c. 2004 Religion News Service

RALEIGH, N.C. _ The outspoken dean of the Duke Chapel was once elbowed by the university president to explain what she considered an inappropriate remark.

“Why do you say some of the things you say?” former Duke University President Nan Keohane asked the Rev. William H. Willimon. Willimon paused, he said, and answered straight-faced: “Jesus was crucified for what he said. The greatest sin Christians can commit is boredom.”

Now, Willimon _ the often puckish champion of Christian faith _ has been elected a bishop in the United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States. Many expect him to shake things up, or at the very least inject some humor into a denominational structure sometimes perceived as stiff, rigid and highly bureaucratic.

“It’s a sign we’re not dead yet,” said Stanley Hauerwas, a professor of Christian ethics at Duke Divinity School, referring to his friend Willimon’s election. “It’s a wonderful vote of confidence in the United Methodist Church.”

Eight years ago Willimon was nominated for bishop but did not win. Then he was considered too much of a critic by Methodist clergy and lay people, who usually prefer effective church administrators.

But earlier this month, the Greenville, S.C., native was finally elected at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference, held at Lake Junaluska in the mountains of North Carolina. He was consecrated July 17.

A total of 21 bishops were elected across the nation this month _ nearly half the 50 active bishops nationwide. Willimon, 58, will serve for eight years before he retires.

In 1996, Baylor University named Willimon one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. Soon afterward, when a Massachusetts pastor was kicked out of his church for plagiarizing Willimon’s sermons Sunday after Sunday, Willimon quipped, “I hope he does it with a Southern accent.”

Humor aside, many pastors rely on Willimon for guidance and inspiration. He has written more than 50 books, mostly for pulpit pastors searching for a way to speak genuinely and authoritatively about Christian faith.

Four years ago, Willimon ran into a maelstrom of criticism when he and Keohane agreed to allow the blessing of same-sex unions in Duke Chapel. Although the United Methodist Church does not permit same-sex unions, they said the chapel was a university facility not tied to a particular denomination.

In an interview, Willimon said that as bishop he will defend the doctrine and faith of the United Methodist Church, which sees gays as persons of “sacred worth,” but denies them ordination or same-sex blessings.

If the past is any indication, he will continue his mischievous streak too. In one article lamenting the shrinking membership in the United Methodist Church, Willimon once proposed baptizing pet dogs. In another, more serious article, he declared gossip an ethical activity. “Let’s face it,” he wrote. “Most of us enjoy talking about other people.”

Willimon’s colleagues at Duke Divinity School, where he has taught for 20 years, said that as bishop he would challenge the assumption that the church must kowtow to popular culture.

“He’s very critical of the church always reaching out in a reflexive way toward relevance,” said Richard Lischer, a professor of preaching at the Divinity School. “He’ll say, `Forget relevance. Let’s work on truth. The truth will make us relevant.”’

Willimon’s most famous book, co-written with Hauerwas, is called “Resident Aliens.” In it, Willimon argues that American Protestants have been too busy trying to accommodate Christianity to modern life. They should instead become more countercultural, or “resident aliens,” set apart from society and capable of critiquing it when necessary.

Colleagues at Duke said they would miss him both as a friend and as a fellow scholar. They praised his leadership skills, his intellectual acumen and his ability to collaborate with others. Provost Peter Lange said Thursday that he expects Duke will begin a national search for a successor.

A silver-haired man with a modest and folksy manner, Willimon said his contact with students at Duke has kept him vigorous. As bishop, he said, he would spent most of his time with young pastors and young church members.

“The students have messed me up,” he said. “They do amazing things. But they don’t do meetings that well.”

Willimon said he does not take kindly to bureaucracy and expects to continue to critique a denominational structure he has called “a geriatric institution.” He was outraged recently when he was told the denomination spent $250,000 on coffee during its two-week General Conference last May.

But Willimon said he expects his main role as bishop to be that of teacher and theologian. In that role, he said, he should find lots of things to say.

“One of our institutional demands is to be interesting,” he said, “because we’ve got an interesting God.”

DEA/PH END SHIMRON