Posts by Category: Editor’s Views

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.

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.

By Jessica Brodie. Have you ever been frustrated because you can’t do something you desperately, fervently want to do?

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.

Christ will make a way where no one else can. I hope you will join me in continued prayer for our nation, our culture and our world as a whole to turn to God as our “guiding star.” A reflection by Advocate Editor Jessica Brodie.

If every church stretches just a little, prays a bit harder, takes up that last-minute special collection—something, anything—we’ll see change. We’re all in this together. By Jessica Brodie.

It’s been a hard year—but also a good year. Good, for light is being shined into racial problems and discrimination in important new ways. Good, for in spite of a pandemic, communities and families are coming together. Good, because churches are stepping up in new and innovative ways to help. By Jessica Brodie.

Will there be issues? Sure. Nothing is ever perfect. But 2020 has turned out to be an unorthodox year that has required a great deal of flexibility on the part of everyone. Holding Annual Conference online will enable us to move forward and do what is necessary. An editorial by Jessica Brodie.

Oh, Lord, I beg: What do I do? All I can do is love. All I can do is pray. All I can do is try to love instead of fear, to speak out when I’m feeling cowardly. By Jessica Brodie.

How quickly I started to forget the most important lesson the pandemic taught me: Let go of the steering wheel and let God be the driver. A reflection by Advocate Editor Jessica Brodie.

By Jessica Brodie. I’m astounded by the beauty of God’s glory shining across every single page of this month’s newspaper. Take a look and tell me if you don’t agree! On every page, you’ll find examples of regular men and women—and sometimes children!—doing something extraordinary for the Lord, living beyond themselves to spread the Good News or to help others in His name. And all this is happening when many of us are stuck at home, quarantined for the most part because of the coronavirus.

These are trying times, to say the least. Our lives are upended, routines are off and many of the plans we thought we had a month ago are now completely and irrevocably gone. Some of us have lost our jobs, our security, our prospects, our health. And yet still: God is good. All the time. Even now. Especially now. A column by Advocate Editor Jessica Brodie.

On hearing God’s call and how to respond. By Jessica Brodie.

God is still the God of the universe—and the head of this denomination. And God has the power and authority to do whatever God wishes—including change our hearts and minds and push through whatever plan God intends, whether this one or another entirely. An editorial by Jessica Brodie.

But what does “2020 vision” really mean for me as a woman of faith, and what does it mean for The United Methodist Church as we prepare to embark on yet another difficult and tumultuous year? A column by Editor Jessica Brodie.

We’ve heard the stories time and again: once-thriving country churches whose numbers dwindled as their communities folded, until eventually the churches themselves closed their doors. I picture these country churches as they likely were long ago, bustling with activity and chatter, their doors spilling open after worship with people who’d picnic on church grounds or under a nearby shade tree. But once in a while, I hear stories of the reverse: a small church suddenly flourishing again with new life, filled with people and ministry doing all they can the name of the Lord. A commentary Jessica Brodie.