By Jessica Brodie. While the legalities of President Donald Trump’s immigration ban remain unclear, the Hispanic/Latino Task Force of the South Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church is calling on Christians to condemn the ban and advocate for immigrants and refugees.
By Jessica Brodie. Across South Carolina, United Methodist youth are ramping up their collection of new and gently used bikes for the conference’s Annual Conference Bike Initiative.
By Jessica Brodie. When it comes to race relations, the church has a big role to play in leading the conversation and speaking out about what is right. That was the thrust behind a forum and panel discussion on “Race Relations and the Role of the Church: Then and Now,” held at Claflin University Jan. 28.
By Jessica Brodie. Two thousand screaming teenagers packed the Township Auditorium, nearly every one screaming “Jesus” at the top of their lungs. All around them, their peers were crying, laughing and singing, sometimes all three at once. A kaleidoscope of lights filled the hall and shot beams of color across the stage—red, green, blue and pink—while the pound of drums and thrum of bass blasted a wave of high-energy sound, urging the momentum higher and higher. They were gathered for Revolution...
By Jessica Brodie. Thirty-eight teams of youth from churches across South Carolina gathered in January to compete in the 40th annual South Carolina United Methodist Basketball Tournament.
By Billy Robinson. On Jan. 24, 2017 two South Carolina United Methodist Volunteers in Mission Early Response Teams responded to Barnwell County near the town of Blackville in the aftermath of an EF-2 tornado Jan. 21.
By Allison Trussell. Bettye Rivers, the cheerful face and voice of the South Carolina United Methodist Conference’s episcopal office, is retiring at the end of March.
For Allen James, the scores of people who descended upon his town armed with hammers, crowbars and chainsaws were “like the star over Bethlehem.” “It was just a total faith lift, a joy to know that someone thought enough to come and help us,” said James, whose Sellers home was devastated both from October’s Hurricane Matthew and the October 2015 flood. The tiny town of Sellers, already a poverty-stricken area before the hurricane, was badly impacted after two storm-swamped rivers overflowed and flooded the region. But after a Jan. 13-14 hurricane blitz organized by the South Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church, many of those homeowners are on the road to recovery. By Jessica Brodie.
By Jessica Brodie. Even a hurricane couldn’t stop the power of God’s generous people in South Carolina. South Carolina United Methodists are celebrating this month over news that their churches brought in more than 92 percent in apportionment giving—the best financial performance since at least 2002 and possibly ever.
By Jessica Brodie. As victims, survivors and family members of the Emanuel 9 massacre gathered for the emotionally grueling trial in Charleston recently, a three-pronged team of chaplains, mental health counselors and victim advocates were there every step of the way, letting them know they were loved and they were most certainly not alone.
By Jessica Brodie. Thanks to a new space-sharing collaboration with Tricounty Family Ministries, Cherokee Place is reimagining itself in a nontraditional way—and returning to the missional spirit of its heyday in the process.
By Jessica Brodie. What do you do when you’re a smallish church in a country community that just happens to be one of the five fastest-growing areas in the state? If you’re anything like Shiloh United Methodist Church, you take a good, hard look at who (and whose) you are and where you want to go, and take concrete steps to get there.