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 Episode 102 of To Be Encouraged Bishop Julius C. Trimble and Rev. Dr. Brad Miller engages in a profound conversation with, Rev. Larry Whitehead who serves as Exective Assistant to Bishop Trimble and is a delegate to General Conference.

. Here are three key takeaways from their discussion about the state of the church, its challenges, and the hopeful path forward:

1. **The Call for Grace-Driven Culture**

Bishop Trimble highlights the pressing need for a grace-driven church culture. In a time when division within the church is causing many, including Rev. Miller's sons, to drift away, Bishop Trimble underscores the importance of making room for diverse opinions and demonstrating love and unity. This approach aims to foster a welcoming environment where individuals feel included and respected despite disagreements. The conversation reminds us that the essence of the church is not found in uniformity but in the gracious acceptance of one another, as witnessed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

2. **Discipleship Over Decisions**

Rev. Miller and Rev. Whitehead emphasize discipleship's critical role, suggesting a shift away from fixating on the outcomes of general conference decisions. Rather, they advocate for concentrating on living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in our communities. By focusing on making disciples who embody Christ's love and service, the church can redirect its energy from institutional preservation to fulfilling its mission. Their insights echo Trimble's conviction that the church's resilience is not rooted in its structures but in its ability to serve and grow disciples of Jesus Christ, even as it faces changes and challenges.

3. **Optimism in Action**

Throughout the episode, Bishop Trimble and Rev. Whitehead share their optimistic outlook for the church's future, especially in light of the ongoing transformations within the United Methodist Church in Indiana. Mentioned are the proactive steps taken toward inclusivity and service, such as supporting education through scholarships at Africa University, the birth of new congregations, and the repurposing of church spaces like the Milford Meeting House to serve community needs. These examples illustrate a pivot from a survival mentality to one of proactive witness and service, demonstrating the church's potential to make a transformative impact on individuals and communities.

The conversation concludes with a message of hope and encouragement, underscoring the guests' belief in the church's enduring faith despite the postponement of the general conference. Rev. Whitehead's personal faith story and his ongoing commitment to connectual ministry serve as a testament to the power of grace and discipleship in action, values that both he and Bishop Trimble implore listeners to uphold.

Episode 102 of To Be Encouraged was Part 3 of a 4 Part Series os Episodes in Preparation for General Conference 2024 coming up April 25-May 3, 2-24.

Please tune into the rest of the General Conference Series.

Part 1. Episode 100: was a conversation with General Conference Delegate Rev. Russ Abel.

Part 2. Episode 101: was a conversation with General Conference Delegate Rev. Dr. Aleze Fulbright 

Part 4. Episode 103: Upcoming in our next episode is a “Town Hall Conversation” all about General Conference. This is a replay 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/

General Conference UMC.

 UMC-https://www.umc.org/en/who-we-are/structure/general-conference

https://www.resourceumc.org/en/churchwide/general-conference-2020

And our, guest, today is reverend Larry

Whitehead, who's the chief of staff and the executive assistant

to the bishop. He has served in connectual ministries and as a

conference superintendent. But perhaps most importantly about Larry is

he is really all about helping pastors to abandon

survival efforts and to instead discover vitality and focus

on giving ourselves a way to connect people to the message of Jesus

Christ. So, So, Bishop, can you help welcome, Larry to our

podcast here today? Well, welcome my dear friend

and colleague and assistant to the Bishop Larry

Whitehead. We we, have offices that only a

few feet apart, and we've, spent many

of breakfast together and lunch together and and on some trips

across the state of Indiana. So welcome,

Larry Whitehead, reverend Larry Whitehead. Thank you, Bishop.

Well, Larry, let's just start here for just a moment before we get into our

some of our topic, which will revolve at least partially on general conference here, today

as we are inch closer to that date. But tell us a little bit about

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

and how that eventually led you to your role right now as assistant to the

bishop. Absolutely. I was, I was

born into a a a at what at at the time, into

a family that attended a a Methodist church. That was before the

the, what became United Methodist. That old.

Same church, different name. Both my parents,

my mother's family, my father's family were they were all Methodist.

I guess I had no choice. And, but, my

parents were active leaders in our congregation, and and I grew

up in the church. And I was active, through high school. I was president of,

we had a large youth group in back in the in the seventies.

And and then I went off to college and off to claim the American

dream of success and sort of left the church behind.

