Ep. 237 - Lillian Daniels "Failure, Accountability & the Future of the Church" pt. 2
The Deconstructionists
John Williamson
4.4 • 823 Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Part 2 of our conversation with Lillian Daniel, we move deeper into the tensions at the heart of her story—and the bigger questions it raises for the modern church.
If Part 1 explored what happened, this episode asks what it means.
We talk about accountability, institutional systems, and whether the church is actually capable of handling failure in a way that leads to healing rather than harm.
📚 About Lillian Daniel
Lillian Daniel is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and currently serves as a Conference Minister, overseeing churches and clergy across Michigan.
She has taught preaching at institutions including Yale Divinity School and the University of Chicago, and is the author of multiple books on faith, ministry, and the evolving role of the church.
Her latest book, Defrocked: Good News from a Bad Pastor for a Better Church, explores her own experience with discipline, failure, and restoration—and what it reveals about the systems meant to hold leaders accountable.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And I think so many of our clergy are so afraid of shrinking numbers and shrinking churches that they do fake vulnerability. |
| 0:08.0 | You know, and we just, we throw around that term all the time. |
| 0:11.0 | A vulnerability think you're being so vulnerable. |
| 0:13.0 | And it's generally fake. |
| 0:15.0 | You know, it's like, I'm being really vulnerable now. |
| 0:18.0 | Like I love chocolate. |
| 0:20.0 | And it's like, really? You know, because this person's |
| 0:24.8 | addicted to pornography and this one's gambled away the college fund, but you're addicted to chocolate. |
| 0:30.8 | Okay, I'm going to come talk to you, pastor. You know, it's, it's just nonsense. And I think the stakes |
| 0:36.7 | are too high. We've got to be real. |
| 0:40.2 | And this is why churches lose the people who have more of a healthy sense of that, |
| 0:45.3 | or they think they don't belong there, |
| 0:47.0 | and it's just like the dysfunctional committees. |
| 0:49.0 | You know, the wrong people quit. |
| 0:50.5 | But I think pastors, we have a lot to do with that. |
| 0:54.9 | So take a breath, breathing in the mystery that is there. |
| 1:05.1 | Welcome to the Deconstructionist podcast. I'm your host, John Williamson, and we're back with |
| 1:09.9 | part two. But before we get to that a |
| 1:11.7 | quick reminder if you care to support the podcast this is still a very independent |
| 1:18.0 | podcast that I produce out of my house so all the costs for the podcast come directly |
| 1:23.4 | out of my pockets but if you want to help support that would be much appreciated and there's two ways you can do that. Number one, we have a brand new Patreon with a bunch of new content on there. In fact, I've posted several different deep dive videos. And so unfortunately, you have to look at my face. But you can, you know, just close your eyes and listen to my voice if you prefer that way. |
| 1:45.9 | And there's also materials that I have put together that I've put along with each video. |
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