The Weight

We’ve reached that time of year again--The Weight’s yearly wrap-up episode. It’s been a year of conversations that covered a wide range of emotions: joy, hope, grief, fear, love. We talked about seeing the Holy Spirit at work, disagreeing from a place of love, the decline of mainline Protestantism, and the Methodist movement and its history of missional work. We talked to authors, pastors, researchers, and artists. We got to hear Chris get schooled by a beloved United Methodist Bishop. We got to laugh a little and learn a lot, and we are so glad that you, our listeners, joined us.Eddie and Chris are once again joined by producer Cody Hickman to recap our fourth year of The Weight. This time they pull back the curtain and reveal some behind-the-scenes secrets. Who did Eddie ask to be a guest and was immediately shot down? How do Chris and Eddie cue each other over Zoom? Exactly how many kids does Cody have?Thank you for listening to The Weight. We’ll be back in February.

Esau McCaulley returns to The Weight for a discussion about his newest book, "How Far to the Promised Land.” This is a joyful conversation that covers some heavy topics, like reconciling yourself to your history while charting your own path and creating your own story. And sometimes, finding your place in the story means finding your place with God and allowing God’s grace to emerge in unexpected ways.Esau is an author and associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL, with a Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews. He is the author of Reading While Black as well as articles for the New York Times.Resources:Listen to Esau’s previous episode on The WeightOrder Esau’s books: Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope and How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American South.Read Esau’s articles in The New York Times here: https://www.nytimes.com/by/esau-mccaulley Follow Esau on the web: https://esaumccaulley.com Follow Esau on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

This episode goes deep into the theological concept of atonement. You may not know what atonement is (broadly, the reconciliation of the relationship between God and people through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ), but today’s guest is here to help. Fred Anderson, author of Why Did Jesus Die and What Does That Have to Do with Me?, is pastor emeritus at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. He retired after forty-two years in ministry, but also served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and is the author of hymn texts.His book, Why Did Jesus Die…, looks at atonement biblically, theologically, historically, and sacramentally to give us a more holistic view of--and perhaps a better way to approach--the concept, which has come to mean more about what we can do to make things better, rather than what God has already done to reconcile our relationship with God.Resources:Buy Why Did Jesus Die and What Does That Have to Do with Me?

Don’t give up.If you take anything away from today’s episode, let it be that simple phrase: Don’t give up. Eddie and Chris talk to Nick Connolly, founder and lead pastor of Bright City Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Nick has a few good words to share with anyone facing hardships, defeat, or resistance. His new book, Don’t Give Up Just Yet, comes out in February 2024 and offers some practical ways to work through doubt, seasons of waiting, and letting life’s difficulties strengthen your faith in God and the path God has ready for you.Resources:Bright City ChurchFollow Nick on Instagram and TwitterPre-order Don’t Give Up Just Yet

Conflict in the Middle East.  It’s a phrase that has been a part of global conversations for years. The assumption is that any ongoing issues are the result of thousands of years of disagreement and strife, but the reality is that the current violence is a much more recent problem.Today’s guest on The Weight gives us a framework and some history to think more critically about how we engage the news around Israel and Hamas. Dr. Graham Pitts is the Assistant Professor of History and Middle Eastern Studies at the Croft Institute for International Studies at the University of Mississippi. His focuses are food, famine, and environmental history in Lebanon and the Middle East. He first encountered Lebanon while he was a student at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and his time studying abroad only increased his passion for the people of that region. Graham earned his Ph.D. at Georgetown University, and has worked at North Carolina State, Georgetown, and George Washington University.Resources: Follow Graham on TwitterLearn more about Graham’s research and writingIn this episode, Chris talks about the book Apeirogon by Colum McCann. You can buy that book here.

