Episode 59
The Honored Ordination Process: Reflection and Preparation. Bishop Julius C. Trimble Speaks From the Heart With An Incoming Deacon and Elder of the 2023 Ordination Class
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”
Transcript
Hello, good people, and welcome to the to be
Speaker:encouraged podcast with Bishop Julius C.
Speaker:Trimble. I'm your Cohost. Reverend Dr. Brad Miller. This is a
Speaker:podcast where we look to offer an encouraging
Speaker:word to an often discouraged
Speaker:world. Today we have two special guests with Bishop
Speaker:Tremble and I. They are Reverend Matt Sher, who is
Speaker:an incoming deacon in the Indiana Conference
Speaker:of the United Methodist Church. He is a
Speaker:pastor of youth and discipleship at Carmel United
Speaker:Methodist Church in Carmel, Indiana. And we have Reverend Denise Robinson,
Speaker:who is an incoming elder to be ordained elder
Speaker:in the Indiana Conference United Methodist Church. She is the lead pastor at Irvington
Speaker:United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bishop, can you help us welcome
Speaker:these folks to our podcast here today? Hey, welcome, friends.
Speaker:It's good to have you on the podcast, and I know that you're sharing
Speaker:today will be a blessing to others who hear the
Speaker:podcast. Sometimes people in Indiana and I've run into
Speaker:people who listen to the podcast from as far away as Zimbabwe.
Speaker:So glad to have Denise and Matt, and congratulations
Speaker:on your next step in ministry in the Indiana Conference.
Speaker:One of the things we like to do here on the podcast is to hear
Speaker:faith stories or coming to faith stories and how it led to
Speaker:ministry. So, Matt, you're incoming deacon in the church,
Speaker:but your story has a lot of places that
Speaker:lead up to that. Can you tell us just a bit about your
Speaker:faith story, how you came to know Jesus Christ in the first place and how
Speaker:that's eventually led you to your place of service and to become
Speaker:a deacon? Yeah. Thanks, Brad. Well, I grew
Speaker:up in the United Methodist Church in Cornelius, North Carolina.
Speaker:My parents, my family, we all went there every Sunday. That's just kind of
Speaker:what we did. And went to all the camps, spent a lot of time at
Speaker:camp and vacation, Bible school, youth group
Speaker:choir, and went through Chrysalis,
Speaker:confirmation, just kind of did all the things
Speaker:and was really active in my faith throughout
Speaker:high school. And then I went away to college
Speaker:at Appalachian State University, and I just
Speaker:met some followers of Jesus that were living their faith
Speaker:out in a bigger way than I
Speaker:had ever seen, just taking the words of Jesus to
Speaker:heart and everything that they do. And I
Speaker:said, I want to be like them. And in a way, I sort
Speaker:of felt like my church had not let me down or had let me down,
Speaker:and really they hadn't I
Speaker:had not grasped some of the concepts that I needed to.
Speaker:And I had a desire and hunger to read the scriptures
Speaker:more, to dig deeper into that and also
Speaker:use that as an opportunity to explore other churches besides
Speaker:the Nine Methodist Church. I went to a Baptist
Speaker:church for a couple of years and then to just a Bible
Speaker:fellowship church that just taught from
Speaker:the Scriptures, just had a heart for the Scriptures. And when
Speaker:I was working my senior year of college after graduating,
Speaker:I went to work at a United Methodist camp. I was on the track to
Speaker:go into camp ministry. And one night at
Speaker:camp, I just remember having this dream that I was doing
Speaker:youth ministry. And I woke up the next day
Speaker:really excited about that and wasn't sure what that meant.
Speaker:And then I got a call from our senior pastor from my home church
Speaker:and he asked me if I'll be interested
Speaker:in coming and filling in as the interim youth pastor.
