Bishop Holston

“See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up;
do you not perceive it?”
              – Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

My friends, the events over the past 11 days have broken our hearts, stirred our souls, and moved us to action. We have witnessed injustice, sorrow, rage, repentance – and a glimmer of redemption and transformation.

On Friday, the white bishops of the Southeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church wrote an open letter calling on all United Methodists to “stand with and see our black brothers and sisters.”

These episcopal leaders confessed to having remained silent and failing to join black bishops who have “consistently named and called out the systemic and sinful practice of discrimination that has been pervasive in the United States since the first slaves walked the shores of this land.”

I welcome and greatly appreciate this expression of remorse from my white brothers and sisters, and I look forward to working alongside them as we put our words into action, transform our hopes into reality, and continue to make a way in the wilderness.

I ask all South Carolina United Methodists to take a moment to read this letter; to contemplate what it means to you, to your church, to your community; and to pray that God will help us all to see the new thing that is springing up in our midst.

Grace and peace,

L. Jonathan Holston
Resident Bishop