This is the category for Advocate editorials and other viewpoints.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Bishop L. Jonathan Holston on Godly leadership (and how to eat an elephant).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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It’s so easy to simply get caught up in the enthusiasm of the crowds and join the procession that has the loudest brass bands or the most elaborate floats or the greatest number of celebrities or the most charismatic leaders. It’s easy to miss the procession where Jesus is riding on a humble donkey proclaiming dominion, not with violence, but by courageously loving, humbly serving and bravely acknowledging his place among the victims of imperial power. A column by Bishop Jonathan Holston.
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By Jessica Brodie. Giving back with the first tenth of what I “have”—whether that’s money or time—is an important symbol of faith and homage, a gesture of respecting His authority. Now I start each day by offering my tithe of time, just like I tithe my money. He gets my “first fruits.” It doesn’t matter what else the day holds; He comes first. And ironically, just like I haven’t missed the money I tithe to Him, I don’t miss the time, either.
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By Bishop L. Jonathan Holston. As we continue in this season of Lent, of sacrifice, of self-reflection and seeking God, we are called to wrestle with how we bring hope to situations of despair in our world. On Feb. 14, once more we found ourselves in anguish over the loss of young lives in a mass shooting—this time with 17 dead and more than a dozen wounded at a high school in South Florida. Less than three months into this year, 30 mass shootings have been reported in our country.
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By Jessica Brodie. Renewal and refreshment are critical when it comes to a healthy spiritual life; we’re told this, and we should know this. But with today’s go-do-now mentality, what we say and what we allow ourselves permission to do are often at odds. We forget that throughout Scripture, Jesus took needed time apart from others and apart from his work teaching and performing miracles.
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