William H. Willimon is professor of the practice of Christian ministry at Duke Divinity School. He recently retired after serving eight years as bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church.

In this episode, Will and Matt discuss the preacher’s temptation to close the gap between the Bible’s strange claims and the modern expectations of our congregations—when the wise course may be to open this gap up, play with it, stretch it. They also talk about following a really good preacher into a new church and adopting elements of what worked for that person.

Use the player below to listen.