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/

In this episode of "To Be Encouraged," Bishop Julius C. Trimble and Rev. Dr. Brad Miller sit down with two special guests, Reverend Matt Sherrill and Reverend Denise Robinson, to discuss their faith journeys and upcoming ordinations.

Matt shares his experience growing up in the United Methodist Church and his journey to becoming a youth pastor and now, an incoming deacon. He discusses the importance of the Word and his mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Denise, on the other hand, did not grow up in the United Methodist Church, and instead pursued a career in law before feeling called to ministry. She shares her experience of being introduced to the Church by her aunt and eventually accepting the call to ministry.

Bishop Trimble emphasizes the joy of the journey and the importance of faith in Christ in living out ministry. He also reflects on his own journey and the honor of being called pastor.

Throughout the episode, the importance of the ordination service is highlighted, and both Reverend Denise Robinson and Reverend Matt Sherrill share their excitement and honor in being a part of the upcoming ordination.

"To be Encouraged" is a podcast that aims to offer encouragement to a world that often feels discouraged. In this episode, the guests demonstrate the power of faith and the beauty of answering the call to serve in God's ministry.

This Episode (www.ToBeEncouraged.com/059) is Part one of a two part episode featuring a conversation about ordination with Rev. Matt Sherrill and Rev. Denise Robinson. Episode two of the series will be found at https://tobeencouraged.com/episode/060. It will feature an in depth conversation about "Challenges and Opportunities for the Church in a Changing World”

Hello, good people, and welcome to the to be

encouraged podcast with Bishop Julius C.

Trimble. I'm your Cohost. Reverend Dr. Brad Miller. This is a

podcast where we look to offer an encouraging

word to an often discouraged

world. Today we have two special guests with Bishop

Tremble and I. They are Reverend Matt Sher, who is

an incoming deacon in the Indiana Conference

of the United Methodist Church. He is a

pastor of youth and discipleship at Carmel United

Methodist Church in Carmel, Indiana. And we have Reverend Denise Robinson,

who is an incoming elder to be ordained elder

in the Indiana Conference United Methodist Church. She is the lead pastor at Irvington

United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bishop, can you help us welcome

these folks to our podcast here today? Hey, welcome, friends.

It's good to have you on the podcast, and I know that you're sharing

today will be a blessing to others who hear the

podcast. Sometimes people in Indiana and I've run into

people who listen to the podcast from as far away as Zimbabwe.

So glad to have Denise and Matt, and congratulations

on your next step in ministry in the Indiana Conference.

One of the things we like to do here on the podcast is to hear

faith stories or coming to faith stories and how it led to

ministry. So, Matt, you're incoming deacon in the church,

but your story has a lot of places that

lead up to that. Can you tell us just a bit about your

faith story, how you came to know Jesus Christ in the first place and how

that's eventually led you to your place of service and to become

a deacon? Yeah. Thanks, Brad. Well, I grew

up in the United Methodist Church in Cornelius, North Carolina.

My parents, my family, we all went there every Sunday. That's just kind of

what we did. And went to all the camps, spent a lot of time at

camp and vacation, Bible school, youth group

choir, and went through Chrysalis,

confirmation, just kind of did all the things

and was really active in my faith throughout

high school. And then I went away to college

at Appalachian State University, and I just

met some followers of Jesus that were living their faith

out in a bigger way than I

had ever seen, just taking the words of Jesus to

heart and everything that they do. And I

said, I want to be like them. And in a way, I sort

of felt like my church had not let me down or had let me down,

and really they hadn't I

had not grasped some of the concepts that I needed to.

And I had a desire and hunger to read the scriptures

more, to dig deeper into that and also

use that as an opportunity to explore other churches besides

the Nine Methodist Church. I went to a Baptist

church for a couple of years and then to just a Bible

fellowship church that just taught from

the Scriptures, just had a heart for the Scriptures. And when

I was working my senior year of college after graduating,

I went to work at a United Methodist camp. I was on the track to

go into camp ministry. And one night at

camp, I just remember having this dream that I was doing

youth ministry. And I woke up the next day

really excited about that and wasn't sure what that meant.