Speaker:So the timing was just pretty interesting and
Speaker:funny how God works in that way. When I was kind
Speaker:of going away from the United Methodist Church and then
Speaker:God kind of called me back, I finally accepted
Speaker:the position. It was just a
Speaker:temporary thing until they could find someone.
Speaker:And then after a couple of months, I noticed they weren't really
Speaker:looking. And I asked them about it. I said, It seems like
Speaker:you guys aren't looking anymore. And they said, well, we'd love for you
Speaker:to stick around from that point on.
Speaker:I just said, all right? God, here I am. Use me
Speaker:to impact these students in ways
Speaker:that I wish I
Speaker:would have gotten myself or teaching certain things or thinking about
Speaker:things and asking hard questions. So that's what I
Speaker:did. And I just poured everything I had into the youth and
Speaker:the parents for 15 years.
Speaker:It was during this time that I explored
Speaker:or I took Disciple One Bible study actually.
Speaker:And it was out of that that I felt a hunger and
Speaker:a desire to go and study the Scriptures even more. So I
Speaker:enrolled at Pfeiffer University in
Speaker:Charlotte, North Carolina. They had an evening courses being
Speaker:offered to get a Master's in Christian education.
Speaker:And so I started that and they had a focus on youth ministry
Speaker:and I just dug into all the studying and
Speaker:being with other people that were going through the same process.
Speaker:And it was actually during this time that I started to explore
Speaker:ordination. And I met with my counselor,
Speaker:Kathleen Kilburn, and she asked me, why do
Speaker:you want to get into the United Methodist Church or be ordained? And I said,
Speaker:well, it feels like that the youth ministries have sort of been
Speaker:neglected in the church, so I want to get in and kind of
Speaker:shake things up. And she said, that might not be
Speaker:the best motive at this point to do that.
Speaker:And so really just encouraged me to take some time
Speaker:and pray about it. And so I did, and I just felt like,
Speaker:okay, God, I'll continue to serve you as a layperson.
Speaker:It was during this time also that I went on a mission trip to West
Speaker:Virginia. I met my wife, or Julie, who turned
Speaker:out to be my wife several years later.
Speaker:And she was from Indianapolis.
Speaker:And in 2017,
Speaker:we just kind of felt God tugging on our hearts that maybe
Speaker:it was time for our next step. And one
Speaker:thing led to another and doors just kind of opened for Indiana.
Speaker:We did not think we would be going to Indiana,
Speaker:but have just loved being here. And it
Speaker:was when we moved here that my wife encouraged me
Speaker:to consider exploring the ordination process again.
Speaker:And so one of my colleagues at the time,
Speaker:Chris Thornsberry, was going through the same thing.
Speaker:We started reading Margaret Ann Crane's books on
Speaker:the deacon. And reading that book,
Speaker:it just kind of lit a fire within me. I said, this is what
Speaker:I want to do. This is the calling that God has
Speaker:for me to serve, to connect
Speaker:the world with the church and the church with the world, to have
Speaker:a heart for compassion and justice.
Speaker:Several pastors I talked to,
Speaker:my senior pastor from Mount Zion and Cornelius and some
Speaker:of my friends in the ministry and
Speaker:current colleagues at the church in Carmel and just got a
Speaker:lot of encouraging words and so started the
Speaker:process and entered into the Rim process in
Speaker:2020, being commissioned. So now here I
Speaker:am. I've been doing youth ministry for about 20 years now,
Speaker:five years at Carmel. UMC, and yeah,
Speaker:just excited to kind of see this process,
Speaker:kind of it'll.
Speaker:Culminate with you becoming we're recording this in May of 22,
Speaker:23, and next month in June,
Speaker:Bishop Bishop Trump will be laying hands upon you to become a
Speaker:deacon in the United Method Church in Indiana Conference. So Denise
Speaker:Robinson, Reverend Denise Robinson is also with us and she'll be ordained
Speaker:as an elder. So Denise, let's hear a bit of your faith story,
Speaker:how you came to faith in the first place and what's eventually led
Speaker:you through various career opportunities and now to become
Speaker:an elder in the church. Thanks for adding a
Speaker:bishop. I did not grow up in the United Methodist Church.
