August 2025

A note from the Pastor
In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. – Colossians 1:3-6

For this first newsletter during my time here I want to begin with a note of gratitude. Anna and I have been recipients of immense love and grace from this community, and we feel so loved. Thank y’all so much!
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Over these last few weeks, I have tried to live up to this newsletter’s name and take the broad view. As an incoming pastor there are so many things to learn, so many people to meet, and so many ministry opportunities to ponder. Among many other things I’ve tie-dyed shirts, gone to a water park with the children’s ministry, met many of our longtime members at NHC and Presbyterian Community, met with many committee heads, and worshipped with y’all each Sunday. Doing all of this has enabled me to take that broad view and see the many gifts and graces present in this church community across ministries and generations. In all these various interactions, I have witnessed grace and love that has persisted even in the midst of difficulty and uncertainty. I have also witnessed passion and love for this church and curiosity for how we may continue to be good news to the community around us, especially as this church enters a new chapter of its life. I am humbled and excited to explore such questions with y’all as Fall approaches and we get into the swing of things together. May we all continue to cultivate our holy curiosity and look for where God will lead us together!
Rev. Morgan

LAY SERVANT CLASSES COMING TO BROAD STREET UMC:
​SEPTEMBER 7 & 14

Report from the SC UMC Annual Conference 2025 at Greenville Convention Center 6/8-11/25
It was the first time for Melodie Edwards and me to attend Annual Conference, and speaking for myself, it was more enjoyable than I expected! I had tried to prepare ahead of time by watching the videos sent over the last several weeks and reading the large amount of information that’s available on the conference website. The sessions began at 9:00 with really great worship services – music & preaching. Each day was a blend of reports, videos from various committees or ministry areas, and votes. I’m going to hit a few highlights, but I’m not going to attempt to give a detailed report.
Let me start by saying that we were both extremely impressed by our new bishop, Bishop Leonard Fairley. It was his first time conducting the SC AC, and he set a great tone for holy conferencing.
The big business included our SC conference voting on ratification of 4 amendments to the UMC denominational constitution. These were actions approved at the General Conference that must now be ratified throughout the entire UMC body. Results of that will not be available until all annual conferences have met, and it might even be 2026 before we hear the results.
We voted on 5 SC resolutions, 4 of them with little fanfare – these related to topics such as our responsibility for personal health, dignity of mothers, supporting South Carolinians living with dementia, and recommitting to collegiate ministry as a priority of the Church. The 5th resolution related to the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ in ministry and was debated for more than an hour and a half and twice amended. It ultimately passed.
We voted to approve the conference budget. It is obvious that there is less revenue coming in with the closure of over 225 churches over the last 2 years, and some significant, painful cuts have been made. The budget for 2026 is lower by approximately $1.4 M. And again this year $800,000 is being designated by the Trustees from the separating churches fees collected to be applied to reduce the burden of apportionments paid by the remaining churches.
The other significant item that was debated extensively and ultimately approved was the Trustees report, and of particular interest was the allocation of funds from separation fees paid by churches that have left. Money is being held for anticipated legal fees and almost $3.5M is being added to the approximately $1M remaining in the Hope Fund that is available to assist congregations.
Finally, we heard from the work of the Jeremiah Teams. These are teams of laity and clergy that Bishop Fairley has assembled to lay out plans for moving our conference forward. One of the teams is addressing conference organizational structure, including district line reorganization. This is hard, painful and very involved. However, recognizing the reality of what it going on, the Bishop has called a special session of Annual Conference on Saturday, Oct 18th, to vote on recommendations that will be coming from the Jeremiah Teams.
Final action was the fixing of appointments and we are excited about our future with Morgan Byars as our pastor!
I encourage you to check out the website for SC UMC Annual Conference 2025 for the details on the reports, and the Advocate for a deeper dive on actions taken. Melodie and I will be happy to try to answer questions if you want to reach out to us.
Thank you for allowing us to represent Broad Street at Annual Conference this year.
Boo Ramage

GIFTS IN MEMORY OF
Sharon Venable
Budget: Circle #1 BSUMC
Capital Maintenance: Ed & Sandra Cunningham, Walter & Patsy Sadler Hughes
Mary Jean Timmerman
Landscape Receipts: Billy Ballard
Carolyn Jeffcoat (Sara Beth Copeland’s
Grandmother)
Budget: Gary & Patti Nelson; Martha Simmons, Charles & Mary Buice, Russ & Barbara Emerson
Kay Dolan (Barbara Emerson’s Sister)
Budget: Betty Williams, Gail Murphy, Mary Frances Creighton, Tommy & Freddie Pinson, David & Sara Ramage, Charles & Mary Buice, Circle #1, Martha Simmons, Lee & Ellen Templeton, Scott & Elizabeth Crowder, Gail Dilleshaw, Sandra Foster, Barbara Torr, Chuck & Patsy Copeland, James & Joanne Stewart, Judith M. Helms, James & Margie Martin
WARM: Ann P. Martin
Capital Maintenance: Joe & Sue Fuller
GIFTS IN HONOR OF
Dianne Reddeck
WARM: Ann P. Martin
Jessica Stinson
WARM: Ann P. Martin
Ruth McDaniel
Music: Tommy & Freddie Pinson, Ann P. Martin, Tim Copeland, Sara Beth Copeland, Patti Nelson, Grace
Renwick
Jeramy Oropeza
Music: Patti Nelson, Grace Renwick