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:

Part 2. Episode 101: An Interview with Rev. Dr. Aleze Fulbright a delegate to General Conference from the Indiana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Part 3. Episode 102: An Interview with Rev. Larry Whitehead, a delegate to General Conference from the Indiana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Part 4. Episode 103: Town Hall Conversation. A reply of a “Town Hall” zoom call Bishop Trimble had with a number of persons interested and engaged in the impact and importance of General Conference. Recorded Live on April 2, 2024 

LINKS:

Indiana Conference UMC.

 UMC-http://inumc.org/

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

Hello, good people. Welcome to To Be Encouraged.

This is the podcast where we look to offer an encouraging word to an often

discouraged world. I'm reverend doctor Brad Miller, your cohost, and along

with Bishop Julius c Treble, we are welcoming to

today reverend Russ Abel, who is the conference

superintendent of the East and Northeast District

of the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, one of the primary

cities involved there is Fort Wayne. Bishop, can you

give a welcome to our guest here, today on To Be Encouraged?

Yeah. Welcome to Russ, colleague and cabinet member.

Thank you for your witness, you and Michelle, and

your recent response, we had here in Indiana, some

tornadoes and some heavy C storms. And

as is often the case, United Methodist don't wait

to respond. And I just wanna say thanks Russ for your leadership,

and you may even wanna give an update on that. We have people that

listen to the podcast from not just Indiana, but from around around the

world. And but hope our primary target audience

includes United Methodist in Indiana. So welcome welcome,

Russ, for this time of conversation. Thank you. Well, Russ,

indeed, it's a pleasure to have you with us, and we'd just like to hear

just a little bit about you in terms of, a little bit about your background,

about maybe what what brought you to faith in Jesus Christ in

the first place, and how how did it come about that you came to

serve in United Methodist Ministry and particularly in your role

right now as a, conference superintendent? Well, thank you,

Brad. Thank you, Bishop, for having me on today. So I,

I came to faith in Christ more like a a

sunrise than than a light switch. You know, you

some people, I think, in the time, the day, the moment.

For me, it was more a realization that that Christ was my savior,

and that'd been for some time. That came to me through The United

Methodist Church and through who then to me

offered, offered spiritual counsel, and and I

found the grace of Christ and have never turned back. I,

I serve as a superintendent in the Northeast and East District of the

United Methodist Church in Indiana, And the short answer of how I came to

serve there is the bishop asked me to dinner. You

know, remember that anytime you get a invitation from the Bishop, maybe. I

don't know. There you go. But, I'm I'm really thankful to get to serve this

way. I I know a lot of people sometimes misunderstand this role,

but I think it's I think it's a great way to serve, and, I'm very

thankful to continue to serve these 2 districts. Well, Russ, one of the main reasons

we have you here today is because of something that Bishop really particularly wants to,

chat about here today, and that is general conference of,

2024, or I guess it's technically general conference

2020 in the year 2024. We'll have to unpack that a little bit

here. But we're glad that you're with us. You happen to be a a delegate

from the Indiana conference and the head of the delegation, and we are

glad that you are are with us here. So, Bishop, I know you have some

things you wanted to talk to, Russ, about, regarding general conference.

Yeah. Let first of all, welcome again, Russ. General conference, if I

understand correctly, is comprised of clergy and lay leaders

elected from annual conferences, missionary conferences,

provisional conferences around the globe, and they gather

usually every 4 years for a 10 day meeting

in which we vote on legislation. We worship and pray, but,

primarily, we make any changes to our book of discipline and book

of resolutions. So I I just would wanted to,

you know, maybe respond to as we are actually meeting

in 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina, but it's the

2020 postponed general conference. And what does

that mean for you, and what are your responsibilities as the

head of a delegation? Most people might say, well, what's the head of the

delegation? Is he isn't he or she just

another voting member? But you have other responsibilities, I keep, I

think, in terms of organizationally. So can you just kinda give us

a summary of I know I covered a lot of lot there terms of

general conference, but any way you wanna approach that. Yeah. I think I'd

start by Bishop saying I have no idea.

That seems to be the theme of around the church these days in many ways,

isn't it? Oh my goodness. That's the these things seem like a good idea at

the time where you C I represent.

I tell people it's the longest 14 month volunteer

role I've ever had. So so thank you for

the question. This is a peculiar and unique season in the

United Methodist Church, in terms of general conference. As Bishop

said, general conference meets historically, every 4 years, and

they coincide with with presidential elections in the United

States, same sort of years, every 4 years in that order.

We've had some exceptions to that. The most recent exception was

2019 special called general conference session, which

was just that. It was called for a particular reason, much like a a

charge conference would be a special called charge conference to deal with a

particular agenda. And so 2020

general conference has been postponed a few times due to

COVID, and complications and challenges

came about from Carolina. It will be con

we will be convening the 2020 general

conference, and we will meet in session for that.