And then I got a call from our senior pastor from my home church

and he asked me if I'll be interested

in coming and filling in as the interim youth pastor.

So the timing was just pretty interesting and

funny how God works in that way. When I was kind

of going away from the United Methodist Church and then

God kind of called me back, I finally accepted

the position. It was just a

temporary thing until they could find someone.

And then after a couple of months, I noticed they weren't really

looking. And I asked them about it. I said, It seems like

you guys aren't looking anymore. And they said, well, we'd love for you

to stick around from that point on.

I just said, all right? God, here I am. Use me

to impact these students in ways

that I wish I

would have gotten myself or teaching certain things or thinking about

things and asking hard questions. So that's what I

did. And I just poured everything I had into the youth and

the parents for 15 years.

It was during this time that I explored

or I took Disciple One Bible study actually.

And it was out of that that I felt a hunger and

a desire to go and study the Scriptures even more. So I

enrolled at Pfeiffer University in

Charlotte, North Carolina. They had an evening courses being

offered to get a Master's in Christian education.

And so I started that and they had a focus on youth ministry

and I just dug into all the studying and

being with other people that were going through the same process.

And it was actually during this time that I started to explore

ordination. And I met with my counselor,

Kathleen Kilburn, and she asked me, why do

you want to get into the United Methodist Church or be ordained? And I said,

well, it feels like that the youth ministries have sort of been

neglected in the church, so I want to get in and kind of

shake things up. And she said, that might not be

the best motive at this point to do that.

And so really just encouraged me to take some time

and pray about it. And so I did, and I just felt like,

okay, God, I'll continue to serve you as a layperson.

It was during this time also that I went on a mission trip to West

Virginia. I met my wife, or Julie, who turned

out to be my wife several years later.

And she was from Indianapolis.

And in 2017,

we just kind of felt God tugging on our hearts that maybe

it was time for our next step. And one

thing led to another and doors just kind of opened for Indiana.

We did not think we would be going to Indiana,

but have just loved being here. And it

was when we moved here that my wife encouraged me

to consider exploring the ordination process again.

And so one of my colleagues at the time,

Chris Thornsberry, was going through the same thing.

We started reading Margaret Ann Crane's books on

the deacon. And reading that book,

it just kind of lit a fire within me. I said, this is what

I want to do. This is the calling that God has

for me to serve, to connect

the world with the church and the church with the world, to have

a heart for compassion and justice.

Several pastors I talked to,

my senior pastor from Mount Zion and Cornelius and some

of my friends in the ministry and

current colleagues at the church in Carmel and just got a

lot of encouraging words and so started the

process and entered into the Rim process in

2020, being commissioned. So now here I

am. I've been doing youth ministry for about 20 years now,

five years at Carmel. UMC, and yeah,

just excited to kind of see this process,

kind of it'll.

Culminate with you becoming we're recording this in May of 22,

23, and next month in June,

Bishop Bishop Trump will be laying hands upon you to become a

deacon in the United Method Church in Indiana Conference. So Denise

Robinson, Reverend Denise Robinson is also with us and she'll be ordained

as an elder. So Denise, let's hear a bit of your faith story,

how you came to faith in the first place and what's eventually led

you through various career opportunities and now to become

an elder in the church. Thanks for adding a

bishop. I did not grow up in the United Methodist Church.

I grew up in Baptist churches primarily.

And when I was 16, I walked away from

faith. I was tired, I was ready

to go to college. And so

I went to IU and then went to the University of

Minnesota for law school, graduated from law school

with the intent of being a corporate contract lawyer and

got my first job in corporate contract work

and hated it and then wondered what I would do

from there. So I had student loan debt,

moved back to Indiana from Minnesota,

where I had graduated from and gotten my first job.

When I came back to Indiana, I really didn't have any idea where I would

live or what I would do. It was kind of a short sighted decision on

my part, but came back to Indiana and

what I knew at that time was I had an aunt who

was a United Methodist pastor in northern Indiana.

