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 (063) of To Be Encouraged, the Indiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church took center stage. Reverend Dr. Brad Miller, conducted a series of live interviews at the conference which highlighted many themes and speakers which were both enlightening and up lifting. 

The focus of this episode was on the message of Bishop Julius C. Trimble, the Bishop of Indiana, who is also responsible for the To Be Encouraged podcast.

Throughout this episode, Bishop Trimble shared his encouragement for people who chose to physically attend events at Indiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He acknowledged that these attendees could have tuned in online or received a report from others, but their presence at the event was notable and appreciated by everyone present. Their commitment and engagement in the conference demonstrated that the church was still relevant and important to a large number of people.

One of the key themes of this conference was gun violence prevention, which was highlighted by Bishop and many delegates wearing an orange t-shirts. The church's role in addressing gun violence was emphasized, and it was noted that the church needs to remain relevant for young people.

Preparation for heaven is important, but the church should also address current issues that are hurting people. This message was considered important for the conference attendees, and Bishop Trimble expressed gratitude towards individuals who were working towards this issue. 

Bishop Trimble noted the presence of 1200 delegates, and commented positively on the commitment of people of various ages and situations who were present. Despite the challenges faced by the church, people's willingness to celebrate Christ and do the work of the church was evident and much appreciated.

Bishop Trimble also expressed gratitude towards pastors who are leading the church. The opening of the Annual Conference included a visit from Mr. John Wesley encouraged bold witnessing and setting oneself on fire with the gospel. He urged pastors to live out the principles of Methodism with love of God and love of neighbor. The focus should be on moving forward in prayer and truly embodying the values of the faith.

There is a lot of stress and angst currently present, but encouragement is being offered to help deal with these challenging times. The speaker is curious about what things are encouraging others within the community and had a positive interaction with someone who is starting a new process, which was encouraging. A college student is beginning the process of becoming a United Methodist ministry candidate, was seen as a positive sign of hope for the future.

Despite the pandemic, people have remained faithful, and the church has not died. The speaker is spending time at the conference expressing gratitude to attendees for their faithfulness and emphasizes the importance of living a life of faith in the church. Bishop Trimble refers to the concept of unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17:1, which was seen as essential.

Bishop Trimble believes that joy is a crucial component of faith, and he introduces the acronym JOY (Jesus, Others, Yourself) to help cultivate joy in the church community. Encouragement was given to everyone to widen the spectrum of people they interact with and spread joy.

Overall, the episode was an excellent reminder that the church is still alive and kicking, despite the many challenges that it faces. While there is certainly a great deal of work that needs to be done, the commitment and passion that attendees bring to the table is inspiring and much appreciated. People were reminded to lead with love, compassion, and empathy in every step of their faith journeys.

This episode is the first of several upcoming episodes on To Be Encouraged to feature interviews with delegate to the Indiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church held June 8-10 at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

The video livestreams replays of this episode can be seen on YouTube and Facebook at the links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE9vmqKHfrg

https://fb.watch/lpxF_T_Gqm/

Hello, good people. Welcome to the Indiana Annual Conference of the United

Methodist Church. I'm Reverend Dr. Brad Miller, and this is the To

Be Encouraged livestream directly

from the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church. And our very

special guest right now, indeed, is

Bishop Julius C. Trimble, the Bishop of

Indiana, and of course, the person responsible for the

To Be Encouraged podcast. Bishop, welcome to the podcast

and welcome to the Indiana Conference United Methodist Church. It's great,

great Brad, great to be on the campus of Ball State University. In fact, I've

run into a couple of alumni who are United Methodists who are Ball

State graduates. We had a niece who graduated 2 years

ago from here. So it's good to be here on the campus.

We've already started annual a conference I have on an

in gun violence t-shirt and today is where people are

wearing orange because we think the church has a role

in helping to turn change this trajectory of so

much death and destruction by gun violence. It's almost

a daily occurrence, isn't it, in our communities around the country?

