Episode 117 To Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble

Legacy of Encouragement: Bishop Julius C. Trimble's Mission Continues

Transition and Transformation: Bishop Julius C. Trimble on Encouragement and New Beginnings

In this heartfelt episode of the "To Be Encouraged" podcast, Rev. Dr. Brad Miller engages in a deep and insightful conversation with Bishop Julius C. Trimble. As Bishop Trimble prepares to transition from his role as the Bishop of the Indiana Area United Methodist Church, he reflects on his journey, his mission of encouragement, and his inspiring vision moving forward. This episode is filled with gratitude, wisdom, and a passionate call to spread love and encouragement in a world often filled with negativity.

**Top 3 Takeaways:**

1. **The Power of Encouragement and Gratitude:**

  - Bishop Trimble emphasizes the importance of expressing gratitude to others, acknowledging that his journey has been nurtured and supported by numerous people throughout his 40 years in ministry. He reflects on his mission to encourage all people with the love of Jesus Christ, underscoring that genuine encouragement goes beyond making people feel good about themselves; it's about inspiring them to do good for others and rise to their highest potential.

  - "I want to encourage all people with the love of Jesus Christ to rise to their highest potential," says Bishop Trimble, highlighting that his mission is rooted in his Christian faith and a desire to cultivate a better world.

2. **Addressing the Steady Diet of Negativity:**

  - Bishop Trimble shares his concern about the pervasive negativity in today's society, where people are often offered reasons to dislike and distrust others. He points out the lack of public discourse on critical issues like the well-being of children and the basic right to secure shelter. His vision is to counteract this negativity with a "steady diet of encouragement," which he believes can transform lives and communities by fostering a spirit of can-doism and unity.

  - He passionately states, "We're offered a steady diet of bad news... but there's so little discussion about those who are marginalized, those who have lost a sense of belonging."

3. **Looking Ahead: A Vision for Wider Impact:**

  - As Bishop Trimble transitions out of his episcopal role, he sets a bold new goal for himself: to encourage 2,000,000 people. He plans to leverage various platforms, including his new website, bishopjuliusctrimble.com, to continue his mission of encouragement through writing, blogging, speaking engagements, and leadership training. Bishop Trimble's unwavering belief in the power of encouragement to transform lives is central to his vision moving forward.

  - He says, "What if I intentionally decide part of my motivation at this stage... Let's set a wildly important goal that only you can accomplish if God helps you."

Join us in this inspiring episode as Bishop Julius C. Trimble shares his insights, aspirations, and unwavering commitment to spreading love and encouragement in an often discouraged world.

**Connect with Us:**

- **Website:** [To Be Encouraged Podcast](http://tobeencouraged.com)

- **Bishop Julius C. Trimble’s Website:** [bishopjuliusctrimble.com](http://bishopjuliusctrimble.com)

- **Subscribe & Listen:** Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Hello again, good people, and welcome to the to the to be

encouraged podcast with Bishop Julius c

Trimble. The podcast where we look to offer an encouraging word to

an often discouraged world. I'm your cohost, reverend doctor

Brad Miller. Well, bishop, we find ourselves in a

place of absolute transition. We, you and I have

done the To Be In Encourage podcast together with you as bishop

of the Indiana Area United Methodist Church for a few years now.

And now we're coming to the time when you're gonna be transitioning out of the

office of bishop into some new endeavors. And so this

is our last podcast together with you as the

bishop of Indiana. So tell me a little bit what's going through your mind right

now. What are some of the emotions that you're feeling? What what

share a little bit. What what's going in your heart right now?

Well, over the last, several weeks and actually several months, I've

been saying thank you to a lot of people. And I have this

this nightmare, or maybe it's not so much a nightmare, but this dream

that that I know there's somebody people that I forgot to say

thank you to. So I say thank you to you, Brad, and to the

people who listen to this podcast. I've been so

blessed to be a servant leader in the United Methodist Church for over

40 years as a pastor,

excuse me, and as a district superintendent and as

a bishop. But most of all, I've also been able to be

nurtured both by late late persons and clergy. And

and, you know, all all pastors were laypersons. Mhmm.

True. And we were we didn't just even if

we're p k's as in your case Uh-huh. You know, you're

you were a layperson before you were a pastor. So Sure. I

really, really wanna say a big thank you to all of the laity

women and men who, who live out their faith every day

and are engaged in their local congregations and their communities,

making a difference by expressing the love of Jesus Christ in

so many ways. So this is a time for me

to to reflect and to be thankful, and I

think I'm really mostly feel, Brad, with the spirit sense of gratitude

that, I remember one of my friends some years ago, Brad,

from Chicago said, man, you a preacher?

And then when then I became a bishop. You a bishop? You a bishop.

Yeah. I said I said, look what God can do. Yeah. God could

do anything. Right? I said, god can do anything. So I said, yes.

