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 Bishop Jonathan Holston. The campaign for Imagine No Malaria is under way, and the stakes are high.

By the Rev. Elizabeth Murray. Have you “lost” something that was right in front of your face?

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 Bishop Jonathan Holston. It has been said that “when spoken together at just the right moment, there are two words that have amazing life-changing power.” These two words possess the capacity to breathe into us new life, to lift burdens and calm fears as well as to inspire hope.”

By the Rev. Elizabeth Murray. I love connectionalism more than Peter loved the Lord, and my friends will affirm this fact about me.

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 Bishop Jonathan Holston. At the 2015 South Carolina Annual Conference, our laity and clergy accepted the clarion call to connect with United Methodists across the globe to end deaths by malaria.

By Bishop Jonathan Holston. At 3:55 p.m., the 2015 Session of the South Carolina Annual Conference came to an end and a new conference year took flight. Our time in Florence was a glorious experience of Christian conferencing and celebration.

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.

By Bishop Jonathan Holston. Max Lucado writes in a devotional these thoughts: “Every day deserves a chance, a shot, a tryout, an audition, a swing at the plate, an opportunity to be a good day.”