This is the category for Advocate editorials and other viewpoints.
By Laura Camby McCaskill. In 2012, two police officers were killed in the line of duty in Aiken County within six weeks of each other. This brought the community together to find out why—and led to the creation of an organization, Megiddo Dream Station, that helps alleviate issues of poverty and unemployment.
Read More
By Jessica Brodie. Deacons and lay employees outside the conference office will see an increase in their premium costs for insurance in 2019. That’s the word from the Rev. Christopher Lollis, director of the South Carolina Conference Pensions and Benefits Office.
Read More
By Jessica Brodie. This month, The United Methodist Church’s top court is expected to review the final report of the Commission on a Way Forward and rule on whether the proposed legislation for General Conference 2019, including petitions, is constitutional. That court, the Judicial Council, will gather Oct. 23-26 in Zurich. The matter is on the court’s docket along with other items.
Read More
Bishop Sharma D. Lewis, resident bishop of the Richmond episcopal area, will serve as keynote speaker for the South Carolina Conference’s Summit on the Black Church: Real Talk for the Black Church.
Read More
Move over, sophomores. At 499 strong, the freshman class at Spartanburg Methodist College just took the record for the largest group of new first-time college students since SMC’s founding in 1911.
Read More
In 2016, Trinity United Methodist Church raised money to “dig” six wells in Peru, Ghana, India (two) and Thailand (two). In 2018, Trinity again decided to dig some wells and this time raised enough money for 11 wells.
Read More
By Jane Agan. As one church in South Carolina hurries to finish its organ restoration, another is just beginning. Main Street United Methodist Church began an organ campaign Aug. 26. Called “Keep the Music Flowing: A Campaign to Replace and Restore the Organ,” this campaign is eight weeks of spiritual renewal as well as funding a new organ.
Read More
By Jessica Brodie. What to do? How to proceed? Which way to turn? Sometimes, I wish I had a giant God Spotlight to answer those questions.
Read More
By Bishop L. Jonathan Holston. South Carolina once again is feeling the brunt of a powerful hurricane that has caused widespread property damage across our state. While many South Carolinians have had their lives disrupted, there is tremendous evidence of God’s faithfulness in our midst. We recognize that these are trying times that are overwhelming and often lead us to believe there is nothing we can do to help.
Read More
By Jessica Brodie. Mental illness runs in my family. Like some families have a genetic predisposition to diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, my family members sometimes struggle with chemical imbalances in the brain.
Read More
By Bishop Jonathan Holston. An African proverb teaches it this way: “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Read More
Editor Jessica Brodie on how bad times (even those facing the UMC as a whole) help us draw closer to God and develop a more Christ-like attitude—humility, faith, and trust in God’s will (“thy will be done”). They teach us things we wouldn’t know otherwise. They help us become patient. They can later help us to comfort others. And when we thank God for these situations, even when it feels ridiculous to do so, we’re acknowledging His sovereignty, His dominion and His power.
Read More
Bishop Jonathan Holston reflects on what it is to be in mission: Being on the cutting edge, figuring out what it means to make disciples. Transforming the world for people where they live. Using our lives to share Christ’s love. Meeting new people and listening to their stories. Growing in an understanding of how God is at work in the world.
Read More
Editor Jessica Brodie on how—when we take a step away from our own clique, our own church, our own circle of friends and family, and we begin to look around at others who are also Christian—we realize our family is nothing like us at all on the surface except where it counts: in matters of faith.
Read More
Bishop L. Jonathan Holston on Godly leadership (and how to eat an elephant).
Read More
By Jessica Brodie. The concept of the United Methodist “connection” has been central to this denomination from the beginning, stemming from our founder John Wesley and the “connexion” he encouraged to help us stay accountable and in touch. After all, as I’ve heard former Columbia District Superintendent Dr. Tim McClendon say a dozen times, “Together we can do more.” And it’s true! Together as God’s body, we the people of Jesus are a powerful army of the Lord. When we put our hearts and minds and dollars and prayers together in His name, nothing can stop us.
Read More
By Bishop L. Jonathan Holston. As we approach the opening of the 2018 session of the South Carolina Annual Conference, I am filled with excitement and hopeful expectation. We will celebrate the culmination of this past year of ministry and look to the future with enthusiasm about the ways God will continue to use us in the communities across our state and around the world to make disciples.
Read More
The proverbial writing is not on the wall. In fact, as people guided by the Holy Spirit, I would argue anything can happen. God has this in His hands, my friends. His will is going to be done. Advocate Editor Jessica Brodie on the denominational models to be considered by General Conference.
Read More
I have found that to know what really matters in life is to eliminate all the things that distract you from what really matters. Even though our minds are filled with other thoughts, preoccupied with schedules and not always thinking about heavenly things, the Easter message reminds us that what we do with our lives matters to Jesus. A column for the Advocate by Bishop Jonathan Holston.
Read More
Sometimes spreading the Gospel is sharing our testimony. Sometimes it’s bringing someone to church. Sometimes it’s loving people in His honor. And sometimes, it’s spray-painting His name on concrete planters on the northern coast of Puerto Rico to remind passersby that no matter what else the day, the week or this temporary human life can bring, at the end it’s all about God. A column by Jessica Brodie.
Read More
