Episode 100
Navigating Unity and Diversity at General Conference with Rev. Russ Abel: Part 1 of a 4 Part Series about General Conference
Bishop Julius C. Trimble is the Resident Bishop of the Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church.
Bishop Trimble has the personal mission to encourage all people with the love of Jesus Christ to rise to their highest potential. It is his commitment to his personal mission that led Bishop Trimble to create the “To Be Encouraged” Podcast along with co-host Rev.Dr. Brad Miller.
Bishop Trimble says, “I am compelled by Jesus to share with you an encouraging word or two about Jesus, theology, the Bible, the pandemic, the environment, racism, voting rights, human sexuality, and the state of the United Methodist Church.”
To Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble is to be published weekly and is available at www.tobeencouraged.com and all the podcast directories.
https://www.inumc.org/bishop/office-of-the-bishop/
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Welcome to the 100th episode of "To Be Encouraged," where we explore faith, hope, and the future of the United Methodist Church in today's world. In this episode, our host, Bishop Julius C. Trimble and Rev. Dr. Brad Miller welcome Rev. Russ Abel to discuss the upcoming 2024 General Conference, its challenges, and its promise for the renewal of the church's mission.
*Three Key Takeaways from Episode 100:
**1. Emphasis on Discipleship and Unity:**
Bishop Julius C. Trimble and Rev. Russ Abel strongly emphasize discipleship and unity in the church's mission. They highlight the importance of ministry across social divides and the need to connect the work of the church to the lived experiences of its members. Abel urges a focus on making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, avoiding distractions by administrative tasks. The discussion underlines the significance of moving forward with unity and diversity to advance the cause of Christ, especially amid present challenges such as schism and disaffiliation.
**2. Acknowledging Setbacks and Looking Forward with Hope:**
Bishop Trimble reflects on the adverse outcomes of the 2019 general conference but retains a hopeful outlook for a positive 2024 General Conference experience. He notes the resilience of the church through the pandemic and racial reckoning, which has led to new ministries and beginnings. Trimble and Abel encourage a shift from focusing on loss to celebrating the continuous work of God in their communities. Abel praises the faithfulness of local church communities, drawing encouragement from their dedication to serving God through adversity.
**3. The Impact of Legislation and Responsibility in Shaping Narratives:**
The episode addresses the complexity of legislation presented at general conferences, with references to the summary from Discipleship Ministries in 2020. Various topics, such as regionalization, the revision of social principles, and removal of harmful language, are discussed as key legislative issues. Trimble highlights potential changes in budget proposals and reshaping of ministry, emphasizing their impact on local churches. Abel explains his role as the head of the delegation, stressing the importance of effective communication and coordination. The speakers concurred on the importance of shaping the narrative of the General Conference to positively impact local congregations.
Join us in prayer and gratitude with Bishop Trimble as we conclude this momentous episode. We look forward to continuing the journey together, being encouraged by faith, and sustaining the hope for a more inclusive and Christ-centered church.
**Next Time on To Be Encouraged:**
Episode 100 of To Be Encouraged is Part 1 of a 4 Part Series in Preparation for General Conference. Upcoming Episodes in the General Conference Series include:
LINKS:
Indiana Conference UMC.
Northeast District - Indiana Conference UMC
https://www.inumc.org/districts/northeast-district/
General Conference UMC.
UMC-https://www.umc.org/en/who-we-are/structure/general-conference
https://www.resourceumc.org/en/churchwide/general-conference-2020
Transcript
Hello, good people. Welcome to To Be Encouraged.
Speaker:This is the podcast where we look to offer an encouraging word to an often
Speaker:discouraged world. I'm reverend doctor Brad Miller, your cohost, and along
Speaker:with Bishop Julius c Treble, we are welcoming to
Speaker:today reverend Russ Abel, who is the conference
Speaker:superintendent of the East and Northeast District
Speaker:of the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, one of the primary
Speaker:cities involved there is Fort Wayne. Bishop, can you
Speaker:give a welcome to our guest here, today on To Be Encouraged?
Speaker:Yeah. Welcome to Russ, colleague and cabinet member.
