Felecia and I were honored and humbled to receive our assignment from the SEJ Committee on Episcopacy to continue serving in the South Carolina Conference (Columbia Area). We feel blessed to be assigned “back home again” and to continue our efforts to dream God-sized visions with the laity and clergy across this wonderful state. By Bishop L. Jonathan Holston

It does not make a person “weak” to have mental illness, emotional disorders or physical ailments. Sometimes it takes naming the issue and bringing it to light to drive out the darkness. Other times that is just the beginning. By Jessica Brodie.

We know that if it’s important to us, we can find a way. If it’s not, we will instead find an excuse. A column by Bishop L. Jonathan Holston

Churches should be safe spaces. When we enter a church, just like when we enter a school, most of us feel a reasonable expectation that we are entering a place where no harm is supposed to occur. A lot of that assumption has to do with the inherent trust we place in such institutions. An editorial by Jessica Brodie.

Life has the capacity to break all of us, yet we draw comfort in knowing that we are stronger at the broken places. A column by Bishop L. Jonathan Holston.

What you have learned since March 2020? Has your perspective changed? How you have grown as a child of God? By Advocate Editor Jessica Brodie.

What if we offered the world an example of how to live differently? A column for the Advocate by Bishop L. Jonathan Holston.

My sister, a school counselor in North Carolina, shared a teaching podcast-video with me that dives into the extraordinarily difficult realities experienced by those who teach in public schools today. A column by Advocate Editor Jessica Brodie.

There are many good reasons to prefer artificial flowers to natural ones. The best ones look incredibly lifelike. Even after months in a vase, they are always in full bloom; the leaves never grow limp. A column by Bishop L. Jonathan Holston.

Compared to what the first Christians experienced, the sacrifices we pay today are pale, but they are sacrifices nonetheless. They hurt, and they even hurt others. They require choices. Tough decisions. By Jessica Brodie.

Following God’s call is not always easy. A column by Bishop L. Jonathan Holston.

Being stewards mean sometimes being uncomfortable so nature can win. It might mean paying more money or shelling out more tax dollars or even passing expensive legislation that prioritizes the land over reckless consumption. It means love and proper, respectful care, not just “dominion.” By Jessica Brodie.