And it's been my privilege to to be a servant leader. And I

intend to continue to be to to to serve in in ways that

hopefully will have a positive impact on the lives of others.

I I said it out loud in a public setting that I

wanted to encourage 2,000,000 people as I as I

pivoted with passion to what god had next for me.

Sure. So now I'm actually stepping into that, and,

hopefully, this can be a vehicle for that to continue to happen. Well,

let's just let's just talk about where all that started for a moment. I,

you know, I first became of course, you and I have known each other and

been, friends in one form or another for 40 something years in seminary days.

But I was struck when you first came to Indiana, 8

years ago. One of the first things I read and heard about you when

I started to research a little bit was your mission statement, which I think

you've had for some time. Sometime even before you came to Indiana, I

believe. And I'm just gonna share it, and I want you to

expand on it a little bit because I think it takes us to where we

wanna go in our conversation. Your mission is to encourage all people with

the love of Jesus Christ to rise to their highest

potential or be encouraged for short. How long have you

had that mission statement? And then tell us about how that kinda

drives or impacts everything you're about. Well,

actually, the the genesis of it goes back to to our family.

My wife and I, particularly my wife, leading us in a process in

as a family to really think through our our our

mission statements. What it was we wanted to accomplish as a family

and as individually doing that. So we both

created mission statements that have stuck with us, and

it it helped me particularly when after I left the local

church and became a district superintendent. I said, I'm I know I'm

gonna be in this position for a period of time, and then that

period will come to an end. How can I leave something or

have some moniker or some some motto,

moniker, and statement that identifies who I

am and how I want to lead and serve? And so

that's then when I came up with to to to encourage all

people, there's some key parts of the mission statement. First of

all, it's not a segregated or it's not a

caucus of tribal statement. I I wanna

encourage all people, and it's rooted in my own Christian

faith and witness. I wanna encourage them with the love of Jesus

Christ to rise to their highest potential.

So I've said this on a couple of occasions, but

but the statement is not so much to help people

feel good about themselves as it is to encourage people

and inspire people to wanna do good for others as well.

So it's important for us, Brad, to feel healthy enough about our

own witness, our own journey. We're forgiven sinners.

We're imperfect. As I like to say, we're all hypocrites on different

subjects. So we all need forgiveness. We all should be praying prayers

of confession. But God has chosen us

to to not only to support our churches with

our time, our talents, our money, but it also says with our gifts and our

service and our witness. So this is my way of witnessing,

and my way of witnessing is to encourage people to rise to their highest

potential, not to be what it is I want you to be or

or or what others have said. But what is it that you'd like to really

rise to? And I wanna be an instrument of encouragement

for that to happen. So a little bit more than a motivator or rah rah

cheerleading thing. It's about transformation, isn't it? It's about helping people

and then therefore to transform the world. Right? So In fact, I

encourage people to to contemplate coming up with their

own mission statements or purpose statements and

vision statements or whatever you wanna call it. And I'm not saying that's

a necessary guideline or a plumb line or something to

to to to monitor what it is that you wanna do every day

or all the way along along the way. What I like about our

mission statement in the United Methodist Church, I have it memorized

to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the

world. So in essence, we

Are you there? Mister Burtz, and encourage them, and they can do things

that I don't necessarily have the natural gifts to

do. Well, let's take this mission statement that you

have as part of your legacy and who you are as

a as a pastor and as a bishop.

And, you know, we know you're going on some different things in your life, which

include the the general secretary of the Board of Church and Society, but

you also have kind of a now a personal mission

to apply your mission statement, and that is to apply it to

people's lives. Tell us a bit about your vision of who you wanna reach

now, and what's this gonna be? Tell us about your vision. Well, we live in

a world where there are 1,000,000,000 of people. And

so I I say that, you know, all of us have an have a circle

that we can impact. Some people have used that whole nurse notion of

circle, the people that you influence your family into the wider circle

and then the wider circle. And so I said, how wide can my circle

be? When I think about 42 years of ministry, Brad,

I've had a chance to encourage people on multiple occasions

on the continent of Africa. One time goes way back

to 1991, speaking to 500 high school

students at Hartzell's High School in in Zimbabwe

with with with with our former classmate who at the time was the

district superintendent. And I you sometimes you can forget the

impact. I I started ministry at a at I came out

of a relatively small membership church, then I was assigned to

a small membership church. But every person that you talk to and

that you preach have a chance to preach to or or do a funeral

for or baptism, all of those are encounters in which you've

had an impact in some way, some of which you forgot. In

fact, one of the young persons who was at my

first full time appointment sent a note of affirmation

and thank you at my retirement, which is in the which is in the

souvenir retirement book, who I had forgotten all about. And he

said, I've followed you through social media over the

years of your career. Now I was in my twenties when I

was serving Emmanuel United Methodist Church in North

Chicago. This was a young person. He was actually in

middle school, when I became the pastor there, and

he'd now he just retired from his job after 31 years. Wow.