Speaker:Thank you for your witness, you and Michelle, and
Speaker:your recent response, we had here in Indiana, some
Speaker:tornadoes and some heavy C storms. And
Speaker:as is often the case, United Methodist don't wait
Speaker:to respond. And I just wanna say thanks Russ for your leadership,
Speaker:and you may even wanna give an update on that. We have people that
Speaker:listen to the podcast from not just Indiana, but from around around the
Speaker:world. And but hope our primary target audience
Speaker:includes United Methodist in Indiana. So welcome welcome,
Speaker:Russ, for this time of conversation. Thank you. Well, Russ,
Speaker:indeed, it's a pleasure to have you with us, and we'd just like to hear
Speaker:just a little bit about you in terms of, a little bit about your background,
Speaker:about maybe what what brought you to faith in Jesus Christ in
Speaker:the first place, and how how did it come about that you came to
Speaker:serve in United Methodist Ministry and particularly in your role
Speaker:right now as a, conference superintendent? Well, thank you,
Speaker:Brad. Thank you, Bishop, for having me on today. So I,
Speaker:I came to faith in Christ more like a a
Speaker:sunrise than than a light switch. You know, you
Speaker:some people, I think, in the time, the day, the moment.
Speaker:For me, it was more a realization that that Christ was my savior,
Speaker:and that'd been for some time. That came to me through The United
Speaker:Methodist Church and through who then to me
Speaker:offered, offered spiritual counsel, and and I
Speaker:found the grace of Christ and have never turned back. I,
Speaker:I serve as a superintendent in the Northeast and East District of the
Speaker:United Methodist Church in Indiana, And the short answer of how I came to
Speaker:serve there is the bishop asked me to dinner. You
Speaker:know, remember that anytime you get a invitation from the Bishop, maybe. I
Speaker:don't know. There you go. But, I'm I'm really thankful to get to serve this
Speaker:way. I I know a lot of people sometimes misunderstand this role,
Speaker:but I think it's I think it's a great way to serve, and, I'm very
Speaker:thankful to continue to serve these 2 districts. Well, Russ, one of the main reasons
Speaker:we have you here today is because of something that Bishop really particularly wants to,
Speaker:chat about here today, and that is general conference of,
Speaker:2024, or I guess it's technically general conference
Speaker:2020 in the year 2024. We'll have to unpack that a little bit
Speaker:here. But we're glad that you're with us. You happen to be a a delegate
Speaker:from the Indiana conference and the head of the delegation, and we are
Speaker:glad that you are are with us here. So, Bishop, I know you have some
Speaker:things you wanted to talk to, Russ, about, regarding general conference.
Speaker:Yeah. Let first of all, welcome again, Russ. General conference, if I
Speaker:understand correctly, is comprised of clergy and lay leaders
Speaker:elected from annual conferences, missionary conferences,
Speaker:provisional conferences around the globe, and they gather
Speaker:usually every 4 years for a 10 day meeting
Speaker:in which we vote on legislation. We worship and pray, but,
Speaker:primarily, we make any changes to our book of discipline and book
Speaker:of resolutions. So I I just would wanted to,
Speaker:you know, maybe respond to as we are actually meeting
Speaker:in 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina, but it's the
Speaker:2020 postponed general conference. And what does
Speaker:that mean for you, and what are your responsibilities as the
Speaker:head of a delegation? Most people might say, well, what's the head of the
Speaker:delegation? Is he isn't he or she just
Speaker:another voting member? But you have other responsibilities, I keep, I
Speaker:think, in terms of organizationally. So can you just kinda give us
Speaker:a summary of I know I covered a lot of lot there terms of
Speaker:general conference, but any way you wanna approach that. Yeah. I think I'd
Speaker:start by Bishop saying I have no idea.
Speaker:That seems to be the theme of around the church these days in many ways,
Speaker:isn't it? Oh my goodness. That's the these things seem like a good idea at
Speaker:the time where you C I represent.
Speaker:I tell people it's the longest 14 month volunteer
Speaker:role I've ever had. So so thank you for
Speaker:the question. This is a peculiar and unique season in the
Speaker:United Methodist Church, in terms of general conference. As Bishop
Speaker:said, general conference meets historically, every 4 years, and
Speaker:they coincide with with presidential elections in the United
Speaker:States, same sort of years, every 4 years in that order.