And yet I reconnected to the church in part, in the early

eighties and, with with the semi regular, church attendance.

But on February 3, 1984, a little

bit after 7 o'clock on a Friday night, God broke through to

me in a moment that I can still remember almost like it was just yesterday.

And when I held my first child in my hands just a few minutes after

he was born, And I proclaimed my God, how

great you are. My God. My God.

And so God got a hold of me in a in a powerful way in

that moment. And just a few years later, as the Holy Spirit continued to,

trouble my soul, I found myself more and

more connected to the church, and I was starting to wrestle with the

call to ministry. A story of struggle and bargaining

much longer, Brad, than I have time to tell today. Sure.

But I went off then, that led me to finally say

yes to God and was able to sleep at night.

And, from there, I went on to,

to resign at age 35. I resigned from my director position in

hospital administration, and I dragged 3 young sons and a

wife across the mountains to attend seminary. I,

returned, 3 years later to Indiana to serve,

over a period of years at 3 local churches until I was

appointed to be the superintendent of the North District in 2013.

And then I was appointed by Bishop Trimble to this role in

2019 where I now serve as his ex

executive assistant and the chief of staff

for the conference. So Yes. I've that's that in a nutshell,

that's, that's my story. Well, that's a awesome story. We love to hear the

stories of faith, Donley Bishop. And, among the ways that,

Larry also serves is not only his executive assistant and chief of

staff, but he also has a role, in terms of general

conference and being on the delegation. So, Bishop, I know you had some things you

wanted to to chat with Larry about here today. Yeah. You know, when you're

elected to general conference, in our denomination, we

are, some say a church of conferences, Larry. You know, we have

our every year, we have our annual conference, which I call the the

big family reunion of those United Methodist Churches in

Indiana, the one time we all get together, representatives from

every church. Then every 4 years, we have what's called

the general conference. And usually shortly after

that, we have a jurisdictional conference where typically we

elect new bishops. But the you were elected, early on

in the, balloting as I recall as a

delegate to general conference. But that seemed like so long ago,

maybe, you can mention when that happened and,

why why we are now just now meeting. And,

actually, if I'm correct, this is the 2020

general conference, which was scheduled for 2020 that was

postponed, but we're now actually gathering as was

because of the pandemic in 2024. So say a little

bit about your election because the election typically means that

your peers have respect for you and feel

like you will represent the church well. But when did all of this happen, and

what's your what's your going into this meeting, what are your expectations?

Well, that's a that's a mouthful, Bishop. You are right. It

was a long time ago. It was in 2019 at our

annual conference, that the, the delegates were elected.

And they were elected at that time to to attend the general

conference, which was to be held, in Minnesota, in

Minneapolis in, in in, in April of

2020. But

we'd like to forget it, but I think we can all remember that in early

2020, the world took a detour.

And, and, COVID kept us from from being able

to to assemble in men in Minneapolis, in that

year. And, and so that that was that was

postponed. And and so we were we were then

then it was then it was in it was gonna be that we were gonna

meet in 22. And so we were all dressed up and

ready to go for 22, and that got postponed as well.

So this, this, this this gathering in Charlotte, North

Carolina that's coming up here at the end of this month,

will be will be, as you said, the 2020 the the meeting of the

2020 general conference being held in

2024. And if that's not confusing enough, there's probably some other

things that we can throw in to make it more confusing. But that's that again,

that's that's the summary of the way this works. We are also

understanding that that that perhaps, there is a

well, I shouldn't say there is a plan that perhaps

we will meet again in 2026 to

to to do some more work after, in response

to what happens in 2024. The really confusing piece

piece to that is that if that happens, this

delegation voted in in 2019

will continue is expected to be the same delegation that will

meet again in 2026. And

so I I I, again, as I said, let's

I'm I'm trying to clarify it, but I'm afraid that it's a very confusing

process. It is. You can't make this stuff up. What what's this

saying? Get that and that and a nickel will get you a cup of

coffee or something I have to get out of the same list. It it used

to be a nickel, Bishop, but now it's $5. Yeah. I'm just saying. If you

find it for a nickel, let me know. And, yeah, 625 at the Starbucks.

Yeah. Well, you know, I'm people been asking

me, Brad and Larry, about general conference, and they asked me what am I

doing to get ready. And I say I'm giving thanks to God.

