Divestment

Mentoring and Evangelism, Labels and Unlikely Friendships

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Grinding the Beans | Oct 23, 2025

Yesterday I kept a long-scheduled appointment, to celebrate the birthday of Leighton Ford in Charlotte. Leighton is the brother-in-law of the late Billy Graham, the evangelist. Leighton was a mentor to me in the years I was a pastor in Charlotte, he wrote a preface to one of my books (on intercession, praying for others) and I have followed his work in spiritual guidance.

A side note: I know that I am often labeled as either a liberal or a progressive, and it is our human tendency to place people into boxes. It is true that I want health care for all people, supplemental nutrition for children, psychological services for the mentally ill, less assault weapons, more access to to voting and less gerrymandering, and I could go on. These policies could be held by a deeply evangelical person. Perhaps they are.

Kevin, Leighton’s son, invited me to bring a guest, and so I invited Stephanie Hand, who is a conference evangelist in the United Methodist Church. She is a very gifted preacher and speaker.

When I was able to speak one on one with Leighton yesterday, I reminded him of something he had said in a retreat a few years ago. He was reflecting on the characteristics of mentoring, and one has stayed with me: divestment.

Divestment is a word we often associate with investment portfolios. A mentor divests of some of his or her power, authority, status, position in order to create space for others. That led me to take on less leadership in the Council of Bishops after I had served a term as president. I have taught doctoral students at Duke Divinity School over the past few years, and have asked them to identify a person to teach the class I am currently teaching next year (Introduction to Christian Leadership).

Divestment creates space for others and it creates space for the new things God wants to do in our lives. I have a couple of plans for new ministries and deeper work, and that only comes through setting aside something in order to create new capacity.

Divestment is also deeply rooted in the New Testament. Paul writes in Philippians 2 that Jesus “emptied himself, and took the form of a servant”. Jesus divested. In the phrase of the great hymn by Charles Wesley, he “emptied himself of all but love” (And Can It Be?).

Divestment is not a simple act. I may fear missing out. I may thrive on being noticed. I may wonder how my identity is changing. I imagine this was Leighton’s experience, in his shift from being a co-evangelist with Billy Graham at large rallies to the one on one relational work he would come to embrace, and that is now his legacy.

Divestment is not easy. But it is at the heart of life’s journey. We age. The paths are fewer, but more meaningful. The people on those paths are also less in number, but more important to us. Leighton is one of those unlikely people whom God placed in my path. I am grateful.

And I am thankful that Leighton and Stephanie were able to meet each other. The work of evangelism, in new forms and through new voices, continues.

So today, what does divestment mean to you?

Augustine wrote, “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them”.

Bishop Kenneth Carter is episcopal leader of the Western North Carolina Area of The United Methodist Church. This post is a republished from his Substack blog, "Grinding the Beans," reflections on "life, leadership and a generous orthodoxy for all of us. And why we grind the beans."