OUR MISSION:
Sharing Christ, growing disciples, serving others, and transforming lives through worship, fellowship, and mission in our community and throughout the world.
OUR BELIEFS:
The Church acknowledges as its sole head Jesus Christ, Son of God, and Savior. It acknowledges as kindred in Christ all who share in this confession. It looks to the Word of God in the Scriptures and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to prosper its creative and redemptive work in the world. It claims, as its own, the faith of the historic Church, expressed in the ancient creeds, (Apostles, Nicene, and Chalcedonian) and reclaimed in the basic insights of the Protestant Reformation. It affirms the responsibility of the church in each generation is to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God. In accordance with the teaching of our Lord and the practice prevailing among Christians, it recognizes two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion.
BAPTISM:
Baptism is a sacrament that unites believers with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through baptism, God’s grace is celebrated as believers are welcomed into the family of faith, receive the assurance of forgiveness, and are marked by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. At Folly Beach Methodist Church, we honor and accept all Christian modes of baptism—immersion, sprinkling, and pouring—and joyfully baptize both children and adults.
HOLY COMMUNION:
Folly Beach Methodist Church practices open Communion. We believe that Holy Communion is Christ’s table, and all who love Him, earnestly repent of their sins, and seek to live in peace with one another are invited to receive this sacrament. Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month and on Maundy Thursday. Worshipers are invited to receive Communion at the altar rail, and those who are unable to come forward are served in their seats. Upon request, the pastor is also available to bring Communion to homebound members and friends.
MEET PASTOR KAREN:
Reverend Doctor Karen J. Diefendorf
Karen J. Diefendorf has devoted more than 49 years to Christian ministry, beginning with 13 years of pastoral service in local churches before answering God’s call to military chaplaincy. She served congregations in Illinois, providing spiritual leadership, pastoral care, and biblical teaching that established the foundation for her later ministry in the United States Army.
Building on her experience as a local church pastor, Karen entered active-duty military service, where she served for 24 years as an Army chaplain. Her distinguished career included assignments around the world and at the Pentagon, where she contributed to matters involving the constitutionality of the chaplaincy and leadership development within the Army. She retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2006 and was recalled to active duty in 2010 on special assignment by the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Chaplains.
A trailblazer in military ministry, Karen became the first female chaplain to earn Army parachutist wings. Her many honors include two awards of the Legion of Merit, induction into the Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame in 2020, and the Military Chaplains Association of the United States of America National Citizenship Award in 2022, recognizing her as a “Chaplain of National Distinction.”
Following her military service, Karen continued her ministry in Christian higher education as Academic Dean of the Undergraduate College at Lincoln Christian University. She later served as Director of Chaplain Services for Tyson Foods, leading the largest corporate chaplaincy program in the world until her retirement in 2021.
Today, Karen serves as pastor of Folly Beach Methodist Church, where she continues her lifelong calling to shepherd God’s people. She also hosts the weekly radio program Encounters with God on Wreaths Across America Radio and serves on several ministry and nonprofit boards.
Karen holds degrees from Lincoln Christian College and Seminary and Yale University and has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Theology degree from Seoul Christian University.
She and her husband, Walt, have been married for 48 years and are blessed with three adult children and five grandchildren.