Igniting Imagination

We asked six resilient leaders to share a story of resilience with us. We originally planned to include a “Story of Resilience” segment at the end of each episode. Not surprisingly, each story we recorded was incredible and inspiring! We wanted to make sure you didn’t miss these stories and feared you might if they were at the end of episodes. So, our six episode podcast now includes six additional bonus episodes! Each bonus episode features a leader’s answer to our invitation to “tell us a story of resilience.” Each leader shares a story that is powerful, poetic, and deeply personal. We are really grateful for their vulnerability and hope their stories will inspire you as they did us.    In our first Bonus Episode, Martha Valencia shares the story of her congregation’s partnership with a church in Honduras and her friendship with their pastor who has faced significant challenges, including helping his already poverty-stricken congregation navigate two hurricanes and a pandemic. His example of resilient leadership has inspired and sustained Martha as she grieves the loss of her mother to Covid-19 while continuing to lead her congregation through these difficult times.   Martha Valencia  Rev. Martha Valencia is the Senior Pastor of Elmwood-El Buen Samaritano UMC in Dallas, Texas. QUOTES “What he started to do was visit members one by one on his bicycle and go outside of their homes and simply share a word of encouragement and love from outside their homes, from outside their door, outside their window.” -Martha Valencia [05:39] “Every time we talk to him, it is “Blessed it be in the name of the Lord.’” -Martha Valencia [08:16] TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [02:07] Martha meets Pastor Lara [04:51] Pastor Lara’s shares the word of God [06:56] Hurricanes hit Honduras RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS Elmwood-El Buen Samaritano UMC in Dallas If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes? 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.

In this episode of Reservoirs of Resilience podcast, Lisa Greenwood, Vice President of Leadership Ministry at Texas Methodist Foundation (TMF), and Bishop Janice Huie, who works in Leadership Formation at TMF, speak with Dr. Tod Bolsinger, Senior Congressional Strategist and Associate Professor of Leadership Formation at Fuller Seminary. Dr. Bolsinger offers insight on what resilient leadership looks like today. He describes the character qualities required of a resilient leader, how stress makes a leader and why anyone facing constant resistance should keep leading.   QUOTES “The hardest thing about leading change is having to grapple with our own vulnerability.” -Dr. Tod Bolsinger [15:12] “Empathy is what we need for leadership. Because when you attuned to people and they feel cared for, they will trust you and go further into their own pain and further into their own discomfort if they don’t.” -Dr. Tod Bolsinger [20:21]   TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [00:26] Bishop Huie reads from Reservoirs of Resilience [03:01] An overview of the six episodes of this podcast [05:23] An excerpt of Bishop Huie’s writing about resilience [08:49] Meet Dr. Tod Bolsinger [09:50] How Dr. Bolsinger thinks about resilience [11:16] Crucible of change [13:52] Blacksmithing metaphor [18:27] Character qualities of a resilient leader [21:38] Why work so hard to face resistance and how stress can make a leader [29:30] What does tempered resilience mean for a pastor today [32:51] What Dr. Bolsinger means by Rule of Life and why it’s important [36:45] Rapid fire round with three sentences [38:36] Bishop Huie’s reflections and takeaways [41:44] Outro   RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back by Andrew Zolli and Ann Marie Healy Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth   If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?   Follow Tod Bolsinger: @todbol   For more resources from Tod and his team, text change to 66866.   Find out more about the De Pree Center Church Leadership Initiative at depree.org/church.   Tod Bolsinger is the author of Canoeing the Mountains, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, and most recently, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change.   Reservoirs of Resilience is inspired by the monograph written by Bishop Janice Huie. Read the full publication here.   "That's Something" music and lyrics by Billy Crockett, © 2016 Spare Room Music, BMI, from the album In Session (with Roscoe Beck), Blue Rock Artists, 2020   "Resilience" music by Billy Crockett, © 2021 Spare Room Music, BMI 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.

What do leaders need in this moment of unprecedented challenge and change?  Resilience. This podcast from Texas Methodist Foundation’s Leadership Ministry is based on Bishop Janice Huie’s publication “Reservoirs of Resilience.” Each episode is packed with insights and inspiration from people who lead with hope, purpose, and courage. The stories and ideas they share will encourage and equip you to deepen your capacity for resilience so that you can not only survive in this challenging season, but thrive and even strive for the world God imagines.