More than 400 shoeboxes were dedicated to the service of our Lord and sent on their way to children all over the world through the ministry of “Operation Christmas Child” thanks to the efforts of Lamar United Methodist Church.

For more than 25 years, Goose Creek United Methodist Church has coordinated the Angel Tree mission with several other community churches, including Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, St. James UMC, St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church, and this year, joined by the Oaks Wesleyan Church.

It’s official: South Carolina will keep Bishop L. Jonathan Holston as its episcopal leader through 2024. Hundreds from around the region gathered Friday, Nov. 4, for the final session of the 2022 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church, which handled a few remaining items of business before announcing much-anticipated episcopal assignments and then consecrated the SEJ’s three newly elected bishops. By Jessica Brodie.

With episcopal elections finished, delegates to the 2022 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference turned their attention to three resolutions, ultimately passing all of them Thursday night even amid much debate and a peaceful protest on the floor. By Jessica Brodie.

It took the entire afternoon and into the evening, but on the 25th ballot of the 2022 session, the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference elected South Carolina’s Dr. Robin Dease as its third and final bishop. By Jessica Brodie.

Day Two of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference started with much hope there would be the third and final episcopal election that morning. But after two invalid votes and the withdrawal from the slate of one nominee, Iosmar Alvarez, the session closed with a vote on Ballot 15 but no results.

SEJ elected Dr. Connie Shelton as its second bishop late Wednesday, ending a day filled with 12 ballots, passage of a $1.5 million jurisdictional budget, committee reports and a bit of contention over whether or not to consider three resolutions.

The Rev. Tom Berlin, the nominee from the Virginia Conference, was elected on Ballot Four and received 213 of the 208 required votes, or 61.56 percent of the vote.

Delegates, reserves, bishops, volunteers and members of the media filled the seats of Stuart Auditorium early Wednesday, Nov. 2, for the first day of the 2022 session of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. South Carolina’s 32 delegates (16 lay and 16 clergy) were among the body. By Jessica Brodie.

How many bishops is the jurisdiction electing? Will South Carolina’s nominee become bishop? Will our annual conference get a new bishop, and if so, where will our current bishop go? These are among many of the questions being asked as delegates prepare to gather Nov. 2-4 in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, for the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of the UMC. By Jessica Brodie

Many in South Carolina are counting themselves blessed after a near-miss with a deadly storm last month. Now, ERT members and other disaster response volunteers are turning their sights on a response in Florida, where more than 100 people were killed by the storm. It is thought to be the deadliest hurricane to hit that state since 1935 and has caused billions of dollars in damage. By Jessica Brodie.

Women of faith from across South Carolina gathered in Myrtle Beach Oct. 21-22 to celebrate 50 years of turning faith, hope and love into action for women, children and youth around the world. By Jessica Brodie.