Goat-scaping
A team of 10 goats made short work of the overgrown parsonage yard at Aldersgate UMC in Greenville, S.C. (South Carolina Advocate Photo)
South Carolina Advocate | July 30, 2025
GREENVILLE, S.C. —At Aldersgate UMC, stewardship isn’t just about buildings—it’s about caring for the spaces where ministry and community grow.
So when the parsonage backyard was overtaken by brush and weeds, the trustees saw more than a maintenance problem. They saw a chance to get creative.
Mowers couldn’t handle it. Volunteer efforts ran into busy schedules, sore backs and poison ivy. Then someone half-joked at a meeting, “What about goats?” The idea stuck.
It turns out that goats are expert landscapers. With a quick call to Gotcha Goats, a local goat-scaping crew, the plan was in motion.
Soon, 10 four-legged team members were hard at work. They cleared the overgrowth—and brought people together. Folks stopped by to check their progress, take pictures and enjoy the fun.
One trustee summed it up: “I’ve never seen a pastor so happy to have goats in the backyard.”
But this wasn’t just about landscaping—it was about shared action, creative stewardship and the reminder that ministry grows in all kinds of unexpected ways … even on four hooves.
As the Rev. Amanda Richardson put it with a grin, “Ministry often means thinking outside the box—and this gives new meaning to ‘scapegoat.’”
The goats have gone home, but the story keeps growing.