We’re wrapping up our fifth season on The Weight, and Eddie, Chris, and producer Cody Hickman talk about some highlights from this season. We have had some wonderful conversations about the power of story telling, working through trauma, food, and leadership. We even got to talk to a local Olympic silver medalist. We hope you’ll go back and give your favorite episodes a re-listen.

This year, as a special treat, we’re also highlighting some bloopers, mistakes, and misspoken words. We needed a laugh, and we thought you might, too!

This episode of The Weight will probably make you laugh, might lighten your spirit, and will definitely give you a new perspective on encouraging leadership in others.

Sophie Hudson is a blogger, author, and podcast host. She has written seven books. She draws inspiration for her most recent book, A Fine Sight to See: Leading Because You Were Made for It, from the story of Moses and Exodus, and explores how we are all called to lead, whether we feel qualified or not.

Ted Campbell is the Albert C. Outlet Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He has served as a United Methodist pastor and has taught at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Duke Divinity School, and Wesley Theological Seminary. He is the author of many books, including Wesleyan Beliefs, The Gospel of Christian Tradition, and most recently A Core Methodist Hymnal, which is more like a devotional and less like a traditional hymnal.

Chris Herlinger is an international correspondent for National Catholic Reporters Global Sisters Report. He has worked in many areas of conflict, including South Sudan, Darfur, Haiti, and Afghanistan, and his most recent work has taken him to Ukraine. His most recent book is Solidarity and Mercy, which highlights the humanitarian efforts of Catholic Sisters in Ukraine.

Are you an apostle of Jesus?

It may seem like an easy “yes,” but the answer is a lot more nuanced than you might think. For Rebekah Simon-Peter, it goes beyond a passive faith in Jesus to a robust, active life with the faith of Jesus.. Rebekah is an author, pastor, coach (and friend of Eddie’s). She spent 12 years as a United Methodist pastor before stepping out to create a ministry that equips churches to build and renew. Her passion for and delight in the work of the Holy Spirit come through in this conversation.

Kimberly Wagner has been on The Weight before to discuss collective trauma, but this conversation is a little more personal. As Christian churches approach All Saints, a day in which we remember and name those loved ones who have passed before us, we need the reminder that grief is holy and sacred, and that Jesus weeps with us even as he walks with us. We need the reminder that our communities of faith hold in trust the reality of hope and comfort, even when we don’t feel them.

Bishop Carter is a leader. But he leads with a spirit of openness, love, and concern for others. He values having supportive ecosystems of people to help each other, to be a point of connection during moments of pain and weakness and to offer that support back during times of strength. He leads with an eye toward adapting to the moment--not throwing out all traditions, but discerning what needs to be preserved, discarded, or simply rearranged to meet the current need.

Eddie and Chris are joined by three-time guest Aimee Nezhukumatathil for a conversation about the intersection of food, faith, family, and parenthood, based around her latest collection of essays, Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees.

Aimee is also professor of English and Creative Writing in the University of Mississippi’s MFA program where she received the faculty’s Distinguished Research and Creative Achievement Award.

You might say Lola Reed Allin is a trailblazer. She is certainly an adventurer, a traveler, a pioneer, and a role model to women who work in male-dominated fields. As one of the very few female commercial airline pilots in Canada, Lola escaped an abusive marriage to find a life where she not only survived, but thrived.

“Politics is an essential forum in which we can love our neighbors.”

Michael Wear reminds us that Christians are called to love, love of God and love of neighbor. And if you are a Christian in politics, when you go into the political sphere, what are you doing? What is the orientation of your heart? This question is for everyone to answer, not just politicians. Are you using the vast resources of the Christian tradition—scriptures, history, theology—to guide your decision making? Are you acting out of a spirit of loving service as Jesus did?

This episode might leave you fired up for the Holy Spirit, because guest Jack Levison himself is fired up for the Holy Spirit. Not only does he see the boundless work of the Spirit in our world today, he also offers ways for us to dig deeper into finding the Spirit at work in the Old Testament, where we might overlook it.

Mark DeYmaz is a pastor, author, and champion of the multi-ethnic church movement. He spent eighteen years as a youth pastor in Little Rock, Arkansas, before stepping away to plant the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. Mark has a clear vision for what the Church should look like: bringing diverse people together to walk, work, and worship God, while investing in the local community. Church should reflect the diverse world we live in, as a true reflection of the Kingdom of God.

It’s a podcast mashup this week as Eddie and Chris are joined by the co-hosts of Pod Have Mercy, John Stephens and Matt Russell. John and Matt are pastors at Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas (senior pastor and executive pastor, respectively), and are no strangers to deep conversations about the state of today’s Church--the challenges modern Christians face and their hopes for the future.

Shelby McEwen has been jumping and flipping off things since he was a little boy, and now he has an Olympic silver medal to show for it--which joins his many other high jump accolades. Shelby is a native of Oxford, Mississippi (where Eddie and Chris currently live). He was a member of the Northwest Mississippi Community College track and field team as well as the University of Alabama track and field team, where he became an SEC champion for both indoor and outdoor high jump.

Tod Bolsinger has built his career on developing and empowering great leaders. In this conversation with Eddie and Chris, he talks about how leaders can leverage the trust they’ve built to make risky decisions with empathy and vulnerability, how to deal with pushback, and how important it is to acknowledge the losses that come with change.

Is AI going to take over the world?

Probably not in the way pop culture would have us imagine (or in the way Chris fears). Today’s guest, Dr. Robert Hunt, offers Eddie and Chris a broad overview of AI--what it is, how we see it, how we see ourselves in relation to it, and how we use it.

We’ve heard it on the news and seen it in the research: American Christianity is declining. Younger generations aren’t interested in organized religion. Young families aren’t raising their children with a Biblical foundation. That’s what we’re told, but what is really happening? Today’s guest has an on-the-ground perspective of how hungry the next generation is for meaningful connection and deeper roots to something powerful.

Matt Luke is a former football player and coach, who served as the head coach for the University of Mississippi (and was a member of Oxford University United Methodist Church while Eddie and Chris pastored there.) Matt is probably most well known for helping to lead the University of Georgia football team to a National Championship win in 2021 as associate head coach and offensive line coach. After that win, Matt stepped away from coaching football in February 2022.

Kari offers advice to teens and parents, but more importantly she offers compassion and understanding. Parenting is hard at any stage, even if the struggles from family to family are different. As a mom of four girls, Kari has learned that parenting moves from a place of control to a place of influence. That transition can be hard without faith and without a strong support system.

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.