I'm giving thanks to God for the church, before general

conference because it and I've said this before. If the pandemic couldn't

kill the church, nothing could. And I believe that

Jesus this is right. When Peter confessed that Jesus

was was the son of the living God, he said, upon this rock, upon this

faith, upon our testimony, you know, I build my church and the

gates of hell shall not prevail against it or other translations

similar to that. So I don't believe there's anything that can destroy the church. I

hope that the general conference will strengthen the church. So, Larry,

maybe you may wanna comment. There's a lot of legislation.

People ask me what what do I think about the general conference. I said, I've

given thanks for God before general conference. I've been giving thanks to

God after general conference. So what what's your take take on

all the legislation and and, you know, whether we can churn

transform the church in 10 days of of voting or not.

Oops. Did I do so? Wow. That's

a that that's that's a that's a that's a big, big question,

Bishop. I don't think that

I think it's a big it's a big it's a big task. And I think

that to some degree that this general conference is is

up to, avoiding what some have called kicking the

can down the road. And I and I think that there there will

be some serious, serious discussions. There will be some serious,

movement made, Probably not all the movement well,

almost certainly not all the movement that everyone would like to see,

there because we have so many different different opinions around around those

things. But I think there will be substantive movement,

toward toward being being the church and being the church that the

Wesleyan church that that we've that we've been called to to

serve. I guess that

that that that that I'd wanna say

real upfront. And and and, Brad, I'm just I I I

smiled when you did my part of the introduction, because this is

the part that I really wanted to talk about this morning, and that was that

my hope for the church is not bound up in general

conference. I will go and I will be a

a a a participant. I will be an active participant. I will have,

my my role in at general conferences just will be,

what we're all designated or delegated to to,

different legislative groups. And my legislative groups group is

finance and administration, just sort of where I

live. And and I think there'll be some interesting,

work that comes out of that area as well as well as the

other areas. And, but Bishop, as a matter of fact, is gonna have a

podcast, later on or a, a town hall, a Zoom town

hall later on to today, where he'll talk specifically

about some of those those things. But but my hope is not in

my hope for the church. My hope for the the United

Methodist Church is not bound up in what happens at general conference.

My hope is what happens in local churches. And I

smiled be this morning when you when you talked about my my,

my piece around survival. I think that we just have to move away

from a survival attitude. We have to move away from

an understanding that ends and understand that that church can no longer

be about what we like. Church can no no longer

about be about what I like or what you like, for that

matter, what the bishop likes. But it must be about

the one we love in Jesus Christ. The church must be

about that. And when we when we focus on

that, we can make all kinds of difference. And we have and I

can have all kinds of hope for for the church.

To go on to that, to to I want I'd I'd support that by saying

that and I love the way Bishop started off with, with

quoting scripture, because because that's a pretty good

place to start. Right? I want I note

and I've noted when when I was a superintendent, talk I talked

to my churches over and over and over again, then in 5 different

places in in the gospels, all four gospels,

the the the the 3 synoptic gospels and then even John got in

on the act to quote Jesus in some way. There are 5 different

places. There's 2 places in Matthew, 1 in Mark, 1 in Luke,

and 1 in John, where Jesus says, whoever wants to save

their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for

me, for the gospel, will save.

And I think we need to take that seriously. I because because I think that

that that that passage, that statement, those those words from

Jesus that were re repeated over and over and

over again in scripture. Don't just speak

to our individual lives, but I believe powerfully that

they also speak to our lives as the church, both

the denomination and our individual churches. Whoever loses

their life for me and the gospel will save it. But then what does it

mean? What does it mean for a congregation? What does it mean

for a church to lose their life for Jesus?

Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but they have this culture

of survival that is absolutely sure to fail

us. That but as the bishop says,

we wanna be encouraged. And I wanna be encouraging to encouraging

today because I see my hope in the church is seeing

that we're starting to do that. We're starting to move away from that

that survival mentality.

Oh, man. Survival in a survival mentality, that looks that

person looks like somebody who wants to we want to fill the plate,

to fill the pew, or to fill a position that we're tired of doing.

That's survival. But God has called us in our

churches. We're seeing this in more and more and more and more places where our

churches are understanding that that that they're flipping the switch. They're flipping

over to to to where where that person that shows up at our

at our door is no longer seen in those terms, but seen as a precious

child of God and one that we want to to to lead to

a a relationship with the living God in Jesus Christ.

