Methodist Hope for What Comes Next with Will Willimon

What better way to start our season about the values the church must carry forward into the future than with the ‘gadfly of the church,’ Bishop Will Willimon! Co-host Gil Rendle points out that as the gadfly of the church, Will both loves and cares about the institution AND asks critically important questions that challenge the church to be better. You won’t want to miss this compelling story-packed episode that includes topics like how Jesus disrupts contented churches, why purpose is so important right now and Will’s advice to pastors in today’s context.    In this conversation, you’ll hear: Gil Rendle shares the meaning behind his paper “Jacob’s Bones.” What should we carry forward? (02:52) Will Willimon’s call to ministry and relationship with the church (13:36) How Jesus Christ disrupts otherwise happy, contented churches (19:46) Why getting clear on purpose is so important and how easy it is to get distracted (22:19) How to stay focused on what to keep and what to let go of (33:17) Willimon’s hope for the church 20, 30, 40 years from now (51:00)   QUOTES “It is easy to get distracted in the present moment. And sometimes I think the church argues about some of the stuff we’re fighting over because it's’ easier to fight over those subjects than to have a good argument about how can we have a future? How can we welcome in the two or three generations of Christians that we have excluded? That’s hard, and maybe that’s why we’ve been arguing.” -Will Willimon [25:59] “There’s times when I think sometimes our Methodist problems are due to the fact that maybe we have taken our eye off of the ball. We have not allowed the main thing to be the main thing, and we’ve had our arguments. But at the end of the day, those arguments have got to answer to Jesus Christ.” -Will Willimon [29:17]   Will Willimon’s Bio The Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Divinity School, Duke University. He served eight years as Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church, where he led the 157,000 Methodists and 792 pastors in North Alabama. For twenty years prior to the episcopacy, he was Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Willimon is the author of over 80 books. His articles have appeared in many publications including Theology Today, Interpretation, Liturgy, and Christianity Today.   RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS More information about Bishop Will Willimon can be found on his website. Will Willimon is the author of 80 books. His latest is “Don’t Look Back: Methodist Hope for What Comes Next.” This podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at TMF and Wesleyan Investive. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders in conversations and environments that create a network of courage, learning, and innovation in order to help the church lean into its God-appointed mission. Subscribe to our Leadership Ministry emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode’s topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry. If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?