Don't Look Back

A conversation with Will Willimon

Join me and my friends for three conversations with United Methodist Bishop Will Willimon about his new book.

If you’re tired of passively watching the slow drip, drip, drip of the Methodist divorce proceedings and would like to participate in a hopeful conversation about the future, this is the book for you.

Will has graciously agreed to do three live-streamed sessions with us on the book, and we’d love to have you join us and share your thoughts and questions.

We’ll do them at 7:00 EST on 9/5, 9/12, and 9/17.

Here’s a preview:

Hope and help for pastors and congregations who are asking, What now? And What’s next?

Some pastors and congregations have managed remarkable innovation, creation of new ministries, courageous pruning of old programs, and rediscovery of core Wesleyan convictions in recent years. Others have experienced a long, slow-motion, downward cycle of loss.

We might be tempted to ‘sit down’ wherever we are, looking back at all that’s happened, shaking our heads in disbelief. But it’s time to stand up, to move forward. Will Willimon shows what that could look like. He spent a year committed to asking questions and careful listening in conversations with clergy, organizational leaders, and parishioners across the U.S. What’s next for Methodist church folk?

As you read, join in the process of asking and listening. The honesty, wisdom, and inspiration you find here may point you in new directions. What do you think God is up to in the present moment? What should we stop doing and begin doing, responding to God’s call now? What are the biblical texts, stories from our past, and core Wesleyan convictions that might guide us from this point?

And are we at Good Friday or at Easter?

As Willimon writes in his Introduction, “Let’s have a decent burial for yesterday’s good intentions and then partner with the Holy Spirit in creating tomorrow’s church.” This is a book to read and reflect on with colleagues, congregants, and Methodist friends.

Whether you’re a Methodist or not, it’s worthwhile to think about how we can be the church in a fractured, secular age and there’s no better conversation partner than Will.

Join us for one evening or better yet, all three.