And that's powerful stuff. That's encouraging things. That's that's

passionate, fruitful disciple making. And when and when

we get our hands around that and move away from that

survival understanding and trying to preserve an institution,

well, then we can make a real difference for Jesus Christ. And and that's the

encouraging place for me. Amen. You know, one of the things

that will happen and one of the most significant things talked about is

what might be changed in the book of discipline, our book of

rules, our book of law and policy.

But one of the things I've been thinking about is all of the things in

the book of discipline that won't change or shouldn't change

that sometimes we forget to emphasize. For example,

in paragraph 120, local churches and extension

ministries of the church provide the most significant arenas through

which disciple making occurs. So we say it time and

time again that we're in the business of making disciples of Jesus

Christ, transforming the world, to make it more just and

and equitable and more like truly beloved

community. So it's not so much for me

what paragraphs or sentences might be changed, and that I'm sure

they will be. But it do we take serious the things that we

we are proclaiming to the world? You know,

Paul Chilcote, and we we had him on, and we we just

recently had a Lenten book study. He says, what if the United

Methodist Church were known to be the most loving

church in the United States? The most welcoming,

great graceful outward looking church in the United States.

I'm adding a little bit to it. But, so I

I I'm much more optimistic about the

potential post general conference if

we if we, as you say, Larry, proclaim the Christ,

the the Christ crucified, Christ risen Christ, and not

anticipate that somehow we're gonna go get together in a big meeting.

We're gonna have great worship and then vote vote our way to a

better future. I don't believe we can vote our way to a better future, but

I do think we can we can witness our way to a better future,

especially in Indiana. Word is, Larry, that there's

4,000,000 people that don't have a church on. So

Amen. And we've got churches out there, and, bishop, you know, we hear

this every day that that that that they want this pastor. They want

a a young pastor with children, and they want a young pastor

who does this and that. And they've got a whole

list of of things that that they that they want in this in this

pastor. They they, they they want

they want they want the world, for their pastor. They want, again, they want

they want somebody who reminds them of the way things used to be.

Right. But but to your point, what imagine if

and to to kind of piggyback in the same vein that that, that

doctor Chokot points. Imagine what

if every church just if every church just wanted a pastor who could

lead them in connecting to broken and hurting people.

Mhmm. Hallelujah. What would happen? What would happen if

if if if if churches,

staff parish committees, church leadership,

just just wanted all they wanted was a pastor who could lead them in connecting

to broken and hurting people. We could make a big, big

difference in those 4,000,000 lives that you just talked about. A big

difference. Brad, what say it now? What

questions do you have for our guests today? I wanna pick up

on on one word that Larry mentioned that I just think strikes me

because strikes home for me. That word is word is culture. You

mentioned culture there in terms of the culture of the church and things of

this nature, and I kinda relate it to my own situation

of I have a an adult son who's getting married

this month, and he's gonna be turn 30 before too long. And I

have another son who's getting ready to graduate from grad school out in Oregon.

And, and I know they don't wanna have much to do

with the church anymore because, they see a

culture that is not all that for them

or welcoming. And, and I think

there's this image that the church that when we use the word

service, we may think about service, but a lot of times people

outside the church see that serve us, you know, serve us instead

of service. And so I'm just wondering what the real

life impact of something like general conference is gonna be towards people like my 2

adult sons who are kinda drifting away from the church,

still have great values, still love the Lord,

still wanna make a contribution. But how is it you're

gonna impact people like my sons and other 20 somethings and other

30 somethings and other young people out there or anybody else for that matter

who's, kind of drifted apart? And they see their local United Methodist shirts kind of

embroiled in some of this internal nonsense. And,

is general conference gonna have any impact at all on them? And if so, what's

it gonna be? And what do we do about to kinda changing this culture?

I remember when Bishop Trimble

first came to Indiana, and I don't think he was yet he had been

assigned, but I don't think he would had yet come to serve us on

September 1st. I believe it was in an August meeting that we had

with him. And at that time,

we were we knew that there were things that are gonna be on the table

for for general that after general conference 2016, we

knew that things were were we were moving toward a a general or a a

called session of 2019. Didn't know what that might look

like. But Bishop Trimble made some kind of made a

statement, and I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get it exactly right.

Maybe you can help clean it up for me, Bishop. But he said

what his hope for the church at that time was that people would see how

United Methodist could treat each other even when

they disagreed with each other. And that would be

a bold, bold witness to the world.