Speaker:We've had some exceptions to that. The most recent exception was
Speaker:2019 special called general conference session, which
Speaker:was just that. It was called for a particular reason, much like a a
Speaker:charge conference would be a special called charge conference to deal with a
Speaker:particular agenda. And so 2020
Speaker:general conference has been postponed a few times due to
Speaker:COVID, and complications and challenges
Speaker:came about from Carolina. It will be con
Speaker:we will be convening the 2020 general
Speaker:conference, and we will meet in session for that.
Speaker:It's our expectation at this point, we believe that the
Speaker:2024 General Conference will possibly be
Speaker:canceled since no legislation has been submitted to that general conference
Speaker:yet, and we will meet in special session
Speaker:perhaps in 2026, and then in regular
Speaker:session back on that quadrennial or every 4 year pattern
Speaker:in 2028. I do serve as a delegate. I'm part of
Speaker:an amazing delegation from Indiana. We have shaped
Speaker:and been reshaped by by, new members
Speaker:coming on and and other members stepping away. And,
Speaker:so many of us, were elected in June June of
Speaker:20, 2019. Some of us were elected in
Speaker:June of 2023. But all of us have the same
Speaker:goal, and that is to be faithful to the best of our
Speaker:ability, to the call of Christ in our lives, and to the role and mission
Speaker:of the United Methodist Church in the world. And so, that's what takes
Speaker:us to Charlotte, North Carolina next month and the beginning of
Speaker:May. Thank thank you, Russ, for great great over
Speaker:overview. Are there particular responsibilities as dean
Speaker:of the cabinet that you have that just the regular
Speaker:other members don't have? Yeah. I I think you meant to say, head
Speaker:of the delegation, not dean of the cabinet. Head of the delegation.
Speaker:Unless there's something of these, and I don't know. So I
Speaker:mean, I mean, my apologies. Yeah. It's a head
Speaker:so the the total
Speaker:number of people who will be delegates to general conference is 862.
Speaker:One of the functions of heads of delegations is, can you imagine
Speaker:receiving all the questions from 862 different delegates to the
Speaker:general conference staff. It's a it would be untenable. So one of the roles of
Speaker:the head of the delegation is to be the primary communication connector
Speaker:between information being released about general conference, responsibilities
Speaker:required for general conference, and actions of the delegation. So you you
Speaker:serve as that sort of moderator of information. So that's that's one
Speaker:piece. Secondly, you do work with other heads of delegations
Speaker:to consider how we might work together, and that
Speaker:that's both at general conference and jurisdictional conferences
Speaker:that happen during your term as a delegate. The the third
Speaker:way is the the the the head of the delegation
Speaker:is the person who has responsibility, excuse
Speaker:me, organizing the delegation's work. Certainly don't do that
Speaker:alone, but you you sort of help that facilitate that to come
Speaker:together. And so you get to see a lot of sides
Speaker:of the of the work of the the general conference. But,
Speaker:really, the the important part is how do you work together with other
Speaker:delegation heads and your delegation to to to
Speaker:serve in the best way possible. Thank thank you, Russ. There's
Speaker:there's as much as a 1,000 pieces of legislation, if I'm
Speaker:correct. And, I just started trying to trying
Speaker:to navigate my way around, look at this some I I just wanna
Speaker:read a little bit. One is the the the general forms and agencies
Speaker:present their plans and legislation. Then there's
Speaker:legislation comes from conferences
Speaker:and caucuses, and then an individual can submit
Speaker:legislation to general congress, which is how we end up with so many different pieces
Speaker:of legislation. Discipleship this this summary is from Discipleship
Speaker:Ministries, 2020 well, 2020 legislation
Speaker:summary for coming now, but in 2024. To To see Vital
Speaker:and Vibrant Church on fire to transform the world, it's the executive
Speaker:summary. The agency has recently completed a rigorous 3 year
Speaker:process, create a more holistic, integrated, and focused
Speaker:approach, and assist the United Methodist leaders in their
Speaker:disciple making efforts. Discipleship Ministries
Speaker:has identified 3 strategic priorities, an
Speaker:intentional disciple making process in every church,
Speaker:engagement with people currently outside the church, and cultivating
Speaker:local contextual resources around the globe.
