By Jessica Connor. Scan the pages of the Advocate this month, and see if you can feel it: Excitement! Passion! Renewed vigor! It’s like a huge gust of wind is sweeping the state, fanning the flames of Christian vitality.
By Jessica Connor. We don’t know what spurred Jared Loughner to go on an alleged shooting spree Jan. 8, leaving six innocent people dead, including a 9-year-old girl. We don’t know whether it was, as some have suggested, a festering response to the intense political vitriol that has slowly been building to a crescendo in our nation, or some other reason entirely.
By Jessica Connor. Peace. Unity. Christian love. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached all of that and more in a lifetime spent advocating racial equality and an end to discrimination.
By Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor. The possibilities that come with a new year are always intriguing to me. I am somewhat amazed when we get the opportunity to start out fresh in a new year. I am always surprised that another year has passed.
By Jessica Connor. Try as I might, I’m never sure if I’m communicating the right message about Christianity to my children.
By Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor. We love the story and know it by heart. Without even opening the Bible, many of us can recite the familiar words from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke.
By Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor. Once again, my fading memory is renewed by the vibrant hues of red and gold leaves against the crystal blue cloudless sky.
By Jessica Connor. I’ve never quite considered myself an extreme-sports junkie. Adventurous? Sure – I’ll hop on a roller coaster any day. The kind of person who’ll bungee jump or parachute out of a perfectly good airplane? Not likely.
By Jessica Connor. On page 9 of this month’s edition, I draw your attention to guest columns written by two Salkehatchie alumni – one a teenager, one an adult. What touches me especially about these columns is the do-gooder Christ-inspired sincerity these volunteers have about the annual summer service project. It’s a spirit I’ve heard echoed by a host of people since I started as Advocate editor in June.
By Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor. Does your church have life and vitality? Is it an essential part of your life? There are some ways you can help your church thrive.
By Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor. Every once in a while, the only word that can begin to describe it is “wow.” It is the spontaneous expression reserved for those times when something stops the routine, wakes us up and grabs our attention. In wonder and amazement, we are stopped right in our tracks. Our expectations have been exceeded. Something has touched us deeply, and we want to talk about it.
By Jessica Connor. At Laity Convocation last month, Columbia District Superintendent the Rev. Tim McClendon talked about something I just can’t get off my mind. He called it the “T-shirt test” and wondered how, on such a small piece of cloth, we could possibly fit the message of United Methodism. After all, T-shirts are supposed to be quick-reads. And while meaningful, let’s face it – the vision and purpose of the S.C. Conference of the United Methodist Church is pretty long.