And so when I didn't have anywhere else to go or anyone else to

turn to. I thought, well, being a pastor,

she would have to take me in. And so I went and prevailed

on her and actually found her,

managed to find her. She was appointed to asbury United Methodist

Church in Albion, Indiana. I didn't know that at the time.

Found her. I would say, coincidentally, maybe God was involved

with that and moved in with her at

the parsonage. But she said because I was living in the parsonage,

she wanted me to come to church. I was not

thrilled with that at the time, but came to church.

And then my aunt, knowing that I love to

read, started laying books around, leaving books around

by her about Wesley. And she started taking me

to Wednesday morning breakfasts with three

other Methodist clergy who, over a period of time,

addressed all my questions and my anger and everything else that I had, all the

baggage I had. And I found myself joining her church

and then becoming a youth leader and teaching a

Bible study and being a liturgist and singing in the

choir. And then finally on

a couple of times when she took a vacation day, preaching for

her and hearing a call to ministry.

And so at that time contacted the district superintendent, and this would

have been 1991,

contacted the district superintendent to look at going into ministry

and then decided that I would throw all my efforts into the

legal career. I became a prosecutor,

prosecuted Northern Indiana, a couple

of different counties in northern Indiana. And then in 2006, I was

offered the opportunity to come to Indianapolis,

to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office to head the homicide division

here in Indianapolis. And so I came here over

a period of time, I went to a couple of different United Methodist churches here,

finally joining Castleton. And it was at

that point when the call to ministry became so strong that

I couldn't ignore it any longer. I'd set it aside time and time again.

I taught Bible studies. I volunteered

more in the church, and I told myself that that was sufficient for what God

wanted, and it became apparent it wasn't. And so

finally, when I started

going to Castleton, frank Brad,

Bishop Frank was the pastor then, and then Burke Kite

became pastor, and it was Bert that really led

me to really connect into my

call and begin the ordination

process, go to seminary.

And in 2019,

when I was interim pastor at New Palestinian United Methodist Church,

the district superintendent then, Jim Bushfield, asked if I would consider a full

time church appointment. And finally I said yes to that. And I've

been at Irvington ever since.

Well, Bishop, quite these interesting and

fascinating stories of their faith journey,

and you and I also had the faith.

Before long, next month, Pastor Robinson

Denise will be ordained an elder, and you'll be laid on hands as well as

other elders and our conversation here today led me to revisit my own

deacons and elders orders, which are on the wall right

behind me as we look here. And I think maybe

it does for yourself as well, every time we have ordinations.

But I would. Bishop, in your thoughts about

this whole process here, particularly about Denise and Matt and the other deacons

and elders as we get ready for ordination, what kind of thoughts are you having

right now? Well, my thoughts are

really centered around celebration and

the joy of the journey. Sometimes the journey takes

winds and turns, and that would be my case too. I didn't

go directly from college to seminary,

but God is faithful. And I

hear Denise and Matt talk, share their stories that

God has been faithful, and I think God had them

covered even when they weren't certain what was coming next.

So I celebrate that. I think about the apostolic

tradition of succession,

back when you and I, Brad, were ordained deacons and then elder

in succession after we served several years.

Now, that continues. That long line of service

and calling continues. God is still calling people at different

stages in life and providing

a place for people to serve. And I think when

we pray the prayer, God use me,

the prayer of St. Francis, lord, make me an instrument, make me

an instrument of Thy peace, thy justice, Thy love,

Thy mercy. Then God always finds a way

to bless us and make a pathway for us to have a place to

serve. So I think it's a high honor

for me. I know I get kind of emotional sometimes.

It's hard for me to get through the ordination service because I have to

read everybody's name and lay hands, and I think about

the literal experience of holiness in

that time. So I'm

ecstatic for both Denise and Matt and for

their service. And usually when people come to that point at the

annual conference, they've already been serving. Most people have already in

this case, they've been in ministry for a period of

time. But it's still a very important

landmark, if you will, when you actually

have that ordination service.