Speaker:I just our primary business is to make
Speaker:disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Speaker:Is there a sense that as a as as a voting
Speaker:member of general conference, you're you're looking to see on all all
Speaker:legislation, is there a lens where we say what you you know, we used to
Speaker:say, what does this have to do with John 316? Or what does this
Speaker:have to do with Matthew 28? A lot of the legislation really has
Speaker:to do with, you know, whether this this line will be taken out of
Speaker:the discipline or this one added to discipline. What's your sense
Speaker:of of the focus on our
Speaker:primary mission as we as we approach general conference?
Speaker:Then I'll then I'll let I'll let Brandt take some of the next few few
Speaker:questions. Fair enough. Fair enough. So one of the things we talk
Speaker:about on our delegation a lot is to keep the
Speaker:focus of our work on making disciples
Speaker:of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. In other words, as
Speaker:we think about this particular piece of legislation, this report
Speaker:of a general agency, this opinion or viewpoint of a
Speaker:caucus group, in the end, how does that impact our
Speaker:ability as a worldwide church to make disciples and to make
Speaker:disciples and to transform the world? I think it's really easy, Bishop,
Speaker:or could be really easy to sort of get hyper
Speaker:focused on the administrative function of
Speaker:general conference, that this piece of legislation there and, actually,
Speaker:you're right. There's more than a1000. There's a 1,008 pieces of
Speaker:legislation this this round. So you could get focused on, like,
Speaker:what's the process that we're gonna use or is used to to
Speaker:to move this from a petition to entrance into the discipline.
Speaker:And that's important work. But most important work is,
Speaker:does it help us make the cycles? Does it
Speaker:help us bring justice and equity to the world? You
Speaker:know? And so we talk on our delegation a lot about
Speaker:that. And in in my conversations with people kind of around
Speaker:around the, general church, I think everybody has that that
Speaker:goal. Like I said, you can get distracted or you can get hyper focused on
Speaker:one part or another, but in the end, if it's not about Jesus and helping
Speaker:people know Jesus and know Jesus more, then then
Speaker:really we've we've gotten off track a little bit. And so
Speaker:certainly some of the pieces of legislation
Speaker:may tend more toward, like, an editorial change of this word would
Speaker:be better than that word. But the
Speaker:but the intention is always should always be,
Speaker:how does it move us forward in our mission? How does it help us as
Speaker:a global church to operate in a way that all voices are heard, all
Speaker:people are seen, and all love is shared? So
Speaker:that that's the frame that we approach. And
Speaker:one additional piece, Bishop, I might add, our
Speaker:our our most recent conversations at the at the, delegation
Speaker:level, our delegation, have been kind of focused on
:8, where Jesus calls us to be witnesses.
:So even even as we're at general conference, even
:as we participate, what are ways we
:can intentionally be good witnesses for
:Jesus Christ in that environment so that we look like
:the church, we sound like the church, even as
:we're doing the work of the church. So that's that's part of our focus.
:Thank you, Russ. Well, Russ, even
:as you were speaking there, you're talking about the focus and you
:kind of trying to avoid hyperfocus on administration stuff, but keep the focus keep
:the keep the main thing the main thing about our focus on making
:disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And that's and acts
:1:8 is all about the church coming together and so on and being
:unity. But we have to deal with some reality, don't we, Russ? That
:we live in a time of schism and disaffiliation that are there
:hap has happened and it is happening in the church,
:and that they are there are difficult things to deal with at
:this general conference, which have huge implications
:to the future of the church and the future of local churches and clergy
:and so on and so on and so forth. How are how are
:you personally, and how is the Indiana delegation navigating that
:with differing viewpoints about within the delegation, I
:understand, and also certainly among the body of the general conference.
:How you're navigating some of these things? And we, you know, I I we
:need to we'll need to deal with the LBGTQ issues Julius
:issues as well somehow or another here. But to give you a little idea,
:if we're have provisions on Unity, how we with all this division
:as well? Thank you, Brad. There was a lot in that question. I would say,
:let me start where you started, and that's with reality.
