When lay delegate Martha Thompson arrived in Portland for General Conference, she found herself living the Gospel in an unexpected way. By Jessica Brodie.
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GC2016: Jessica Brodie’s General Conference May 13 wrap-up: A South Carolina perspective
By Jessica Brodie PORTLAND, Ore.—Legislative committees kicked their work into high gear at General Conference May 13, approving, amending, rejecting and merging hundreds of petitions that will go before the…
Read MoreReady for Annual Conference?
By Jessica Brodie. Six weeks from now, thousands of United Methodists will head to Florence for the denomination’s Annual Conference, and organizers are doing all they can to help delegates be ready, aware and fully educated.
Read MorePilgrimage to ease pain of racism—then and now
By Jessica Brodie. United Methodists are heading to South Carolina State University this month for a two-day racial reconciliation pilgrimage centered on the 1968 police shooting of unarmed black students during a segregation protest. Set for May 15-16 on the campus in Orangeburg, the pilgrimage comes just weeks after a North Charleston police shooting left an unarmed man dead.
Read MoreStop Hunger Now: Meal-packers, funds sought for AC2015
By Jessica Brodie. Donning meal-packing gloves and hairnets, men, women and children from across South Carolina will come together at Annual Conference for a massive one-day Stop Hunger Now event to help hungry people in desperate need of food.
Read MoreAdvocate wins three awards from Religion Communicators Council
The Advocate has won three awards from the international, interfaith Religion Communicators Council in their annual DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards.
Read MoreAC2015 to vote to remove UMC from Religious Coalition For Reproductive Choice
By Jessica Brodie. This June, Annual Conference members will vote whether to ask The United Methodist Church to withdraw two of its agencies from the Religious Coalition For Reproductive Choice. The RCRC is a national community of religious organizations and individuals dedicated to achieving reproductive justice through education, organizing and advocacy; coalition members include the UMC’s General Board of Church and Society and the United Methodist Women.
Read More1 Million Hours of Service
By Jessica Brodie. How much do South Carolina United Methodists care about children? If organizers have their way, the new 1 Million Hours of Service initiative will show they care a million times over.
Read MoreUMs react to resolution proposing change to Discipline’s homosexuality language
By Jessica Brodie. As news spread about a resolution at Annual Conference on whether the church should remove language from the United Methodist Book of Discipline about homosexuality being incompatible with Christian teaching, Advocate readers began to react strongly—both for and against the change.
Read MoreNew direction for the Spirit Singers
By Jessica Brodie. The South Carolina Conference’s youth singing ministry is heading in a new direction. In an effort to reach more youth singers and even possibly branch into instrumental, dance and visual arts, the Spirit Singers choir will shift from its current model into a new all-encompassing creative vision under direction by a conference design team.
Read MoreMore than 100 join up with ‘Bishop’s 100 Mighty Men of Faith’
By Allison Trussell. United Methodist men are running toward ministry in South Carolina, and many took the first step April 11. More than 100 men gathered at Rehoboth United Methodist Church for the Bishop’s 100 Mighty Men of Faith and were challenged by Bishop Jonathan Holston and the Rev. Kathy James, director of Connectional Ministries.
Read MoreRegional ‘giving days’ help UMC advance specials, other nonprofits May 5
By Jessica Brodie. Some of South Carolina’s United Methodist-associated ministries will have the opportunity to participate in regional “days of giving” May 5, and they are hoping Methodists across the state will step up and help them get the funds they need.
Read MoreAnderson District response teams reach out no matter the need
By Jessica Brodie. When it comes to people needing something in the Anderson District—whether it’s a new porch for a disabled church member or a fallen tree after a snowstorm—one thing is certain. You’re going to get the help you need.
Read MoreOnce (color) blind, now I see the light
By Jessica Brodie. Growing up, race wasn’t a big deal to me. Maybe it was growing up in Miami—where the swirl of Spanish mingled with the tropical breeze, where your bare arms on the beach were just a shade darker or lighter than your friends’, and no one could tell who was Latina or white or “mixed” or what—but it seemed like no one cared about race in the least. But now…
Read MoreNothing short of amazing
By Bishop Jonathan Holston. I’m guessing that everyone has a scar story. In some peculiar way, they help shape us and serve as a visible reminder. I believe there is a story behind every scar.
Read MoreChurches gather for prayer, unity after Charleston man shot by police officer
By Jessica Brodie. United Methodist churches in South Carolina’s Lowcountry are calling for peace, advocacy and prayerful healing after a police shooting left an unarmed Charleston man dead.
Read MoreAdvocate to hold first-ever Awareness Day May 17
The 178-year-old Advocate newspaper will mark its first-ever Advocate Awareness Day next month. Set for Sunday, May 17, Advocate Awareness Day is a chance for churches and pastors to tell church members about the Advocate’s newspaper ministry.
Read MorePassion
By Jessica Brodie. There I was, at the United Methodist Men’s spiritual retreat, surrounded by literally hundreds of men who were committing themselves to Christ, some for the very first time. I saw grown men with tears running down their cheeks, grown men laying on the floor or with their heads in their hands, ashamed that it had taken them this long to make that leap, excited about what was ahead of them. And it blew my mind.
Read MoreAnnual Conference 2015: Becoming Disciples God Can Use
By Jessica Brodie. This year, Annual Conference attendees will have the opportunity to focus on deepening their relationship with God and one another as they do the business of The United Methodist Church in South Carolina.
Read More‘Selma’ helps build bridge to racial healing in SC
By Jessica Brodie. South Carolina United Methodists are using the movie “Selma” to build new bridges for racial healing and unity. Churches across the state are seeing the movie en masse or teaming up with other-race congregations to see it, then holding honest and prayerful discussions together about what it means to them, how we view race today and how we can move forward as Christians together.
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