Will Willimon is a United Methodist bishop, retired, who has recently published a book detailing the disaffiliation of his childhood church, Buncombe Street Methodist Church in Greenville, SC. In this conversation, we talk about the book. We talk about disaffiliation. We talk about the theological rifts between us, the general inability of churches to disagree well, and the challenges posed by trying to be united in such a divided world.

Willimon is not a centrist, nor does he value centrism. Neither do I, really. We actually agreed about a number of words that don't belong in the lexicon of Christians. We agreed about the unwholesome impact of secrecy and dishonesty in the local church. We agreed about the virtue of argument and persuasion.

And yet, we disagreed about those things that we have been talking about for so long. And we didn't beat around the bush. We didn't brush things under the rug or try to cover things over with corny preacher humor. We spoke plainly, as good Methodists do, in hopes that you would benefit from the conversation. And I hope you do. God bless you as you try to sanctify your local church in light of all of the failures and disappointments of the past.

Links:

Will's Book, "The Church We Carry: Loss, Leadership, and the Future of Our Church" - https://www.cokesbury.com/The-Church-We-Carry

"New Willimon book explores disaffiliation of Buncombe Street" by South Carolina United Methodist Advocate - https://advocatesc.org/articles/book-disaffiliation-buncombe-street

"This is a book that shouldn’t have been published" by Talbot Davis on Baptist News Global - https://baptistnews.com/article/this-is-a-book-that-shouldnt-have-been-published/

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