He said, I've been following you, and you had a positive impact on

me. This is true for lots, if not the vast majority of

pastors, but also mail carriers or school my mother was a

school. So many of us have impact. And

what if we intentionally I said, what if I intentionally decide part

of my motivation at this stage, my I'm in the Q4 of life, so

to speak. What do I wanna do that keeps me

motivated? And I said, let's set a wily important goal

that only you can accomplish if god helps you. Sure. That's where the

2,000,000 came up. I said, if I say 2,000, that might

happen after you speak after I spoke at annual conference.

Sure. I had another time to speak at that and that was a 1,000 people

right there. So I thought I'd set a goal that was lofty

enough that would suit me dizzy. So you wanna

impact and influence with a word of encouragement

and help people rise with a potential 2,000,000 people.

Wow. That's a lofty Can you help me with that? That's a loft. That's a

that's a lofty goal, my friend. But let's let's break it down just

a little bit here about why you would wanna do that. I'm gonna ask

you 3 quick questions here because I think this has to do with where we

go next. When you think about this goal of encouraging

people, what breaks your heart about that? What what breaks your heart about

Well, what really breaks my heart, Brad, is that people have been offered

a steady diet of negativity and reasons to

hate the other. And I put that, quote, unquote, the other, whoever the

other may be. So little conversation I hear in the public

discourse about the state of children across the world.

I think how every time I see a picture of my granddaughter posted and

my daughter posted or other grandchildren, children that are are

adopted children, I think, oh, how fortunate they are to be

living the lives that they're living. Then I think about all of the

millions of children that don't have that experience. They don't have

extended family. They don't have 3 meals or 2 meals a day.

Sometimes, in Gaza and other places, not just Gaza,

there's not even one meal a day. Sure. But there's so little

discussion about our role in addressing that.

We're offered a steady diet

of bad news, of people we

should dislike, of why this

particular political position is is is

more advantageous than the other. And there's so little discussion

about those who are marginalized, those who have

lost a sense of belonging. I was just entering

the elevator at the hospital today and

speaking to people, and it seems as though even that

for some is is kind of an unusual experience.

Something has happened with the advent of smartphones and and

the advent of communications and across

the Internet and and and and take the advancement of technology.

Somehow, we've lost the notion. We've lost the natural

ability really to connect with people on a regular basis. Sure. So

I really feel That breaks your heart to see that happen. A part. And a

part it sounds like a part of it even ticks you off a little bit

that things are really hurtful to people, that people are being hurt by this.

Right? Well, it ticks me off. It ticks me off that that

even the the basic right of having

secure shelter is is not a we don't we we haven't a

break embrace that as a basic human right. It's kinda every person is

on their own, every man for themselves, every woman for hers

herself. And somehow that doesn't feel right with me. That's

very smart. So you got to Brooke this these aspects

here. What do you think you offer, to kinda speak to that

problem? What are some of the things that that you're gonna offer moving

forward in your next 4th quarters, you say, to help speak to

those problems? I'm gonna offer a steady diet of encouragement

Right. A steady diet diet of affirmation

and what I call can doism. Can doism. Oh, I love it. I love it.

There are many things that we we've convinced ourselves we cannot do, and I often

have said this for years. You've heard me say it. Most of our limitations are

self imposed. We have convinced ourselves by playing

the tapes over and over again that we don't have

enough, we're not gifted enough, or we don't

know enough, or we're not connected enough, or we

don't have resources enough to really do great things

that would advance what many have lifted up

as beloved community. With with your spirit of can doism,

it sounds like even though you're leaving the episcopacy, that

God's not done with you yet in this mission of encouragement, and you got more

to do. Is that right? Well, absolutely. And I Brad, I hope you and

others can help me stay connected. And I hope people that wanna stay

connected and be a part of this positive

energy because it's both ways. It it's both ways. When

hearing from people, I just got a note of thank you from

Sarah who lives in Virginia, and I feel so

blessed. She just lifted our thanking us for

something we have done years ago. And we we my

wife and I were saying, well, they we were blessed just as much as they

were blessed by meeting these these new friends. So Sure.

