At a 1932 meeting the New York East Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church unanimously adopted a report that held that toleration of poverty is sinful and that "all the evils of our present form of capitalism can be traced back to the motive of acquisitiveness." The report further contended that the "principal means of production and distribution which are now privately owned, controlled and operated, mainly for the benefit of a relatively small portion of our population, must be brought under some form of social ownership and management. Private ownership, with its emphasis upon private profits, has failed to keep industry functioning, and we have the sad spectacle of thousands of our magnificent factories and millions of our workers standing idle."

Source:

" Eastern Methodists Go Socialist," Christian Century, 49 ( 1 3 April 1932): 467.