And I think it's a landmark

time. I know it's still an emotional time for me. I've looked at the dates

and the bishops involved with my ordination. I made me think

good thoughts about that. But I also revisited the actual commitments

that are made when you're a deacon with

the setting hands in prayer to read the

Scriptures, to preach the Word and perform the duties

of the display of the Church. So, Matt, I like to ask you, and maybe,

Bishop, you can comment it what is the meaningfuls to you of taking the

vow to read the Scriptures and preach the Word?

That's what you're going to be doing.

That's who we are. We're making disciples of Jesus Christ,

and the Word is our foundation. It's what guides

us and leads us. My heart is to share that

word with whoever will listen. I mean, the students,

obviously, the parents, the adults, but also

to encourage them to go and do the same.

Because if it's just up to me or Denise or Bishop or

Brad, we're only going to reach so many people.

So our job is to equip,

encouraged and then send out. And so that's really kind of where

my heart lies. And it's because the disciples did that

that we're here today. And so it's a great calling

to be a part of. I'm honored to be part of this

ordination process. Now.

Denise, when you take the vows here next month,

it'll be as one set apart for the work of an elder,

to read the Scriptures, to preach the Word, as we said,

for Matt as a deacon and to administer the Holy Sacraments.

As long as you're a faithful servant, what does that mean to you?

And do you take that to heart as you get ready to take these

vows? I agree

with so much of what Matt had to say, but for

me, I love to not just preach, but to

teach. It's been said that my

sermons are a lot like teaching a jury, and I guess that's true

because I had 25 years in the courtroom, so it makes sense.

But I love to see people's kind

of faces the engagement. Their eyes light up when they learn

something new from Scripture, when they learn something new about

their walk with Christ and how to live their life. And that

just doesn't come. I mean, that comes of course, through the Word of God,

but also in the time of sacrament, when they

have that time and truly understand that experience with

the Holy Spirit. It's such a unique experience that

when they understand what can happen through

that sacred time, you see lives change

and you see how they interact with one

another and how they interact with others as a church change

just through the message of Jesus Christ. And that's something that I have a passion

for and that I hope to pass on to others where

others grab that passion and then it spreads

from here. So Bishop, could you speak to this, the power

of the vow that these folks are making and others will be making

to read the Scriptures, preach the Word and for elders to administer the

sacraments? I think the

questions that are asked, the historic questions, are all rooted

in the very first question that is, have we faith in Christ?

If we have faith in Christ, that should be lived out in the way in

which we express our respective ministries.

So I counted a high honor.

Sometimes people still there are some folks still call me pastor

because I was their pastor and they say, oh, I meant to say Bishop.

I said, no, there's no higher calling

than to call me what I was when I was in relationship with

you. And I was a youth pastor and a senior

pastor. So I think that the ability to

connect the world with the church, the ability

and the opportunity to share Christ with

young folks, old folks, and all folks is

meaningful. And the privilege to serve sacraments and to invite

people to an open table, it's not our communion, it's not

our baptism, but we offer that in the name of Jesus

Christ. Someone asked a question some years ago when

we were discussing, well, why the church and why the United Methodist

Church? And one of the leaders said, he said, because life with

Jesus is better than life without him. And so I believe

that these two servant leaders,

reverend Denise Robinson and Reverend Matt Cheryl,

they epitomize what it means to answer the call and

to share with others. We're not just a social we're not a social service

agency. Old folks used

to say the hands and feet of Christ, and we want people to know that

life with Jesus is better than life without him.

And I would say as a word of encouragement to Reverend Denise,

years ago, I heard the great Baptist preacher Dr.

Manuel Scott say, all teaching is not preaching,

but all good preaching should include some teaching.

So if your gift is in the

teaching mode of preaching, then there should definitely

be space in that.

That's a little bit of my gift. Probably not as strong as your gift,

but I still remember hearing

that adage that all teaching is not preaching.

And I'm a child of teachers, so my mom was a retired teacher

of a brother and sister who are teachers. And actually I talked for a short

period of time before I went to seminary. But I do believe

that all preaching should include an element of teaching, if not