FLORENCE – The South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church was in Florence this week to hold their annual meeting, as well as canvas the community through doing a few good deeds.

The Great Day of Service has been an annual event since 2007 and the organization sets this day aside to participate in various projects of need. Mercy Medicine Clinic was just one of many area locales that benefited from their generosity.

The seven participants who came to Mercy helped out with a variety of essential chores and housekeeping duties including sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming, dusting and the cleaning of bathrooms.

One of them was Jerry Gadsden, pastor of Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church in Lake City, who was in charge of coordinating the Mercy team. He said the annual conference involves much more than just the meeting itself.

“Instead of doing just business the whole time, we take off an afternoon and, whatever city we’re in, we’ll just spread all over,” he said.

Kaye Allen, executive director of Mercy Medicine Clinic, expressed her gratitude for the outreach and emphasized how important such efforts are to the community.

“We are very thankful to the South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church for its gracious efforts and I praise them for the fine example they are setting by helping others,” she said. “Their selfless service during this annual event is a reflection of the guiding principles laid out by Scripture.”

Gadsden agreed, saying, “Jesus tells us that we are to be a light in the community, wherever we are serving. We’re just trying to let some of that light shine.”