:Yeah. So the gospel can never be disconnected from the current reality in which we
:we find ourselves. And that reality that we find ourselves in right
:now is in this particular place and Trimble, and we need
:to keep in mind that there are realities
:that other people are facing as well. So just this past week,
:in one of the districts I served, we had tornadoes come through and do
:severe property damage. Thank thank god, literally. Thank god there
:was there were no loss of life. But that
:reality for those folks was very real. And so part of, I think,
:our goal or our, call in serving at a
:in the delegation or at any general church level
:is is to say, how does our work connect
:the reality of the church to the reality the lived reality of the
:people we serve? And so, you know, we have been through
:a season of disaffiliation. That's that's no secret. In
:Indiana, we were affected greatly, but
:we also know that we we don't just we don't
:just mourn. We do mourn. The the the churches are left, in a
:sense, we mourn them, but we also look forward. So so we
:let me let me own it personally. I I mourn the the
:change in relationships, but I also keep in
:mind that that this is a kingdom moment. So they may have left the
:United Methodist Church. They didn't leave the kingdom of God. And so I pray that
:their ministries will be, fruitful and and, continue to help people
:know Christ. So so that is part of our
:reality or our recent history, it's the
:church we strive to be, as we move forward, we
:have this amazing opportunity as general conference delegations
:to say, what will the church look like as we move forward? What will
:the future of the church be like? I hope that we never serve
:a church in which there there is only agreement.
:Right? Unity means we all move together toward the
:same goal, but we won't all agree on everything along the
:path. And so we seek to to proclaim
:the unity of Christ and the unity of the body of Christ
:by recognizing diversity in every way.
:So the the delegation as we move into general conference,
:I think that what we do is we we have been praying over,
:we have been learning about, we have been in
:conversation around different parts of them and,
:groupings of legislation that are coming to general conference. Again,
:holding the question in front of us, how will this help us fulfill our
:mission and move the cause of Christ forward? And so
:there are there are several issues within that. And so
:our our our call, our role, we believe,
:is is to to prayerfully
:and faithfully move toward the future that god is calling
:this church, this United Methodist Church, to to be.
:So that's how we're moving forward. I'm not sure I covered everything in your question,
:but feel free to to read I apologize for being so broad, but I think
:these are some of the areas that, you know, people wanna know. You know, they
:just they just wanna know where kinda they wanted going in, they
:there's we mentioned at the very top of our conversation, kinda, we
:don't know what's gonna happen. It almost it's almost laughable about how it's so
:so many unknowns here. But, we know that somehow we'll come
:out of a general conference, and things are probably gonna be different one way or
:another in how we do church. And so I think people
:kinda wanna get some idea of that. And, and I would really like both maybe,
:perhaps, Bishop, you can chime in here on this. There are some kind of granular
:things that I think some people have heard a little bit about, but wanna get
:some more clarity about. For instance, movement towards something called
:regionalization, you know, and other things of that nature and
:the the changing of language of, adjustment of
:language, harmful language in paragraph 304 0.3
:in the discipline. I don't know if these are some things that we might be
:able but let's take regionalization. Is this something we can speak to? Yep. Alright. Brad,
:if Go ahead. If you could Yeah. Yeah. Bishop, thank you. Let me
:just share with you a few areas of legislation that I
:think people are concerned about and
:would would would be affected by. You mentioned
:regionalization. Regionalization's a really important thing that's coming before general
:conference. It affects its its legislation is in several different
:groups that we'll be discussing at general conference and bringing it forward.
:I think that the the short and succinct way
:to think about regionalization is it allows
:for certain parts of the book of discipline to be discipline to be ached by
:the context of ministry that's being exercised.
:So the outside the United Methodist outside
:the United States, parts of the United Methodist Church already can do this.
:And so the question is, should should that be the case within the
:United within the United States? Another piece of
:legislation that's really important is the revised social principles,
:And that that's that's something that everyone should be aware of. That
:those that information just as well as all the information I'm
:talking about is available online. So read through this revision of
:the social principles. You know, we we are a church that believes that
:the gospel is lived out and lived out seeking,
:justice, equity, and inclusion of of folks all around the
:world. And so the revised social principles is
:important. The 3rd grouping of legislation pieces of legislation
:that's important to watch will be the removal of harmful
:language. And it certainly is is, connected to the
:reference you made to the discipline, Brad, but it's also affecting other
:parts of the book of discipline. So that
:that grouping, that set of legislation, it
:it would ask that the general conference remove
:prohibitive language in regard to human sexuality from the
:book of discipline. It does not ask that
:affirmative language, prohibitive language is removed.
