Episode 63
Bishop Trimble's LiveStream on Breakthrough Prayer and Gun Violence from Annual Conference
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.
Transcript
Hello, good people. Welcome to the Indiana Annual Conference of the United
Speaker:Methodist Church. I'm Reverend Dr. Brad Miller, and this is the To
Speaker:Be Encouraged livestream directly
Speaker:from the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church. And our very
Speaker:special guest right now, indeed, is
Speaker:Bishop Julius C. Trimble, the Bishop of
Speaker:Indiana, and of course, the person responsible for the
Speaker:To Be Encouraged podcast. Bishop, welcome to the podcast
Speaker:and welcome to the Indiana Conference United Methodist Church. It's great,
Speaker:great Brad, great to be on the campus of Ball State University. In fact, I've
Speaker:run into a couple of alumni who are United Methodists who are Ball
Speaker:State graduates. We had a niece who graduated 2 years
Speaker:ago from here. So it's good to be here on the campus.
Speaker:We've already started annual a conference I have on an
Speaker:in gun violence t-shirt and today is where people are
Speaker:wearing orange because we think the church has a role
Speaker:in helping to turn change this trajectory of so
Speaker:much death and destruction by gun violence. It's almost
Speaker:a daily occurrence, isn't it, in our communities around the country?
Speaker:And the church, we've got to elevate our witness,
Speaker:not just on gun violence, but violence that seems to be
Speaker:so pervasive in relationships and the way in which we
Speaker:approach each other and difference in our political
Speaker:discourse. So I think we who
Speaker:worship the prince of peace ought to be peacemakers and
Speaker:reconcilers every opportunity we get. Well, that's wonderful.
Speaker:Tell me a little bit about the beginnings of annual conferences, first day of annual
Speaker:conference. Tell me, have we got a good start to annual conference with
Speaker:worship and everything? I think we're off to a great start. You know, with
Speaker:worship, My message was, Lord, teach us to
Speaker:pray. Our theme is praying forward. The
Speaker:worship music has been great. We're being led by a group called The
Speaker:Many, and they were with us last year, so it's been a great
Speaker:opportunity for us to worship. And we had a visit from Mr.
Speaker:John Wesley, believe it or not. That's what I understand, yes.
Speaker:And what kind of message did Mr. Wesley give us that can be pertinent
Speaker:and relevant to moving forward in prayer, as you said. I
Speaker:think Mr. Wesley was encouraging us to be strong in
Speaker:our bold and in our witnessing for pastors to set themselves
Speaker:on fire with the gospel and people will come and watch them burn.
Speaker:But Wesley really encouraged us to live into what it means
Speaker:to be Methodists with love of God and love of
Speaker:neighbor. And no better time to do that right now, love of God and
Speaker:love of neighbor in such a time as this. And let's just talk for a
Speaker:minute about some of the struggles, some of the challenges that we face
Speaker:in the church and in the world that we can offer an encouraging
Speaker:word to. What are some of the things that we can address? I think 1
Speaker:thing is to make sure, and I was seated at lunch with
Speaker:some young people, college students today, to make
Speaker:sure that we remain relevant, meaning the church.
Speaker:We've got to remain relevant for people who want
Speaker:to not only prepare ourselves for heaven,
Speaker:but how we might really address things that are really hurting
Speaker:people today. And I think that's a message
Speaker:that's being shared by others. Because some people are choosing just not
Speaker:to belong or participate in organized religion.
Speaker:Yeah, there's a lot of stress, a lot of angst that's
Speaker:out there and We offer an encouraging word.
Speaker:So what are just some of the things that? Encourage you in
Speaker:the midst of some of these challenging times What are some of the things you
Speaker:see among the body and as you look at upon the conference? What are you
Speaker:encouraged by? I'm encouraged by just today meeting someone who
Speaker:says they're getting ready to begin the process. This is a
Speaker:person who's still in college, beginning to begin the process of
Speaker:what... Of becoming a candidate to go for
Speaker:Methodist ministry, United Methodist ministry. So God, that's a
Speaker:reminder, God is still calling time and time
Speaker:again, and we need not lose hope. And just as I
Speaker:think people's enthusiasm
Speaker:to be with other people, You know, we've been kind of cloistered
Speaker:and because of COVID for so long, and I said this
Speaker:in my message this morning, that the pandemic did not kill the
Speaker:church, and people have been faithful. And I'm
Speaker:spending a lot of time at this conference, thanking people. And I'm
Speaker:going to do that. I got 2 more days to thank people and I'm going
Speaker:to continue to do that. Well, that's wonderful. Just it's
Speaker:a wonderful opportunity. I think I understand we've got like 1200 delegates
Speaker:here. Isn't it cool to see, even in the midst of some of our
Speaker:challenges, the commitment of people of all ages and
Speaker:situations who are here to say, okay, I'm willing
Speaker:to celebrate Christ, to pray about it, and to do the work of the church.
Speaker:Are you encouraged by that? Oh, absolutely. I'm totally, Brad, encouraged
Speaker:by people who choose to come. They could
Speaker:have chosen not even to come and could have just
Speaker:watched it live stream or just got a report from whoever came back
Speaker:from their church. But some people, and I notice we have visitors here,
Speaker:we've got a lot of volunteers here, we've got people
Speaker:that really want to know that the church is investing
Speaker:in our future, not just celebrating our past.
Speaker:Okay. Well, just 1 more thing, then we'll let you go, because you're a busy
Speaker:guy during the annual conference. What's 1 word to
Speaker:share? What's 1 word you want to leave with people who may be hearing this
Speaker:live stream here today that they can carry with them forward
Speaker:to live a life of faith moving forward in their church. I think the
Speaker:word is what Jesus prayed for in John 17 in 1,
Speaker:and that was unity. But he said that our joy might
Speaker:be made complete. So the word is joy. The word? If you can't
Speaker:remember joy, J-O-Y, Jesus, others, and yourself. So
Speaker:joy is the word I want to leave, and we're going to begin that
Speaker:cultivating joy. Wonderful. Joy is the
Speaker:word, Jesus, others, and yourself. Our guest here on the
Speaker:livestream From the Indiana Annual Conference has been Bishop Julius
Speaker:C. Trimble here on the To Be Encouraged podcast
Speaker:and live stream. Bishop, thank you for joining us and have a great conference. Thanks,
