Resilience for the Church with Bishop Cynthia Harvey and Erin Hawkins

Mar 25, 2021

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What is needed to enlarge the capacity of pastors, congregations, annual conferences and the denomination to become more resilient, i.e. to absorb change and retain its integrity and purpose? We pose that very deep and difficult question to Erin Hawkins, Executive Director of Connectional Ministries for the California Pacific Annual Conference and Bishop Cynthia Harvey, bishop of the United Methodist Church in Louisiana and President of the Council of Bishops.

You’ll notice this is one of our longer episodes. The content was so rich with these two dynamic leaders, we didn’t want you to miss a minute of the conversation, so we didn’t cut much. They discuss the current state of the church, what resilience looks like for the church, and what changes they are hoping to see in the denomination. We suspect that like us, by the end of the episode your own reservoir of resilience will be a bit more full of grace.

QUOTES

“We think systemically because we’re a large institution and our system’s thinking has us reduced and separate so that we can better analyze and organize and change the parts. And I’m increasingly convinced that what will help to transform us is becoming masters not of the parts, but of the relationship between the parts.” -Erin Hawkins [28:12]
“Right now, I would love to see us do a total realignment of where we invest ourselves. How are we using our time and our money and our resources to do a good and joyful thing?” -Bishop Cynthia Harvey [49:53]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:00] Intro
[00:23] Bishop Huie reads from Reservoirs of Resilience
[04:17] An excerpt of Bishop Huie’s writing
[07:18] Meet Erin and Bishop Harvey
[09:01] The current reality: challenges the church is facing
[16:50] Actions for leaders to help lead a resilient church
[23:55] What does a resilient church look like
[33:53] The changes Erin hopes to see in her anti-racism work
[38:44] How Erin stay resilient
[45:20] The changes Bishop Harvey hopes to see as President of the Council of Bishops
[51:17] Rapid fire round with three sentences
[52:15] Bishop Huie’s reflections and takeaways
[56:34] Outro

RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?

Follow Bishop Harvey on Facebook -- Cynthia Fierro Harvey

Read the press release about Erin Hawkins new role as the Executive Director of Connectional Ministries with the California-Pacific Conference of the UMC here.

Follow the General Commission on Religion and Race of the United Methodist Church @GCORR_UMC

Reservoirs of Resilience is inspired by the monograph written by Bishop Janice Huie. Read the full publication here.

This podcast is brought to you by TMF’s Leadership Ministry. 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. For more information and to support TMF’s Leadership Ministry, visit https://tmf-fdn.org/leadership-ministry.