Pastor heartened by ‘connectional love’ after kidney transplant

By Jessica Brodie

ORANGEBURG—Pastors are used to being there for people to lean on in times of need. But one South Carolina United Methodist pastor recently learned the blessing of being able to lean on his church when he experienced his own time of need.

The Rev. Ellis White Jr. has served as pastor of Edisto Fork United Methodist Church in Orangeburg since 2015. But six or seven years ago, he started experiencing elevated blood pressure, and nothing he did seemed to help. Eventually, his doctor checked his kidney function and discovered a problem.

After passing out in the pulpit one Sunday, White was forced to go on dialysis, something he endured three days a week for five years. It wasn’t easy. For some people, they can go right back to work after a four-hour dialysis treatment, but for White, treatments could be rough.

“I had to go home and take a nap every time,” White said.

Still he persisted and stayed positive, choosing to see the treatments as a form of self-care. Kidney disease had taken the lives of three close relatives—his father and two first cousins—and he didn’t want the same thing to happen to him.

White was on and off the transplant list in both Charleston and Augusta, hoping and waiting, trying to keep a positive attitude.

Then, on Jan. 25, he got the call he’d been hoping for.

“They had a kidney for me,” White said.

The moment was both joyous and frightening and rather disorienting, he said. He was in Orangeburg and his wife was in Columbia, and they had to get to Augusta University Hospital in Augusta, Georgia, immediately—the transplant clock was ticking. He also had to line up a pastor for that Sunday and take care of what felt like a thousand other loose ends.

“I just didn’t know what to expect,” he said.

But soon he found out he had the support not only of his wife and his medical team but also a great crowd of other United Methodists all lifting him up in deep prayer.

“I called the officers of the church, I called District Superintendent Ken Nelson, I called Bishop Holston, and all of them were praying for me,” he said, recalling the sheer blessing it was to know so many people were in his corner. “My church, they rallied together and had a prayer service that very night while I was in surgery!”

Not only that, but soon he was flooded with well wishes and prayers from people all over the United Methodist connection who had heard about his transplant, even from people he didn’t even know.

“it really lifted my spirits,” White said.

The surgery was a success, but White had a long period of recovery ahead of him, including monthly testing to monitor his progress and a host of anti-rejection medications to help prevent his body from rejecting the organ. Sometimes transplants are from a living donor, but in White’s case, his donor had died and donated his organs to others in need, such as White.

The whole time, he said, retired pastor the Rev. Mack McClam filled in for him in the pulpit, and the church found a way not only to pay McClam but continue paying White’s salary, which was a tremendous help, he said. As well, he had his own personal nurse in his wife, a registered nurse who had recently retired after her long career.

White said thinking about the support his received from his congregation, his district, his conference and beyond always gets him emotional.

“As a pastor, you always are of the mindset that the church needs you,” White said. “But through that journey, I needed the church—and the church was there for me.”

Orangeburg District Superintendent Nelson said the opportunity to be there for White and pray for him was a blessing for him personally.

“During Rev. White’s illness and recovery,  I had the privilege of praying for Rev. White in my daily devotional time.  It was my joy to  reach out to his spouse, Vanetta.  Most of the time it was simply to offer an encouraging word or a listening ear.  It’s funny how I was always the one leaving the conversation feeling inspired by her deep love and devotion for her husband and abiding gratitude for each day’s progress,” Nelson said.  

Nelson said the bishop and cabinet worked with the leadership of congregation to make certain the church had pulpit coverage, pastoral care and administrative support during White’s recovery, which made him realize once more how important both the parsonage families and congregations are in the life the annual conference.

“Most amazing, however, was the number of congregations across the Orangeburg District and around the conference who kept Rev. White and his family on their prayer list,” Nelson said. “Persons who had never met Rev. White carried this family on the wings of prayers and in the strength of our connectional life together.  I could not be more proud to be United Methodist. It’s amazing to see a walking prayer!” 

Now, White is doing well. His blood pressure has gone way down, he’s lost 20 pounds, and his health numbers are better than they’ve been in a long time. He’s back in the pulpit every week, though with some modifications. They’re keeping worship services to about an hour, and he can’t mingle as he used to after services, as the transplant and anti-rejection medications he’s on leave him vulnerable to illness.

Still, he knows he’s blessed, and he urges other people to view their situation in the same way.

He also urges people to consider being a kidney donor if they are able to do so, as well as to take care of their health now before it’s too late.

“What you do when you’re young will come back and visit you when you’re older,” he cautioned.