Speaker:I grew up in Baptist churches primarily.
Speaker:And when I was 16, I walked away from
Speaker:faith. I was tired, I was ready
Speaker:to go to college. And so
Speaker:I went to IU and then went to the University of
Speaker:Minnesota for law school, graduated from law school
Speaker:with the intent of being a corporate contract lawyer and
Speaker:got my first job in corporate contract work
Speaker:and hated it and then wondered what I would do
Speaker:from there. So I had student loan debt,
Speaker:moved back to Indiana from Minnesota,
Speaker:where I had graduated from and gotten my first job.
Speaker:When I came back to Indiana, I really didn't have any idea where I would
Speaker:live or what I would do. It was kind of a short sighted decision on
Speaker:my part, but came back to Indiana and
Speaker:what I knew at that time was I had an aunt who
Speaker:was a United Methodist pastor in northern Indiana.
Speaker:And so when I didn't have anywhere else to go or anyone else to
Speaker:turn to. I thought, well, being a pastor,
Speaker:she would have to take me in. And so I went and prevailed
Speaker:on her and actually found her,
Speaker:managed to find her. She was appointed to asbury United Methodist
Speaker:Church in Albion, Indiana. I didn't know that at the time.
Speaker:Found her. I would say, coincidentally, maybe God was involved
Speaker:with that and moved in with her at
Speaker:the parsonage. But she said because I was living in the parsonage,
Speaker:she wanted me to come to church. I was not
Speaker:thrilled with that at the time, but came to church.
Speaker:And then my aunt, knowing that I love to
Speaker:read, started laying books around, leaving books around
Speaker:by her about Wesley. And she started taking me
Speaker:to Wednesday morning breakfasts with three
Speaker:other Methodist clergy who, over a period of time,
Speaker:addressed all my questions and my anger and everything else that I had, all the
Speaker:baggage I had. And I found myself joining her church
Speaker:and then becoming a youth leader and teaching a
Speaker:Bible study and being a liturgist and singing in the
Speaker:choir. And then finally on
Speaker:a couple of times when she took a vacation day, preaching for
Speaker:her and hearing a call to ministry.
Speaker:And so at that time contacted the district superintendent, and this would
Speaker:have been 1991,
Speaker:contacted the district superintendent to look at going into ministry
Speaker:and then decided that I would throw all my efforts into the
Speaker:legal career. I became a prosecutor,
Speaker:prosecuted Northern Indiana, a couple
Speaker:of different counties in northern Indiana. And then in 2006, I was
Speaker:offered the opportunity to come to Indianapolis,
Speaker:to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office to head the homicide division
Speaker:here in Indianapolis. And so I came here over
Speaker:a period of time, I went to a couple of different United Methodist churches here,
Speaker:finally joining Castleton. And it was at
Speaker:that point when the call to ministry became so strong that
Speaker:I couldn't ignore it any longer. I'd set it aside time and time again.
Speaker:I taught Bible studies. I volunteered
Speaker:more in the church, and I told myself that that was sufficient for what God
Speaker:wanted, and it became apparent it wasn't. And so
Speaker:finally, when I started
Speaker:going to Castleton, frank Brad,
Speaker:Bishop Frank was the pastor then, and then Burke Kite
Speaker:became pastor, and it was Bert that really led
Speaker:me to really connect into my
Speaker:call and begin the ordination
Speaker:process, go to seminary.
Speaker:And in 2019,
Speaker:when I was interim pastor at New Palestinian United Methodist Church,
Speaker:the district superintendent then, Jim Bushfield, asked if I would consider a full
Speaker:time church appointment. And finally I said yes to that. And I've
Speaker:been at Irvington ever since.
