How I Lead as a Bishop in Luxembourg | An Interview with Lewis Howarth

Lewis Howarth was born and raised in the small European country of Luxembourg. His native language is English but he is also fluent in French and German. He studied at Brigham Young University before transferring to Penn State to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. Other than working as an MTC teacher for French-speaking missionaries in Provo, Lewis has worked in the technology space for his entire career, most recently working with a Gold Partner of SAP, Qualtrics, and Amazon Web Services. He leads a team across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, supporting the AWS Marketplace. Lewis served a mission in Berlin, Germany, and has served as a Sunday School and elders quorum teacher, ward executive secretary and president, Young Men president, Institute teacher, on the stake high council, and most recently as a bishop. Highlights 10:45 Lewis describes what being a member of the church in Luxembourg is like. 12:30 Lewis describes his experience being called as a bishop and the revelation he received in the temple. 15:30 Demographics of Lewis’ ward in Luxembourg. There are 19 different languages spoken and a very diverse group of people from all over the world. It’s a difficult situation to have to translate for many different languages in every single meeting they have. Despite the complex situation they face, the Luxembourg Ward has grown tremendously in the last few years. 20:55 Lewis explains how ministering works in his ward with so many different languages and cultures. They don’t always speak the same language but show up for each other with love. 25:00 Principle 1 - The importance of setting up a structure. In many places of the world the Church is not established like it is in Utah. There are no roots and many people don’t know what they are doing yet. However, it's important to establish the correct organizations, programs, and activities. 33:30 Principle 2 - Different seasons for different focuses and goals. Understanding the needs of today is very important. Each year is going to be different and there will be different challenges. God will prepare you for that next season. 40:20 Principle 3 - Don’t get in the way. It’s important as a leader to learn when you need to step in and when you need to step back. Let other leaders run their organizations. Let them make mistakes and learn. Check in with your organizational leaders in Ward Counsel or monthly one on ones. This gives them a chance to talk about the problems, their struggles and also hold leaders accountable. 55:20 Lewis describes how his time as a leader has helped him become a better follower of Jesus Christ. Links TRANSCRIPT coming soon