I still have that hope because I'm certain that when we walk

away from general conference this year, not everybody's

gonna be pleased. I don't know what kind of decisions will be,

be be decided on. I don't know what kind of,

of perhaps, constitutional amendments amendments

to the constitution of the Methodist Church, United Methodist Church might be approved.

But I know that not everybody's gonna be happy. But what I hope

for, Brad, and I think it's it would influence the culture that you're talking

about. My hope for it my hope is that we can do that.

We can disagree agreeably in love and

witness to the world that that that we're different people.

I don't know if that can be I don't know if that's gonna happen, but

that's my hope. And if we can do that, then make a huge difference

for you for for your children and my 5 adult children as

well who are not in too much different than what you described.

That's that's great, Brad. Thanks for bringing that up. I think our

listeners really, that's something that resonates with a lot of the

public, both in the church and outside the church. Some some of

us are so tied historically to the church. We we

couldn't we couldn't climb our ways out of the church even if

we wanted to. We're so bound. But

it's been said, and I don't know, Larry. I can't remember who said it, but,

you know, they said culture each strategy for breakfast or something to that

effect. And I think that some people see our church from the

standpoint. They see the the culture of the church not much different

than the culture of our society. So fear driven,

tribal tribal driven, you know, divisive,

and law driven. And I think one of the things hopefully coming out

of general conference, my prayer and hope is

that people will see and Bishop Kenny Carter and others have written about it.

Paul Chirico writes about it. And we've talked with several people on the podcast

about this. But then our culture from from the United Methodist Church would

be much more grace driven. That's

our Wesleyan heritage, grace. But most people see us

much more as a culture that's driven by law. So we so we hold up

the book of discipline or or where we wanna use the Bible

sometimes even even to put people in their places

as opposed to widen as we talked about a few days

ago, making the table, adding another leaf to the table. We have one of

these tables. We have one at home and we have one at our home where

you can pull the table out and put another leaf in and if you

have more people at the table. And so I think if

we if we have a culture where we can add leaves to the

Trimble, where where it is much more Wesleyan

grace driven as opposed to larger. I'm not suggesting we should

we should be have have no guardrails or no

no structure or everybody does what they wanna do whenever they wanna do

it. And, but my but I I really would want

it to be a church where my grandchildren and my

children can say, you know, this is a place that

that has room for everybody with all of our differences.

I think some people some of those folks Families like my family, there's some

difference in the family. Yeah. And there are some folks who might say, okay. That

leaf's on the table, but we're gonna argue about what color it is or what

shape it is or what you know, if it's gonna be upside down or backwards

or whatever. And we spent a lot of time worrying about

those type of things rather than be in the church. And, Brett, I think that

brings us back to the I sometimes say that if you if you if you

lean on the fence too too too heavily, the the fence will break. And I

think we lean we're leaning so heavily at this time of year and as

United Methodist on on on general conference

when when we really need to focus on and

and and get back to the understanding of who we are as the church

of Jesus Christ in our individual in in our places. Someone said

someone's much I think I think I know where this one came from, Bishop. I

think this was Julius Dodson who said if you try to build a church, you'll

rarely get disciples. You try to build a church.

And so if you're and if you focus on general conference, you're gonna rarely get

disciples. But he went on to say, but if you make disciples,

you'll always get the church. And Wow. That's great. And I

and I just think that that that that again, I'm

gonna go to general conference, and I was elected as a delegate because

some some folks trusted that that that I could do that. And I'm gonna

do that with the best with the best of intentions and the and the and

the and the best work I know how. But but I'm not gonna

but I'm not going to try to to think

that that's just gonna solve everything because the the real message and

the real the the real work of and witness for Jesus will happen

back here. Well, Bishop, I know that

there seems to be a real sense of

opportunity here at general conference and a little bit

of anxiety about, you know,

not wanting this opportunity to be lost here, as well.

And so having said that, bishop, I'd be interested in what you have to say

and certainly, Larry, what you have to say about about the opportunity before

us at general conference to do these things we talk about in the local church,

but also maybe some things you're encouraged about. So, Larry, why don't we start with

you? What do you what's the opportunity before us, and what are what are

you encouraged by as we enter into this season of

the general conference? I'm

gonna I'm gonna pivot away one more time. Pleasure to say that I

am encouraged because I see some things, really powerful things that are

happening in in Indiana as the as the United

Methodist Church. I I'm encouraged the way that that our

churches and our pastors and our leaders have gotten behind our Bishop

invitation to support, and endow

scholarships at Africa University and have raised up well over

$345,000 off a $300,000 goal

toward toward that end. And I think it's that that's a that's I'm

encouraged because because they're they're about,

planting trees that will bear with that they'll never see bear fruit,

and and and in in those in those figurative terms.

