The church of the 21st centure requires compassionate, imaginative, courageous and visionary leaders. Robin Dease is an example of such leaders.
For 1998 Wesley Theological Seminary graduate Robin Dease, mission outreach has meant welcoming and encouraging diversity in a rapidly changing area of South Carolina. Pastor at Wesley United Methodist Church in Johns Island since 1998, Dease has witnessed the tremendous economic and ethnographic changes sweeping the traditionally rural, Gullah-accented region as developers and retirees move in.
"The church faces the challenge of preserving a magnificent culture . . . and advocating for social justice for the poor," Dease says.
Under Dease's leadership, Wesley United Methodist has gone from being a dying congregation of about 80 to a vibrant, racially mixed church averaging around 250 persons on a given Sunday. What happened? Dease credits an intense focus on biblical teaching and stewardship, as well as reaching out to the newcomers in the area. Also, Wesley UMC has built social service programs, like emergency utility assistance and senior medication cost-sharing, which aid the island's poorer residents. But that's not all; Dease and her congregation have incorporated drama, dance, and other arts into their worship services, finding ways to honor the local traditions as well as styles of worship more familiar to the island's newer residents.
"My experience at Wesley Seminary helped me to embrace, celebrate and welcome diversity in human beings and in worship," Dease says. "Professors like Dr. Bobby McClain, Dr. Jim Logan, Dr. Josiah Young, Dr. Sondra Wheeler, Dr. Bruce Birch and Dr. James Shopshire prepared me to teach, preach and live the Gospel in light of the issues and challenges that we face in our church."
