Transforming the church
By Jessica Brodie
This fall, we all saw the devastation Hurricane Helene brought to the Southeast—some firsthand, some during mission trips to offer assistance and some on television and social media. The wind and rain caused trees to tumble and roads and homes to wash away. The sheer power of nature felt staggering as the wreckage unfolded.
“How could this have happened?” many of us asked. “What could we have done?”
The other day, driving home from out of state, our family came across a wreck on the interstate. A young man, veering to avoid an animal, flipped his small car and landed upside down in the median. By the grace of God, he avoided hitting any other vehicles, and when we got to him, he was crawling out from the wreckage, stunned and in shock but seemingly uninjured. We prayed with him and stayed with him until emergency crews arrived.
“You’re a walking miracle,” I told him as we knelt together, and he stared up at me, his mouth agape.
“How could this have happened?” the young man asked, his eyes wide as he surveyed his demolished vehicle. “I was just getting my life back together!”
The truth is we don’t know why bad things happen, whether storms or illnesses or devastating car accidents.
We only know that God will use those things, God will use God’s people, to bring about much good in the aftermath. As Romans 8:28 reminds us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV).
The question in the aftermath becomes, “What now?”
Our church has been in a state of discord for some time. Since 2022, we’ve lost almost a quarter of the United Methodist churches in South Carolina to separation, not to mention the pastors and individuals who have left. I’ve seen firsthand how the process divided congregations and brought heartache and strife. Why and how are no longer the questions. As with natural disasters and car accidents and other calamities, the question becomes, “What now? How can God use me in the midst of this? How can I be the hands and feet of Christ?”
We at the Advocate appreciate the steps the South Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church is now taking in the aftermath of separation, strife and discord (see “A Future with Hope,” Page 1). Instead of remaining by the side of the road, stunned and in a state of shock, our leaders are choosing to move forward to embrace the peace and unity God desires. The bishop’s new Jeremiah Plan is a great start, encouraging us to shake off the old to figure out what new plan God has for us in this time and place. How can we live into our missional priorities? How can we restructure and realign our districts and our staffing to do the new things God has planned for us? How can we embrace our ethnic diversity and use it as a strength?
As we prepare our hearts and our minds for the season of Advent, let’s open ourselves up to this new way. Let’s ask important and sometimes difficult questions and be willing to allow God to use us in transformative, even uncomfortable ways.
“They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”— Isaiah 61:4