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The Methodist Church was divided over the Vietnam War. Steadily, however, significant opposition to it emerged. In 1968 General Conference of the now United Methodist Church called for “genuine self-determination for all the people of South Vietnam and the withdrawal of all outside military forces (Will 1984, 142).” The Episcopal address to the General Conference of 1970 “condemned war strongly, deplored the Vietnam war in particular, and urged an acceleration in the withdrawal of troops (ibid., 151).” The General Conference of 1972 declared: “We have sinned against our brothers and sisters, against the earth and our Creator. We have paid our taxes without protest; we have closed our eyes to the horror of our deeds; we have driven families from their homes into endless lines tracking across the pockmarked earth.” It referred to the actions of the United States in Indochina as “a crime against humanity (ibid., 157-158 quoting UMC 1972, 16-17).”

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