:And I think that's a really important distinction
:to understand at this point. I think the the last
:piece I would say, and then certainly the will of the Bishop and his wisdom,
:but all three of those primary are big
:sets of legislation I mentioned, regionalization, revised social
:principles, and removal of harmful language have the potential
:to have constitutional changes in the book of discipline,
:Which means that those changes have to be
:ratified by a 2 thirds aggregate
:vote of voting members of all annual
:conferences around the world. And so if
:if one of those if those pieces of legislation pass, quote
:unquote, pass at general conference, then
:they're not fully approved until that
:ratification process is complete. So I think that's another important piece
:for people to understand. And so Yeah. That that that's what I would share in
:regard to your specific question. It's a very involved process. Yeah. Bishop, I would
:really like to hear your take on this, particularly in any role the bishops may
:play in all this. Well, I mean, general conference, the bishops
:preside, but we do not have a vote. Certainly, one
:of the piece that Russ didn't talk about was, you know, we we
:are we are anticipating in in
:the near future, as a result of this general conference,
:Maybe some reshaping and realignment of the way in which we live
:out a ministry through general boards and agencies because we
:anticipate a budget proposal that will reflect the
:fact that, you know, we have significant number of churches that
:have disaffiliated. So if we, you
:know, we've 3,000 churches that have disaffiliated,
:I think the budget proposals and the general conference is the body that has
:to approve whatever our quadrennial budget will
:be, will have implications for the general boards and
:C. And the the the the the caretaker, if you will,
:for social principles and and what the the general general board of
:churches society would help which helps annual conferences in local
:congregations to kinda live out, interpret, and
:carry forth the social principles along with the other
:C. Global Ministries that's very much involved in
:missionary the support for our missionaries across the globe and
:provides administrative some administrative support for UMCOR, which
:we're benefiting from right now in Indiana. So all of these
:things I have will be impacted by decision made
:at at general conference. I
:think a lot of people are are asking the question, what will
:general conference mean for the life at the local church level?
:And my hope is that we will come away from general conference
:with the clear message that we we are United
:Methodist, and we're still very much, as we are in Indiana,
:committed to being both in mission and being missional, and
:that we still believe that the local church is the primary
:place in which disciple making takes place and mission is lived
:out. So I think the the bishops are really
:wanting to see people get excited about
:the future of The United Methodist Church with those of and and and a church
:that that is more inclusive, less divided, and
:less focus on debate and more focus
:on being in mission and being missional. I think that
:the removal of harmful language would be will be helpful in that.
:I think approval of regionalization would be helpful in that
:cause. But also, I think the the the outside world, if you will,
:wants to know, well, do we care about folks who are starving in
:Gaza, or do we care about folks who are hungry in the
:rural areas of Indiana? Do we care about children?
:Do do we care about, you know, violence and the way it's
:manifest across the globe and and sometimes in some of our
:cities and communities? Do what does the church
:care about the lost and the least and the overlooked,
:which is part of the part of our history as as United
:Methodists? It seems to me that, we
:are entering this kind of this,
:odyssey,
:conversations with other folks, people for instance, I believe the last general
:conference was in 19, and there's a lot of people came out of that
:discouraged, you know, with how things went then. What
:do you think is the what do we what do we need to be
:encouraged about going into this general conference, and what can do you think we
:can emerge out of this conference to focus in
:on moving forward? Just I'm asking you to project a little bit to kinda give
:your your vibe, your feel of how we're going in. Russ, do you have any
:thoughts on that? Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you for that question.
:So the the headline of general
:conference seems always to be the legislative work, and
:it's incredibly important. But the the the encouraging parts, the
:exciting parts, the the blessed
:parts of general conference are are the times when we
:gather together. The worship times, the times when we hear
:reports from from youth and from women's ministries and men's
:ministries, and we hear all the ways the church is active in the
:world. And and just just the
:experience of being in a room with with United Methodist
:from all over the world. We can tend to live
:in somewhat isolated ways
:and forget just how diverse the church really is to sit in a
:plenary session or a worship session and and hear what's
:being spoken translated simultaneously in 5 different
:languages because that's what it takes for everybody to
:communicate. To look out across the room and see the
:the cultural, racial, diverse those are things that give me
:all kinds of encouragement. I think that,
:I expect that this general conference will be one in
:which we live and do our work as
:as disciples of Julius, and that when people look at us,
:they'll see that. We may not agree. There may be discussions
:or even arguments. But in the end, my prayer is that our
:love for Christ and love for one another will be
:so clear that it'll be
:undeniable and will have to be shared because that'll be the good
:news moment. Bishop, well, I'd like to get your thoughts on that as it was.