Speaker:Well, Bishop, quite these interesting and
Speaker:fascinating stories of their faith journey,
Speaker:and you and I also had the faith.
Speaker:Before long, next month, Pastor Robinson
Speaker:Denise will be ordained an elder, and you'll be laid on hands as well as
Speaker:other elders and our conversation here today led me to revisit my own
Speaker:deacons and elders orders, which are on the wall right
Speaker:behind me as we look here. And I think maybe
Speaker:it does for yourself as well, every time we have ordinations.
Speaker:But I would. Bishop, in your thoughts about
Speaker:this whole process here, particularly about Denise and Matt and the other deacons
Speaker:and elders as we get ready for ordination, what kind of thoughts are you having
Speaker:right now? Well, my thoughts are
Speaker:really centered around celebration and
Speaker:the joy of the journey. Sometimes the journey takes
Speaker:winds and turns, and that would be my case too. I didn't
Speaker:go directly from college to seminary,
Speaker:but God is faithful. And I
Speaker:hear Denise and Matt talk, share their stories that
Speaker:God has been faithful, and I think God had them
Speaker:covered even when they weren't certain what was coming next.
Speaker:So I celebrate that. I think about the apostolic
Speaker:tradition of succession,
Speaker:back when you and I, Brad, were ordained deacons and then elder
Speaker:in succession after we served several years.
Speaker:Now, that continues. That long line of service
Speaker:and calling continues. God is still calling people at different
Speaker:stages in life and providing
Speaker:a place for people to serve. And I think when
Speaker:we pray the prayer, God use me,
Speaker:the prayer of St. Francis, lord, make me an instrument, make me
Speaker:an instrument of Thy peace, thy justice, Thy love,
Speaker:Thy mercy. Then God always finds a way
Speaker:to bless us and make a pathway for us to have a place to
Speaker:serve. So I think it's a high honor
Speaker:for me. I know I get kind of emotional sometimes.
Speaker:It's hard for me to get through the ordination service because I have to
Speaker:read everybody's name and lay hands, and I think about
Speaker:the literal experience of holiness in
Speaker:that time. So I'm
Speaker:ecstatic for both Denise and Matt and for
Speaker:their service. And usually when people come to that point at the
Speaker:annual conference, they've already been serving. Most people have already in
Speaker:this case, they've been in ministry for a period of
Speaker:time. But it's still a very important
Speaker:landmark, if you will, when you actually
Speaker:have that ordination service.
Speaker:And I think it's a landmark
Speaker:time. I know it's still an emotional time for me. I've looked at the dates
Speaker:and the bishops involved with my ordination. I made me think
Speaker:good thoughts about that. But I also revisited the actual commitments
Speaker:that are made when you're a deacon with
Speaker:the setting hands in prayer to read the
Speaker:Scriptures, to preach the Word and perform the duties
Speaker:of the display of the Church. So, Matt, I like to ask you, and maybe,
Speaker:Bishop, you can comment it what is the meaningfuls to you of taking the
Speaker:vow to read the Scriptures and preach the Word?
Speaker:That's what you're going to be doing.
Speaker:That's who we are. We're making disciples of Jesus Christ,
Speaker:and the Word is our foundation. It's what guides
Speaker:us and leads us. My heart is to share that
Speaker:word with whoever will listen. I mean, the students,
Speaker:obviously, the parents, the adults, but also
Speaker:to encourage them to go and do the same.
Speaker:Because if it's just up to me or Denise or Bishop or
Speaker:Brad, we're only going to reach so many people.
Speaker:So our job is to equip,
Speaker:encouraged and then send out. And so that's really kind of where
Speaker:my heart lies. And it's because the disciples did that
Speaker:that we're here today. And so it's a great calling
Speaker:to be a part of. I'm honored to be part of this
Speaker:ordination process. Now.