It's our expectation at this point, we believe that the

2024 General Conference will possibly be

canceled since no legislation has been submitted to that general conference

yet, and we will meet in special session

perhaps in 2026, and then in regular

session back on that quadrennial or every 4 year pattern

in 2028. I do serve as a delegate. I'm part of

an amazing delegation from Indiana. We have shaped

and been reshaped by by, new members

coming on and and other members stepping away. And,

so many of us, were elected in June June of

20, 2019. Some of us were elected in

June of 2023. But all of us have the same

goal, and that is to be faithful to the best of our

ability, to the call of Christ in our lives, and to the role and mission

of the United Methodist Church in the world. And so, that's what takes

us to Charlotte, North Carolina next month and the beginning of

May. Thank thank you, Russ, for great great over

overview. Are there particular responsibilities as dean

of the cabinet that you have that just the regular

other members don't have? Yeah. I I think you meant to say, head

of the delegation, not dean of the cabinet. Head of the delegation.

Unless there's something of these, and I don't know. So I

mean, I mean, my apologies. Yeah. It's a head

so the the total

number of people who will be delegates to general conference is 862.

One of the functions of heads of delegations is, can you imagine

receiving all the questions from 862 different delegates to the

general conference staff. It's a it would be untenable. So one of the roles of

the head of the delegation is to be the primary communication connector

between information being released about general conference, responsibilities

required for general conference, and actions of the delegation. So you you

serve as that sort of moderator of information. So that's that's one

piece. Secondly, you do work with other heads of delegations

to consider how we might work together, and that

that's both at general conference and jurisdictional conferences

that happen during your term as a delegate. The the third

way is the the the the head of the delegation

is the person who has responsibility, excuse

me, organizing the delegation's work. Certainly don't do that

alone, but you you sort of help that facilitate that to come

together. And so you get to see a lot of sides

of the of the work of the the general conference. But,

really, the the important part is how do you work together with other

delegation heads and your delegation to to to

serve in the best way possible. Thank thank you, Russ. There's

there's as much as a 1,000 pieces of legislation, if I'm

correct. And, I just started trying to trying

to navigate my way around, look at this some I I just wanna

read a little bit. One is the the the general forms and agencies

present their plans and legislation. Then there's

legislation comes from conferences

and caucuses, and then an individual can submit

legislation to general congress, which is how we end up with so many different pieces

of legislation. Discipleship this this summary is from Discipleship

Ministries, 2020 well, 2020 legislation

summary for coming now, but in 2024. To To see Vital

and Vibrant Church on fire to transform the world, it's the executive

summary. The agency has recently completed a rigorous 3 year

process, create a more holistic, integrated, and focused

approach, and assist the United Methodist leaders in their

disciple making efforts. Discipleship Ministries

has identified 3 strategic priorities, an

intentional disciple making process in every church,

engagement with people currently outside the church, and cultivating

local contextual resources around the globe.

I just our primary business is to make

disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Is there a sense that as a as as a voting

member of general conference, you're you're looking to see on all all

legislation, is there a lens where we say what you you know, we used to

say, what does this have to do with John 316? Or what does this

have to do with Matthew 28? A lot of the legislation really has

to do with, you know, whether this this line will be taken out of

the discipline or this one added to discipline. What's your sense

of of the focus on our

primary mission as we as we approach general conference?

Then I'll then I'll let I'll let Brandt take some of the next few few

questions. Fair enough. Fair enough. So one of the things we talk

about on our delegation a lot is to keep the

focus of our work on making disciples

of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. In other words, as

we think about this particular piece of legislation, this report

of a general agency, this opinion or viewpoint of a

caucus group, in the end, how does that impact our

ability as a worldwide church to make disciples and to make

disciples and to transform the world? I think it's really easy, Bishop,

or could be really easy to sort of get hyper

focused on the administrative function of

general conference, that this piece of legislation there and, actually,

you're right. There's more than a1000. There's a 1,008 pieces of

legislation this this round. So you could get focused on, like,

what's the process that we're gonna use or is used to to

to move this from a petition to entrance into the discipline.

And that's important work. But most important work is,

does it help us make the cycles? Does it

help us bring justice and equity to the world? You

know? And so we talk on our delegation a lot about

that. And in in my conversations with people kind of around

around the, general church, I think everybody has that that

goal. Like I said, you can get distracted or you can get hyper focused on

one part or another, but in the end, if it's not about Jesus and helping

people know Jesus and know Jesus more, then then

really we've we've gotten off track a little bit. And so

certainly some of the pieces of legislation

may tend more toward, like, an editorial change of this word would

be better than that word. But the

but the intention is always should always be,

how does it move us forward in our mission? How does it help us as

a global church to operate in a way that all voices are heard, all

people are seen, and all love is shared? So

that that's the frame that we approach. And

one additional piece, Bishop, I might add, our

our our most recent conversations at the at the, delegation

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.