Transitions are often hard, especially when the transition comes after 27 years of following one career path. For Jorge Acevedo, following the ancient paths while creating new ones is making his transition into retirement a little easier. Jorge retired in August 2023 from Grace Church in Cape Coral, Florida, after serving as pastor there for 27 years. Jorge has degrees from Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary. He is a writer, a speaker, and a leadership coach who uses his years as a pastor and a leader to coach new leaders into building sustainable leadership practices.Resources:Learn more about Jorge at his website, jorgeacevedo.comFollow Jorge on Facebook and TwitterFind out more information about and buy his books hereMentioned in this episode: John Ortberg, Become NewJohn Mark Comer, Practicing the WayDallas WillardRuth Haley BartonAstonished by the Word by Dr. Brian Russell

This conversation is part of a special series, The Heart of Methodism. Eddie and Chris, who are both pastors in the United Methodist Church, will talk to guests who can help us dive a little deeper into Methodism and its history, theology, traditions, and future.Today, Eddie and Chris are joined by a previous guest, Edgardo Colón-Emeric, Dean of Duke Divinity School. He is also the Irene and William McCutchen Professor of Reconciliation and Theology and the director of the Center for Reconciliation at Duke. He earned both his Masters of Divinity and his Ph.D. from Duke University. Dean Colón-Emeric was the first Latino to be ordained as an elder in the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.Dean Colón-Emeric gives us a hopeful view of the future of the United Methodist Church through the lens of some of Christianity’s past saints, John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas, and their . Dean Colón-Emeric acknowledges the struggles and fragmentation of Christianity in the American context, but for him, the end is not a thing to worry about. The end is just the beginning, because the end, in the Christian context, means reconciliation. We may not see the way to reconciliation, but we don’t have to. God’s got this, and our story isn’t over.Resources:Learn more about Dean Colón-EmericThe People Called Metodista: Renewing the Doctrine, Worship, and Mission from the Margins

Eddie and Chris continue a conversation about Methodism and what drives it with their resident Bishop Sharma Lewis. Bishop Lewis’s assignment in Mississippi began in January 2023, and she comes to the state with excitement and passion for the people of Mississippi and what is in their hearts. Despite being in a season of disaffiliation and fragmentation, Bishop Lewis sees great things happening in the Mississippi Annual Conference, with the help of the Holy Spirit.Bishop Lewis is from Statesboro, Georgia. Before hearing God’s call in her life, she pursued degrees in biology and chemistry with an eye towards medicine. She eventually switched paths and earned her M.Div.  from Gammon Interdenominational Theological Center in 1999, and worked in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. She was the first African American woman to be elected bishop in the Southeastern Jurisdiction, and served the past six years in the Richmond area of the Virginia Annual Conference.

This conversation is part of a special series, The Heart of Methodism. Eddie and Chris, who are both pastors in the United Methodist Church, will talk to guests who can help us dive a little deeper into Methodism and its history, theology, traditions, and future.Today’s guest is Dr. Laceye Warner,  Royce and Jane Reynolds Associate Professor of the Practice of Evangelism and Methodist Studies and Associate Dean for Wesleyan Engagement and Hybrid Programs at Duke University. Dr. Warner is the author of  Saving Women: Retrieving Evangelistic Theology and Practice, The Method of Our Mission: United Methodist Polity and Organization, and co-author of From Relief to Empowerment: How Your Church Can Cultivate Sustainable Mission and Grace to Lead: Practicing Leadership in the Wesleyan Tradition.Dr. Warner is passionate about supporting, encouraging, and offering resources to pastors and congregations, using the traditions and history of the Methodist movement in England and the United States.Resources:Learn more about Dr. Warner’s on her websiteThe Method of Our Mission: United Methodist Polity & Organization 

Chris and Eddie are joined again by Reverend Dr. Will Willimon, Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School and former Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. Rev. Willimon, Chris, and Eddie talk about what it means to be part of the United Methodism, with its tradition of being the Gospel on the move, and how that tradition translates into today’s world.Rev. Willimon has five decades of preaching and teaching experience, and as a lifelong Methodist, he’s got a few opinions and ideas about the current issues facing the denomination and American Christianity as a whole--and he shares those opinions with humor and candor, and also with urgency and sadness over the difficulties facing God’s Church today.This particular conversation doesn’t cover Rev. Willimon’s newest book, Heaven and Earth: An Advent Incarnation, but we’ll be sure to have him back to talk about that.Follow Will Willimon on the web:https://willwillimon.com Heaven and Earth: An Advent IncarnationCheck out Will Willimon’s other books and publications here:https://willwillimon.com/writing/ Follow Will Willimon on social media:https://www.facebook.com/WillWillimonhttps://twitter.com/willimontweets