Speaker:Denise, when you take the vows here next month,
Speaker:it'll be as one set apart for the work of an elder,
Speaker:to read the Scriptures, to preach the Word, as we said,
Speaker:for Matt as a deacon and to administer the Holy Sacraments.
Speaker:As long as you're a faithful servant, what does that mean to you?
Speaker:And do you take that to heart as you get ready to take these
Speaker:vows? I agree
Speaker:with so much of what Matt had to say, but for
Speaker:me, I love to not just preach, but to
Speaker:teach. It's been said that my
Speaker:sermons are a lot like teaching a jury, and I guess that's true
Speaker:because I had 25 years in the courtroom, so it makes sense.
Speaker:But I love to see people's kind
Speaker:of faces the engagement. Their eyes light up when they learn
Speaker:something new from Scripture, when they learn something new about
Speaker:their walk with Christ and how to live their life. And that
Speaker:just doesn't come. I mean, that comes of course, through the Word of God,
Speaker:but also in the time of sacrament, when they
Speaker:have that time and truly understand that experience with
Speaker:the Holy Spirit. It's such a unique experience that
Speaker:when they understand what can happen through
Speaker:that sacred time, you see lives change
Speaker:and you see how they interact with one
Speaker:another and how they interact with others as a church change
Speaker:just through the message of Jesus Christ. And that's something that I have a passion
Speaker:for and that I hope to pass on to others where
Speaker:others grab that passion and then it spreads
Speaker:from here. So Bishop, could you speak to this, the power
Speaker:of the vow that these folks are making and others will be making
Speaker:to read the Scriptures, preach the Word and for elders to administer the
Speaker:sacraments? I think the
Speaker:questions that are asked, the historic questions, are all rooted
Speaker:in the very first question that is, have we faith in Christ?
Speaker:If we have faith in Christ, that should be lived out in the way in
Speaker:which we express our respective ministries.
Speaker:So I counted a high honor.
Speaker:Sometimes people still there are some folks still call me pastor
Speaker:because I was their pastor and they say, oh, I meant to say Bishop.
Speaker:I said, no, there's no higher calling
Speaker:than to call me what I was when I was in relationship with
Speaker:you. And I was a youth pastor and a senior
Speaker:pastor. So I think that the ability to
Speaker:connect the world with the church, the ability
Speaker:and the opportunity to share Christ with
Speaker:young folks, old folks, and all folks is
Speaker:meaningful. And the privilege to serve sacraments and to invite
Speaker:people to an open table, it's not our communion, it's not
Speaker:our baptism, but we offer that in the name of Jesus
Speaker:Christ. Someone asked a question some years ago when
Speaker:we were discussing, well, why the church and why the United Methodist
Speaker:Church? And one of the leaders said, he said, because life with
Speaker:Jesus is better than life without him. And so I believe
Speaker:that these two servant leaders,
Speaker:reverend Denise Robinson and Reverend Matt Cheryl,
Speaker:they epitomize what it means to answer the call and
Speaker:to share with others. We're not just a social we're not a social service
Speaker:agency. Old folks used
Speaker:to say the hands and feet of Christ, and we want people to know that
Speaker:life with Jesus is better than life without him.
Speaker:And I would say as a word of encouragement to Reverend Denise,
Speaker:years ago, I heard the great Baptist preacher Dr.
Speaker:Manuel Scott say, all teaching is not preaching,
Speaker:but all good preaching should include some teaching.
Speaker:So if your gift is in the
Speaker:teaching mode of preaching, then there should definitely
Speaker:be space in that.
Speaker:That's a little bit of my gift. Probably not as strong as your gift,
Speaker:but I still remember hearing
Speaker:that adage that all teaching is not preaching.
Speaker:And I'm a child of teachers, so my mom was a retired teacher
Speaker:of a brother and sister who are teachers. And actually I talked for a short
Speaker:period of time before I went to seminary. But I do believe
Speaker:that all preaching should include an element of teaching, if not
