By Jessica Brodie. This month, The United Methodist Church is gearing up for its quadrennial family reunion: General Conference. Yes, “family reunion” was my takeaway from the 2012 General Conference, when this editor stood...
By Jessica Brodie. The forced solitude and inherent meditation opportunity in my morning commute has become my favorite time of the day to pray. Lulled into a happy, contemplative place by the hum of the car and the beauty of the coming day spread out in a panorama all around me, it’s a special, peaceful time I cherish and a great way to start the day.
By Jessica Brodie. I’m deeply excited to share with you a bold new effort the Advocate is unfurling thanks to the vision of an anonymous donor and the passion this newspaper has for racial awareness and reconciliation: the South Carolina Stories of Racial Awakening Project.
By Jessica Brodie. Storyteller. After five days in Portland, Oregon, site of the upcoming 2016 General Conference, where I sat elbow-to-elbow with fellow United Methodist communicators learning about how better to do our work for God’s Kingdom, that’s the word I keep coming back to...
By Jessica Brodie. God’s call is a tremendous influence on our lives. His call led Moses into the wilderness, led Jonah from the belly of a whale back to Nineveh, led three magi—after seeing the baby Jesus—to go home by another route and not to report back to King Herod.
By Jessica Brodie, Advocate editor. We go to press on the December paper just before Thanksgiving and the start of Advent—a time when we’re supposed to be having thoughts of peace and gratitude, love and kindness. Instead, on Facebook and in news headlines, we’re bombarded with stories of terrorist attacks in Paris and in Mali. Talk has turned to how we can stand strong against the threat of ISIS and whether or not we should let Syrian refugees into our nation. It’s hard sometimes to cultivate so-called Christmas cheer and the quiet peace of Advent when all around us is the clamor of negativity, worry and, sadly, hate.
By Jessica Brodie. Somehow, life goes on. I find myself this week, as we prepare to go to press on the Advocate, shopping for Halloween costumes for our four kids and decorations for our church’s Trunk or Treat, wondering which side of the family to visit for Thanksgiving, scheduling doctor visits and oil changes and weekend chores and all the other trappings of my first-world life.
By Jessica Brodie. There’s little I love more than looking around during worship and seeing diversity. I love it all—different accents, different shades of skin, different ages, different genders, different styles of clothing. It energizes me in a way I can hardly describe.
By Jessica Brodie. I’ve been reading a lot in secular media about how we—particularly women—need to stop apologizing for everything. Apparently, our inherent gut reaction to murmur “I’m sorry” when things go awry sends the wrong message to people.
By Jessica Brodie. Since our last edition, it’s been a whirlwind for people of faith in South Carolina, from the shooting of nine people during Bible study at Mother Emanuel in Charleston, to sweeping landmark Supreme Court cases legalizing gay marriage and upholding the Affordable Care Act, to the removal of a painful symbol of racism (or Southern pride) from the South Carolina State House grounds.
By Jessica Brodie. Every 60 seconds, a child dies of malaria. In the time it takes you to read this editorial, a small, precious, vulnerable child, who Jesus Christ himself charged us to protect, will die from a disease that is preventable, treatable and beatable—if only there were enough money and resources.
By Jessica Brodie. News broke as we prepared to go to press on the Advocate this month that an economist has a grave warning for The United Methodist Church: the denomination is in crisis, and if we don’t turn things around soon, we’re in big trouble.