And the church, we've got to elevate our witness,

not just on gun violence, but violence that seems to be

so pervasive in relationships and the way in which we

approach each other and difference in our political

discourse. So I think we who

worship the prince of peace ought to be peacemakers and

reconcilers every opportunity we get. Well, that's wonderful.

Tell me a little bit about the beginnings of annual conferences, first day of annual

conference. Tell me, have we got a good start to annual conference with

worship and everything? I think we're off to a great start. You know, with

worship, My message was, Lord, teach us to

pray. Our theme is praying forward. The

worship music has been great. We're being led by a group called The

Many, and they were with us last year, so it's been a great

opportunity for us to worship. And we had a visit from Mr.

John Wesley, believe it or not. That's what I understand, yes.

And what kind of message did Mr. Wesley give us that can be pertinent

and relevant to moving forward in prayer, as you said. I

think Mr. Wesley was encouraging us to be strong in

our bold and in our witnessing for pastors to set themselves

on fire with the gospel and people will come and watch them burn.

But Wesley really encouraged us to live into what it means

to be Methodists with love of God and love of

neighbor. And no better time to do that right now, love of God and

love of neighbor in such a time as this. And let's just talk for a

minute about some of the struggles, some of the challenges that we face

in the church and in the world that we can offer an encouraging

word to. What are some of the things that we can address? I think 1

thing is to make sure, and I was seated at lunch with

some young people, college students today, to make

sure that we remain relevant, meaning the church.

We've got to remain relevant for people who want

to not only prepare ourselves for heaven,

but how we might really address things that are really hurting

people today. And I think that's a message

that's being shared by others. Because some people are choosing just not

to belong or participate in organized religion.

Yeah, there's a lot of stress, a lot of angst that's

out there and We offer an encouraging word.

So what are just some of the things that? Encourage you in

the midst of some of these challenging times What are some of the things you

see among the body and as you look at upon the conference? What are you

encouraged by? I'm encouraged by just today meeting someone who

says they're getting ready to begin the process. This is a

person who's still in college, beginning to begin the process of

what... Of becoming a candidate to go for

Methodist ministry, United Methodist ministry. So God, that's a

reminder, God is still calling time and time

again, and we need not lose hope. And just as I

think people's enthusiasm

to be with other people, You know, we've been kind of cloistered

and because of COVID for so long, and I said this

in my message this morning, that the pandemic did not kill the

church, and people have been faithful. And I'm

spending a lot of time at this conference, thanking people. And I'm

going to do that. I got 2 more days to thank people and I'm going

to continue to do that. Well, that's wonderful. Just it's

a wonderful opportunity. I think I understand we've got like 1200 delegates

here. Isn't it cool to see, even in the midst of some of our

challenges, the commitment of people of all ages and

situations who are here to say, okay, I'm willing

to celebrate Christ, to pray about it, and to do the work of the church.

Are you encouraged by that? Oh, absolutely. I'm totally, Brad, encouraged

by people who choose to come. They could

have chosen not even to come and could have just

watched it live stream or just got a report from whoever came back

from their church. But some people, and I notice we have visitors here,

we've got a lot of volunteers here, we've got people

that really want to know that the church is investing

in our future, not just celebrating our past.

Okay. Well, just 1 more thing, then we'll let you go, because you're a busy

guy during the annual conference. What's 1 word to

share? What's 1 word you want to leave with people who may be hearing this

live stream here today that they can carry with them forward

to live a life of faith moving forward in their church. I think the

word is what Jesus prayed for in John 17 in 1,

and that was unity. But he said that our joy might

be made complete. So the word is joy. The word? If you can't

remember joy, J-O-Y, Jesus, others, and yourself. So

joy is the word I want to leave, and we're going to begin that

cultivating joy. Wonderful. Joy is the

word, Jesus, others, and yourself. Our guest here on the

livestream From the Indiana Annual Conference has been Bishop Julius

C. Trimble here on the To Be Encouraged podcast

and live stream. Bishop, thank you for joining us and have a great conference. Thanks,