And and it's it's gonna it's powerful, powerful witness for what

we can do, not just locally, but but

globally as as a church. I'm encouraged because

I see places like, a new church start in Santa

Claus, Indiana where where Noel where a new new

church church called Noel was formed out of a group of folks,

a group of, 60 people who said, we don't want to disaffiliate.

We wanna remain United Methodist. And they broke out of a church that disaffiliated

and said, we're gonna create our own United Methodist presence in in

Santa Claus, Indiana, of of all places. And and and

and they're they're alive, and they're and they're and they're gonna grow. I'm

encouraged because I know that we've got a a a Hispanic church start that's

that's gonna that's that's emerging from from the grassroots in

Jeffersonville and and with with excitement. I'm encouraged

because and and this may be one of the best examples of

of of, that changing culture and giving yourselves

away. We have a church in Milford, Indiana, a former church

in Milford that that closed. And we had we had some folks who

said, we want we we aren't sure what we wanna do with this, but we've

got some money that we wanna the individuals. So we've got some money we

wanna put with this. If you'll keep the building around and help us a little

bit as a district, we wanna give ourselves away

to make a difference for Jesus Christ. And so what they've done is they've

created a place called the Milford Meeting House, and it's and it's attracting

a a a different group of people who would have never

ever come into our church doors in the

past, but that they've recreated themselves. They gave themselves

away in order to make disciples for Jesus Christ, and they've now

opened up a a place. And, Bishop, you went and did dedicated

the place. I don't remember the name of the is it Hope House?

It may be. It may be. I can't but it's a place for for

women, who have just been who have been incarcerated to and they they

come out then to be a halfway house into with with

direction and hope into back into the into their communities.

And and so there are thing we and we have and I don't I'm gonna

steal yours, Bishop. I knew you would've used it, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

We have 28 new faith communities in 2023

that have that have that have sprung up across the state. We have

we are moving in a wonderful new direction,

and there's all all kinds of reasons to be encouraged.

Well, Bishop, there's some encouraging words there about what's happening in the in our

local churches and opportunities for new communities of

faith. What, what say you about, what are you encouraged

by? And can you give a word of thanks to our guest today and maybe

close us with a prayer? Absolutely. In 1742,

in his, book character of a Methodist, John Wesley said,

Methodists are those who have the love of God shed abroad in

their hearts by the Holy Ghost. I believe

that this is a season to rejoice as the writer,

apostle Paul, 1st Thessalonians. Rejoice

always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks

in every circumstance, including giving thanks going

to general conference for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

for you. 1st Thessalonians 5 16 through 18

from the new revised standard version. The psalmist says, I will thank the

Lord with all my heart, and I like this,

from the common English Trimble from Psalm 9. It said, and I will

talk about all your wonderful acts. So

we worship God and we have hope, not be just because of what

God has done for us or even with us, but

because of who God is. So we give thanks that, you know, we

worship in a church. We are part of a larger movement, the

Christian Christian community. So where a lot of times we talk about the

United Methodist Church, I wish we really would think more about what

does it mean to be followers of Jesus Christ. And I we

happen the 3 of us happen to be United Methodist, but we believe that,

Jesus Christ is lord and savior. And the day

after general conference, that will still be true, and people will still

need God, still need hope, still need physical

bread and spiritual bread. So I give thanks. I'm I'm very

encouraged, by all of the signs from lay

people and clergy, new people, and people like

us who've been in the church a long time, about our

opportunity to give witness, to the love of Jesus Christ.

So God bless us. Let us pray. Lord god, we thank you for the blessing

of this day for our guest, reverend Larry Whitehead, for

reverend doctor Brad Miller, and for our witness to

this podcast. We pray that someone today, someone

tonight will know they are loved by God. There's nothing

they have to do about it. Nothing they have to do but receive it

as true, gospel truth. In the name of Jesus Christ, we

give thanks and praise. Amen. Amen. And we

do thank you for joining us today on the to be encouraged podcast.

Our guest today, the chief of staff and executive assistant to the Bishop, reverend

Larry Whitehead. And speaking for bishop Julius C

Trimble, I am reverend doctor Brad Mueller. We encourage you

to always do all the good that you

can.