our Social Principles to affirm the inherent dignity and worth of every person and to oppose the death penalty in all cases.

Today, as the State of Tennessee is scheduled to carry out the execution of Oscar Smith, we lift up prayers for all involved—especially for TWK pastor Rev. Timothy Holton, who has faithfully served as Smith’s spiritual advisor on death row.

Rev. Holton has shared his deeply personal call to this ministry with our Annual Conference, reminding us of the sacred work of presence and compassion in the most difficult places. We urge all United Methodists to continue advocating against capital punishment and to support those, like Rev. Holton, who minister in the shadows of incarceration and death. Watch Rev. Holton’s testimony shared last year as a Boundless Spirit Story with Annual Conference 2024.

You can read the recently revised United Methodist Social Principles at https://www.umc.org/en/who-we-are/what-we-believe/our-social-positions

The excerpt below is from The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church – 2020/2024. The section is titled, Social Principles: The Political Community

D. The Death Penalty

Our commitment to the inherent dignity and worth of every person and our historic stance as United Methodists compels us to oppose capital punishment and the imposition of the death penalty. The death penalty is a sentence of execution imposed upon a legally convicted individual.

Tragically, the death penalty compounds the loss of human life with the deliberate taking of another life. Additionally, the administration of the death penalty disproportionately impacts people who live in poverty, those who are uneducated, people who live in marginalized racial and ethnic communities, and people with mental impairments. Further, modern advances in technology have shown that a significant number of people are wrongly convicted of the crimes with which they have been charged. Such injustices call us to question the fair application of the death penalty and its congruence with the fundamental right to fair and equal treatment under the law.

We, therefore, call for the abolition of the death penalty and urge individuals and congregations to educate themselves about the historical stance of The United Methodist Church and its predecessors, especially The Evangelical United Brethren Church. Further, we ask pastors and congregations to commit themselves to minister to those who have lost loved ones to violent crimes and to support families without judgment as they navigate the competing demands of justice, compassion and healing.