What I have come to know is that confession and repentance is hard and painful work. No one ever feels that they have wronged anyone or done anything that needs an apology until it is brought to their attention. Yet repentance goes beyond confession. To truly repent demands a life changed from the inside out. A column for the Advocate by Bishop L. Jonathan Holston.
The church is the people, and people are far from perfect. I’m grateful to be an imperfect person in an imperfect church striving to do all I can to be like Jesus. By Jessica Brodie.
In times of change, such as this year of pandemic that we have experienced, what if we were to offer new questions rather than searching for a new “right” answer. Changing the conversation can move us toward a different way of thinking about our future possibilities. By Bishop Jonathan Holston.
Fear can create hate and division and cause racism to fester like a septic wound. Fear can make people say “yes” to everyone and everything in their world until that “yes” leaves them exhausted, worn down and empty. Fear can cause us to give up on life, on people, on the beautiful tomorrow promised to us by God. By Jessica Brodie.
As this edition of the Advocate arrives, the 2021 session of the South Carolina Annual Conference will be starting. On June 6 and 7, we will gather virtually for a time of giving thanks to almighty God and celebrating the ways in which we have been seeking and fulfilling God’s purpose for the church. By Bishop Jonathan Holston.
By Jessica Brodie. Have you ever been frustrated because you can’t do something you desperately, fervently want to do?
By Bishop L. Jonathan Holston. Walking with Bishop Knox into the town of Alajuela, I asked him his expectations of clergy. He responded, “To be on the cutting edge of ministry, making a difference for the sake of Christ.”
God cares about justice. Throughout the Old Testament and the New, and through the works of His Son Jesus, we see how important justice, fairness, mercy, compassion, and care for all people is to God.
Jesus’ call for us not to worry about the future is a bold claim. The good news of the Gospel is just that—GOOD news. So when Jesus tells us not to worry, he is not leaving us high and dry. Jesus is calling us to put our trust in him. To trust that he will provide for our every need—the big stuff and the little stuff. All of it. By Bishop Jonathan Holston.
It’s time to stop ignoring or disregarding views not in line with our own, writing them off as if they belong to “them” or “those people.” We are all the body of Christ, and words can hurt. By Jessica Brodie.
Even now—especially now—we have the opportunity to be for someone the Gospel that they may never otherwise hear. By Bishop L. Jonathan Holston.
I knew that faith without works was dead, but Methodism teaches that the opposite is true as well. By the Rev. Chrisie Reeves-Pendergrass.