:Well, I I I am very much encouraged about this general conference. I
:left despondent, discouraged in grief,
:and and and and went through a period
:of, of depression after
:2019 and brought there. He he gave a protest on the floor
:at one point. So so I I that was the
:worst experience I ever had at a general conference or any annual conference or any
:other kind of conference. It wasn't just because of the the votes.
:It was because of the spirit of acrimony. So I just fully
:anticipate that this conference, people are coming in with
:it with a totally different spirit. We have survived,
:Brett. Let's keep we need to remind ourselves a pandemic.
:You know, that's the, you know, first in the history of the United Methodist
:Church in in modern times since that that we because this
:was a global pandemic, unlike the one a 100 years ago
:here in the US that wasn't totally a global
:pandemic. We survived the pandemic, some some really
:racial reckoning that we're still work and we made a commitment to continue
:that work and and our retirement celebration,
:Russ. But I think I think it's it's worth picking up. I said this is
:a time to pivot with passion, to pivot with passion
:for the mission as opposed to just, you know, I think I
:think it's appropriate to lament loss. Don't get me wrong. We should lament loss.
:We should we should pay attention to confession and repentance.
:But I think the church really needs a passionate I mean, the world
:really needs a passionate United Methodist Church. And here's an
:example of hope that sometimes we overlook, and I'm
:at it all the time. So we've had between
:2528 new fresh expressions
:of ministry in the last 13 months
:in just in the Indiana conference. Probably worried
:not for this affiliation and the pandemic,
:we would not have had that many new risk taking
:ministries, including a couple of new church starts
:as a result of that. So so while there's loss, there's also
:gain. While there's death, there's also been new birth and new
:life. And we tend to I think someone said,
:what what we elevate, we also should celebrate, and what we celebrate, we should
:elevate. And I'm more inclined at this period
:to really try to celebrate and elevate the new things that
:are happening because God is always doing a new thing.
:Yes. We have lost churches in Indiana. And guess
:what? There will be some people, I think it'll be a small minority,
:of people who will come to general conference with the hopes of still
:finding ways to leave the church. Mhmm.
:But I think the majority of people will come to general conference with may
:with an openness to pivot with passion towards submission. So
:that's where my prayers are words that we might
:really encourage each other going into general conference.
:And be reminded as I heard someone just say, today, I
:was watching on a on a on a webinar that we need to be remembered
:that it's not our church. We are even so I'm guilty of that saying
:referring to the church as as my church or or, you know, the United Methodist
:Church is our church. But as opposed to it is the church of the of
:Jesus Christ that is that that that will not fail,
:cannot cannot be destroyed. So I'm very hopeful. When I look down the
:list of the brand the new you know, with the the dinner churches
:and the messy churches and the Hispanic ministry
:new starts and some of the things that that Russ Abel's doing in
:his 2 his 2 districts, man, I get excited about
:that. And sometimes I forget, you know, because we spent so much
:energy on focusing on all of the logistics around
:people leaving and forget that God is still doing the new
:thing. So general conference will will come and go,
:and we'll come back and we still will have churches that have to do
:ministry. No. General conference indeed will come
:will come and go, and and we need to be
:navigate that to come out to a better place. Russ, I know you had something
:you wanna say there. Yeah. I just wanna jump in real quick. Thank you. In
:regard to what Bishop said about sometimes we overlook the good
:things, to some degree, how general conference
:will go and be perceived is not just
:the responsibility of the people who attend it. It will be what do
:people, what do us, what do we, what do you choose to talk
:about, and what kind of stories will we tell? Will we will we tell
:all those stories about connection and unity and and ministry
:and mission, or will we choose on the few places where
:there might be disagreement and disunity? So I think that we all share
:in that responsibility of the story we tell. Yeah. I I agree. And yet I
:just want to as to understand that in the local church level,
:most churches are focused on whatever is happening in the local community, their local
:context. But the context is impacted by decisions that are made at
:general conference. You know, the church I attend, you know, the,
:LGBT 2 Julius folks who attend there may be
:impacted by decisions that are made one way or another at general conference.
