The Power of Unconditional Love with Greg Boyle and Justin Coleman

Gil Rendle says in the intro that this conversation with Father Greg Boyle is “one of the richest conversations I’ve ever been in.” How grateful we are to have recorded this beautiful and rich back and forth between Gil, Rev. Lisa Greenwood, Father Boyle and Rev. Justin Coleman! Father Boyle’s approach to gang intervention rehabilitation and re-entry at his organization Homeboy Industries is not really about providing services, although they do provide holistic services from education to tattoo removal. The real heart of the work is relationship and creating a culture of kinship, tenderness, and joy. Boyle returns again and again to the heart of God and the heart of Jesus, inviting us again and again to embrace our own belovedness and everyone else’s belovedness.

 

In this conversation…

• Gil shares the difference between the work of improving and the work of creating (01:06)
• The short game of trying experiments and the long game of deep institutional work (04:39)
• Father Boyle’s vocational journey that led him to start Homeboy Industries (16:41)
• Providing services vs being in relationship (22:35)
• The theology that guides Father Boyle (31:58)
• When there is so much grief and pain, how do you not get caught up in a constant cycle of desolation? (36:54)
• Creating a culture of the Gospel (42:03)
• Why Father Boyle says “Gang members have taught me everything of value.” (50:41)

 

QUOTES

• “We’re always getting ahead of ourselves, right? Just about tomorrow or lamenting what I did yesterday. Ouch. Why did I say that? And as opposed to staying anchored in the present moment. I think that’s where the joy is.” -Father Boyle [27:41]
• “Don’t just look at the services. Look at the language that’s being used. Look at the approach towards the other person.” -Rev. Coleman [48:54]

 

Father Greg Boyle’s bio

Gregory Boyle is an American Jesuit priest and the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, the White House named Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. He is the acclaimed author of Tattoos on the Heart and Barking to the Choir. 

The Whole Language is his third book, and all net proceeds go to Homeboy Industries. 

 

Rev. Justin Coleman’s bio

Justin grew up in Texas, and attended Southern Methodist University, graduating in 2000 with a major in religious studies.  He, too, was highly active in SMU’s Wesley Foundation, and served as Associate Pastor at SMU’s Wesley Foundation from 2001 to 2003 as he began seminary studies at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology.  Justin transferred to Duke Divinity School in 2003 and graduated with a Master of Divinity in 2005. Justin’s first clergy appointment was to University UMC, as an intern in 2004 and then as Associate Pastor from 2005 to 2007. 

In 2007, Justin was called back to the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, where he is an elder, and was appointed Associate Pastor at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas.  For six years from 2008 to 2014, Justin served as the Executive and Lead Pastor of the Gethsemane Campus of St. Luke’s Church and led it through a remarkable period of growth in ministry and service to its community. 

From 2014 to June 2017 Justin served as the Chief Ministry Officer of the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, Tennessee.  During this time, he has also continued to frequently offer lectures, sermons, and lead worship.

 

RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS

Read Gil Rendle’s paper “Jacob’s Bones” for free off our TMF website here.

Find out more about Homeboy Industries here.

Father Greg Boyle’s bestselling book is Tattoos on the Heart, his newest book is The Whole Language. All proceeds go to Homeboy Industries.

This podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at TMF and Wesleyan Investive. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders in conversations and environments that create a network of courage, learning, and innovation in order to help the church lean into its God-appointed mission.

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