Author Archives: Jessica Brodie

By Jessica Connor. It’s a pretty Tuesday morning in Orangeburg, and the willing hands at St. Andrews United Methodist Church are at it again. There, in the sunny, spacious church kitchen, a dozen volunteers are hard at work making salad and garlic bread, doling out desserts into Styrofoam boxes and ladling portions of steaming hot spaghetti into containers for their weekly citywide delivery to more than 65 homebound community members.

By Jessica Connor. A small United Methodist Church in the Upstate has become the first reconciling  congregation in South Carolina, embracing full inclusion of all God’s children regardless of sexual orientation.

By Jessica Connor. This Christmas, a handful of homeowners in New Jersey are smiling a little brighter thanks to a team of 12 disaster workers from South Carolina and Virginia.

By Jessica Connor. A lodge thought to be the site where Francis Asbury preached, lodged and established Methodism in northern Pickens County is going to be rebuilt and restored at the historic Hagood Mill site.

By Jessica Connor. A block from the busy Hwy. 28 bypass in Anderson stands a church so concealed in the neighborhood that most people drive by and don’t even notice it’s there. But thanks to new signage donated by a local motorcycle club, that’s not the case anymore.

By Jessica Connor. A new license plate featuring the image of United Methodist leader Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune will help The United Methodist Church in South Carolina.

By Amber Lacy. One South Carolina Wesley buff has a personal mission: for all South Carolina United Methodists to get to know the fathers of Methodism.

By Jessica Connor. Forget a tie or even an iPad. One United Methodist pastor received a gift far more meaningful from his congregation for his birthday.

By Jessica Connor. The new Connectional Ministries structure is almost there — but not quite. Members of the Judicial Council met in late October and ruled the structure partially compliant with the Book of Discipline, but two minor changes are required before they rubber-stamp it yes. 

By Jessica Connor. As year-end giving rallies to a close, many United Methodist churches across the S.C. Conference are relying on new and long-standing traditions to make their apportionment payments.

By Jessica Connor. Imagine if Jesus called today and asked you to give up all your creature comforts, move across the world and share the Gospel in a tiny village seven hours north of Bangkok, Thailand. Would you say yes? Now imagine you have four kids: an 8-year-old, a freshman in high school and two in college. And understand that answering that call would mean at least two of your kids would have to uproot their lives and go with you. Now how would you answer?

By Jessica Connor. Four years ago, the worst thing imaginable happened to the members of Dawsey United Methodist Church: A rogue bolt of lightning burned their beloved home-away-from-home to the ground.

By Amber Lacy. The Rev. Scott Johnson believes part of being authentic in ministry is the ability to integrate one’s talent into worship, even artistically.

By Jessica Connor. Thanks to gains in customers, turnaround time and cost savings, the S.C. Conference’s Print Media Center is still hanging on. And its managers are praying for a little more time to prove themselves.

By Jessica Connor. From Charleston to Aiken to Greenville and beyond, nearly 400 United Methodist Women from every district in South Carolina headed to St. John’s United Methodist Church Oct. 26-27 for the 40th annual meeting of the conference UMW.

By Jessica Connor. It’s all over the headlines: today’s generation doesn’t like traditional meetings, would rather network through social media and thinks it’s a colossal waste of time to talk about doing something when they can just go out and do it. Now, a new initiative from United Methodist Women is trying to tap into that spirit nationwide, and South Carolina is stepping up to help.