:And these are the implications that we need to
:find a way to navigate through
:in order to continue to effective ministry in our local
:churches. And, not everybody understands that in local church level, and they don't
:often don't need to in some regards because they need to focus locally, but there
:are implications here. And so, it's my hope and prayer that we can
:continue to leverage church. So it is impacting
:those local United Methodist churches, including the people who are
:active and vibrant in whatever situation in life they are. Bishop, may I have anything
:else you wanna share or ask Russell about before we bring this around to close
:here in a few minutes? Well, you since you gave me an opening, I'm gonna
:steal your question you usually ask and and and say, what
:Russ, what's encouraging you now when you think about
:your current role as a conference superintendent? And, you
:just immediately responded to the communities, and I know there's more response
:that we we have to follow-up on. Communities are impacted by the
:tornadoes and storms. What are you encouraged by? And, you know,
:there's a few weeks before you go to Charlotte.
:Where where do you find encouragement and hope? You don't wanna you're
:you're you're, you've been accused of living the
:dream. So what
:what encourages you? Well, I I did Bishop, I mean And I'll try to
:respond to the same question. So I I'm encouraged gonna ask me that
:anyway. Fair enough. Fair enough.
:So let me tell a story. I worship Sunday in a small
:membership church in the in the East District southern part of the
:East District. And I arrived a half an hour late
:because I I had the wrong time for worship to start,
:which could have been embarrassing, could have been frustrating,
:but rather, the congregation welcomed me in,
:joked with me, and received me.
:And I saw I saw the power of that that
:congregation. I saw the faithfulness of that pastor
:who who has another job, full time job, and pastors
:this this church as well and does an amazing job. I was
:challenged by a message that that she brought. And
:so you wanna know what encourages me? Is that I continue
:to see the faithfulness of the people of God serving a God that is
:infinitely faithful to us. So general conference will come
:and it will go, and we will seek to be as faithful as we can.
:And I'll be encouraged as I see the the
:diversity and the power of the worship at general conference, but I'll
:also take with me the the the
:worship and the faithfulness of the people that I saw this
:past Sunday. Great. Thank you, God. What a great
:witness. Well, Bishop, can you just give a word of, thanks and
:appreciation to Russ, and then tell us what you're encouraged about and if you'd be
:so kind as to close us in prayer. Right.
:Actually, yes. Thank you, Russ. Thank you so much. I'm
:encouraged by getting to work with folks like Russ and and and
:by the ways in which I experience vibrant
:worship. I've had a chance to preach recently in several of our congregations,
:and and people are not really overly obsessed with
:what's gonna happen at a quadrennial meeting, but they do
:recognize that we are connected. And people really want to
:experience more connection, Brad, and more belonging, which is which is
:a popular term now, a sense that, you know, there's a place for
:everybody, not just some people. It's been said that we're
:UMC. UMC stands for upper middle class, and
:that maybe we, you know, we really while we preach to the poor
:and talk about it, we are not really in ministry or in relationship
:with people, across social social strata.
:So I think I'm encouraged by people who love Jesus and
:wanna just continue doing new things. I think we ought to, as Paul
:Chiellco writes in his book, Multiply with Love, remember that we are
:always renewing. Don't remember the prior
:things. Don't ponder ancient history. Look, I'm doing a new
:thing. Now it sprouts up. Don't you recognize it? I'm
:making a way in the desert. Pass in the wilderness. This is from the
:prophet Isaiah chapter 43 verses 18
:19. I wanna sign off by just saying thank you to Russ
:Abel and Brad, the reverend doctor Brad Miller, and God bless you. May the
:Lord bless you as we journey towards general conference, but more
:importantly, as we live out our days and evenings,
:knowing that God loves us as we lead up to the holy
:season, the holy weekend of Easter. God bless you.
:God be with you. And we do thank you joining us
:today. Here are the 2 be encouraged podcasts. Our
:special guest today, reverend Russ Abel,
:superintendent conference superintendent of the east and northeast districts in Indiana conference. Thank
:you for being with us here on the podcast to offer us an encouraging
:word to an often discouraged world.
