Rev. Liliana Padilla is the Senior Pastor of Westlawn United Methodist Church in San Antonio, Texas. She has overcome many obstacles in ministry. When she was ordained in Mexico, she was prevented from pastoring a church because she was a married woman. When she came to the United States, she had to go through the ordination process again. When she went through divorce, she had to overcome the stigma of divorce in her community.

Liliana has never let obstacles prevent her from pursuing God’s call on her life. When COVID-19 hit, it greatly affected her congregation. Some lost their jobs. Some were not able to work because they had to stay home with their children. Families with limited access to the internet and fewer devices than children struggled to keep their kids from falling behind in class. Liliana shares how she drew on her own story of resilience to find the strength to lead her congregation to discern God’s purpose in this time of pandemic.

QUOTES

• “Something that I like to do is try to see things as good as they can be.” -Rev. Liliana Padilla [10:59]

TIMESTAMPS

• [00:00] Intro

RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS

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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.