I think a lot a lot can be done intergenerationally

too, Brad, if we create those portals for people

to receive a steady diet of affirmation. That's

that steady diet means that some people ask me, you know, they've asked you, well,

what's gonna happen to your podcast and what's gonna happen to everything else once you

leave the episcopacy? And so we're looking to very real

opportunity for this podcast and your writing, your

blogging, your books, your can doism parts of

your life are gonna carry on. And you wanna carry that on to one form

or another, do do you not? Absolutely. I wanna stay in

touch with people, and I wanna hear from people. If if I hear from people

say, hey. This has been worthwhile. It's been it's been a blessing to

me. I've passed it on to others. I know there's a lot of options, a

lot of choices people have, but but I believe

encouraging people with the love of Jesus Christ to rise to their highest

potential is something that should be part of our regular diet. In

fact in fact, I have a piece I'm working on called the encouragement

diet. Encouragement diet. Everybody's trying a diet that didn't

work or but I love it. Encourage diet. I love

I love I love that. Well, in that spirit, I think it's appropriate for us

to kinda share with the folks that that in one form or another, the To

Be Encouraged podcast is gonna carry on. And so

people are gonna be able to still find the To Be Encouraged podcast at to

be encouraged.com. But beyond that, Bishop,

you're creating a a website that's gonna be a place for you to

share these can doisms. It's atbishopjuliactremble.com,

and that is the place where people can go and get on your list right

now. They'll get a little gift of of a checklist of

the ten reasons that you're a United Methodist and can

apply to their life. But that's gonna be a place for you to blog

and to have your podcast live there and your sermons

and things about your speaking and live

stream, coaching, opportunities. These things that you're gonna be doing to help other

people. So tell us a little bit about how you feel this can be

a a a, place for people to

remain connected to you and what you're all about. Well, I think

they're first persons who who want to be

connected to a source of not

just information, but also inspiration that can

connect to their goal of transformation. I believe

with my wealth of experience of over 42 years of ministry

and including some of my background as an in a community

organizer and what I call a community encourager and an

individual encourager and counselor that I could be of I could be

of assistance to lots of people. I I have a certain number

of days that I'm available for public speaking, and I will

hopefully continue to do that. But I also want to make sure

that people are able to access just through their computers

an opportunity to receive affirmation and some teaching

modules, Brad, that would help them to advance in their own

ministry. I think the ministry of encouragement is a ministry that we all

could embrace as a part of who we are, whether

we are Christians or not. But it's particularly if you're a

Christian. I think the ministry of encouragement should be one of the tools

that is in your toolbox. Well, let me just reemphasize that again. I don't wanna

give you the last word here on your last podcast as Bishop

that people can go to bishopjuliactrembl.com,

and there you're gonna be able to get on to the bishop's list, the email

list about be connected with everything he's about moving

forward now to reach this vision

of inspiring and encouraging 2,000,000

people. So that basically, people are buying in to be a part of your

community, your team, because you can't do this alone, can you? I can't

do it alone. Haven't been able to do it alone for years. Yeah.

Yes. We can change the world. So that's you're gonna find your the

podcast, your sermons, the leadership training, all kinds of things will will

be there. And so I just wanna thank you for being encouraging,

the voice to pastors and leaders and teachers in the in

the Indiana Conference of United Methodist Church as a starting place and

certainly beyond in the in the global church. I know we've been

friends and colleagues for many years, but I've seen you

really inspire and engage during a time well, a lot of

rough things happened the last 8 years, and you've been a steady

steady Eddie through the whole process and an inspiration to many. I know

you've had a few ups and downs of your own, but I thank you for

being encouragement to me and to others. And so that's to

me and that other part of that, they help people rise

to their level of excellence. I I love that. And I'm looking forward

to hearing more about this encouragement diet. I think that's gonna be

cool. I think it's gonna gonna be cool, whatever that turns out to be. So

I'm gonna thank you for being an encourager on the behalf of the people who

listen to the To Be Encouraged podcast and the people of the Indiana Conference of

the United Methodist Church. But I wanna give you the last word, my friend, here

on the what are you encouraged about as you transition

now from the episcopacy to what's next for you?

What encourages you? Well, I'm encouraged by just the

spirit of joy that I see in an in a number of places.

You know? And I think it's a it's a spirit that we can cultivate.

God loves us. Joy comes from the deep certainty of god's love and

presence in our lives, and we can spread that love and and

that presence to we we can be intentional about our

work. Wherever we are wherever our work finds us, wherever we wherever

we are wherever we are living out our expression of god's

love, we can be intentional. God loves us. God loves you. I

often say there's nothing you can do about it, but that's not really true. You

can spread that love that you experience from God.

So God bless you. Looking forward to staying connected.

I'm still working on my book. Be encouraged, and, I hope

folks can stay connected so when that when that project is completed, you'll

be the 1st to receive it. God bless you. Well, thank you, Bishop. Thank you

for sharing that. Let me share one more time your mission statement because I think

it's an appropriate place for us to close this aspect of the To Be

Encouraged podcast. Bishop Julius c Tribble's mission

is to encourage all people with the love of Jesus Christ to

rise to their highest potential or be encouraged.

Thank you for joining us here on the To Be Encouraged podcast

with Bishop Julius c Trimble, the podcast where we look to offer an

encouraging word to an often discouraged world.