Posts by tag: umcsc

By Jessica Brodie. The Rev. Ken Nelson has been tapped as South Carolina’s episcopal nominee by the South Carolina delegation to the 2020 General and Jurisdictional conferences. Nelson will be among those considered for the role of bishop in the Southeastern Jurisdiction’s 15 annual conferences when the next Jurisdictional Conference is held beginning July 15, 2020. At least five episcopal openings are expected as bishops currently serving in conferences shift into retirement.

By Jessica Brodie. Two and a half years after a construction fire destroyed its sanctuary, members of Advent United Methodist Church are back in their building and ready to embrace all God has planned.

By Jessica Brodie. A new Epworth hub to help foster families and children in the Lowcountry is now up and running.

By Laura Camby McCaskill and Jessica Brodie. One United Methodist pastor—the Rev. Tim Whited—is on a mission to extend theological education to prisoners at Lee Correctional Institution, one of South Carolina’s maximum-security prisons.

By Jessica Brodie. In an active shooter situation, churches can’t wait five to seven minutes for first responders to arrive. Church members are the true first responders and need to be actively engaged in protecting their own lives. That was the gist behind a church security seminar by SMCI attended by a host of United Methodist pastors and church leaders, as well as leaders from other denominations across the state.

By Jessica Brodie. Roughly 70 percent of people in South Carolina do not go to church, and that’s not OK for a group of United Methodists who are hoping to do something to change that number for the better. They are hoping a one-day event, “Fresh Expressions,” will be a step in the right direction. On Oct. 5, the Orangeburg District of the South Carolina Conference is hosting a daylong gathering to help churches reimagine what it looks like to do church. While the district is sponsoring it, the event is open to all people throughout the state.

By Jessica Brodie. One year after Hurricane Florence, and on the heels of narrowly missing a hit this fall from Hurricane Dorian, United Methodists across South Carolina got a chance to help people impacted by the storm in a conference-wide Disaster Recovery Day of Service.

By Jessica Brodie. Mount Horeb—the largest-membership United Methodist church in South Carolina and the fifth-fastest growing Methodist church in the U.S.—is celebrating this month. Not only has it paid off in five years its $17 million building campaign and land debt, but it has also contributed more than $5 million above and beyond toward mission work outside its church.

By Jessica Brodie. One church in the Upstate now has a new children’s building and an expanded sanctuary to address the growing size of its congregation.

Almost two weeks after her church’s gun buy-back program, the Rev. Hillary Taylor is still elated with the results. “We bought back 20 guns in total,” said Taylor, pastor of Bethany and Zoar United Methodist churches in Saluda. “If we had bought only 10 guns, I would have been ecstatic.”  Nine of the purchased guns came from persons living somewhere other than Saluda. 

New Beginnings United Methodist Church has recently organized a Sign Language Choir to minister not only to the congregation, but also to serve as an outreach choir.

In an effort to be better prepared to respond to future disasters more effectively, the Marion District is raising $6,000 to buy and equip an Early Response Team trailer.

Charles Duke’s memories of leaving Earth now go hand-in-hand with his, and wife Dotty’s, transformation after accepting Jesus into their life. By Sean Garbelman.

Dr. Eric Mason will serve as keynote speaker for the annual Men N Ministry event, set for Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, at Mount Horeb United Methodist Church.

One of South Carolina’s oldest and largest United Methodist churches has joined the Reconciling Ministries Network. Washington Street UMC Church Council voted unanimously July 29 to join the network, an unofficial caucus of United Methodists that promotes full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other individuals in the life of the church. The vote makes Washington Street the only reconciling congregation in the South Carolina Conference of the UMC, though there are at least 11 additional reconciling Sunday school classes and other communities in various UMCs across the state. By Jessica Brodie.

A year after a double-whammy of hurricanes swept through South Carolina, swamping rivers, dams and towns alike, the United Methodist connection is rallying for recovery. United Methodists across South Carolina will get the chance to help people through a conference-wide Disaster Recovery Day of Service set for Sept. 21. By Jessica Brodie.

They’ve seen the statistics, seen the toll it’s taken on families—young men with so much promise making poor choices and then winding up behind bars. Now, one United Methodist church is doing its part to fight back. On Aug. 16-17, Cumberland United Methodist Church, in collaboration with community partners, hosted Anti-Incarceration Weekend, two days filled with honest discussion about real consequences when people choose the wrong path. By Jessica Brodie and Dr. Anthony Hodge.

From the outside, the Shepherd Ministry at St. Andrews United Methodist Church might just look like another church food ministry. However, inside those walls is a ministry that spans beyond any conventional idea of what food ministry is. By Allison Redmond.