Discernment. Peace. Reason. Those characteristics belong to Sophia Wisdom, a gift of the Spirit that is referenced in the Book of James. Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi discusses how this little-known spiritual gift can deepen our understanding of wisdom and transform our conversations, relationships and lives.
Guest: Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi
- Bishop Moore-Koikoi is resident bishop of the Greater New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania annual conferences.
- Father Richard Rohr, who Bishop Moore-Koikoi references in the podcast, has numerous resources on the topic at the Center for Action and Contemplation.
Popular related items on UMC.org
- "A Full-Hearted Life: Walking in wisdom and love"
- "Spiritual Gifts"
- "Spiritual Gifts Inventory" from Discipleship Ministries
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This episode posted on March 21, 2025.
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Transcript
Prologue
Discernment, peace, reason, those characteristics belong to Sophia Wisdom, A gift of the spirit that is referenced in the book of James Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi discusses how this little known spiritual gift can deepen our understanding of wisdom and transform our conversations, relationships, and lives.
Conversation
Crystal Caviness, host: Hi, my name's Crystal Caviness. I'm your host for “Get Your Spirit and Shape.” And today I welcome Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi. Bishop. Cynthia, welcome to “Get Your Spirit in Shape.”
Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi, guest: Thank you. Thank you for the invitation to be here.
Crystal: Well, I'm so honored that you said yes when I invited you and I am excited for the conversation that I'm anticipating that we have today. Before we get started on the topic that I want to explore with you, can you tell us just a little bit about yourself?
Bishop Cynthia: Thank you for that question. So I am a bishop now serving in the Eastern Pennsylvania and the Greater New Jersey annual conferences. I was elected in 2016 and was sent to Western Pennsylvania annual conference and served there until September 1st of this year. I'm sorry, last year. Now we're already in 2025 until September 1st, 2024 when I was sent to EPA and g and j. I'm a second career clergy person. I started out as a school psychologist and did that work for 17 years, had great fun and just was really gratified in that work and also felt an irresistible call to full-time ministry. And so I made that transition in 2010. So that's a little bit about me. I'm married, I have a husband, Rafael, who is serving in Eastern Pennsylvania, and we have a lovely little Maltese named Rania.
Crystal: I love that. Well, I'll tell you what I've heard other clergy people and bishops and the church say is when God, when you've got that call, you just can't ignore it. God is kind of relentless that way.
Bishop Cynthia: Relentless. Very persistent, very persistent. Our God is.
Crystal: We are just certainly blessed to have you in a role of leadership for our denomination, Bishop Cynthia. The reason I invited you to be a part of this episode is last spring. It's been almost a year almost when we were at general conference, I heard you pray and during that prayer you called upon Sophia Wisdom to be a part of the conversation and the discernment and the gathering. And I was unfamiliar with that phrase, but it did catch my attention. And then a few weeks ago, just I think in February you were moderating a large denominational gathering about regionalization and you had the opening prayer, and again, you called on Sophia Wisdom to be part of the conversation and the learnings. And that time I googled the phrase because again, you had been the only person I'd ever heard talk about that and I was intrigued. So for our listeners who like myself was not familiar with Sophia Wisdom, can you just give us just really a definition or what is Sophia Wisdom?
Bishop Cynthia: Thank you. Thank you for that question. Yes. So Sophia Wisdom is referred to in the Bible several times and times. The word Sophia is kind of a Greek interpretation or alliteration of the concept of wisdom. And in some circles, particularly Catholic circles, Sophia wisdom is almost akin to part of the Godhead In some places in the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as wisdom. Sophia is referred to in some of the same ways that Jesus is referred to. So they're very intertwined in some places. And so wisdom is as defined biblically, and I'll share with you actually a definition that is in the book of Wisdom, which is part of the apocrypha. And so we Protestants don't often get to access that wisdom, but in the book of Wisdom, Sophia is defined as a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile clear, unpolluted distinct and vulnerable, loving and good, keen, irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all powerful overseeing and penetrating through all. So that's a really good comprehensive definition of Sophia wisdom. You can also find a definition in James chapter three. It's not as comprehensive as that one is, but it's very parallel to that one.
Crystal: So I grew up in the church in The United Methodist Church and as I had mentioned, I had not heard this and my mother is a lifelong United Methodist and an avid student of the Bible. And so I asked her, I was like, mom, have you heard of Sophia Wisdom? She's like, no, what is that? So Bishop Cynthia, when did you first learn about Sophia Wisdom?
Bishop Cynthia: Well, I was trying to remember that and could not, I think it's almost always been a part of my understanding. My dad was a pastor in the United Methodist Church and so much of my theology I learned either from him or through my grandmother. And so I do remember my dad talking about the wisdom of God and how wisdom is a gift from God. And both he and my mother were gifted with wisdom in different ways. My mother was gifted with wisdom around discernment about people, their character and some ability to kind of predict what they were getting ready to do. And my dad was gifted with wisdom around problem solving. If something was broken, he could figure out how to fix it. And so that concept of wisdom and that concept of it being a gift from God and that we have access to it was part of my growing up.
I do know that it was refined and perfected when I was an undergrad. I went to Loyola University in Maryland. It's a fine Jesuit institution. And while there, even though I was not acknowledging my call, I do think I was struggling with my call. And so I took a number of courses in theology. In fact, I was one course short of having a minor in theology and undergrad even though my undergrad degree was in psychology. And so I also learned a lot about the concept of Sophia Wisdom through a Jesuit lens. And again, the Catholic church because they include that book of wisdom that really delineates Sophia wisdom. They include that in their Bible. They were much more robust in their understanding of it and they transferred. That understanding to me helped me to refine and perfect it.
Crystal: When I did Google it just a few weeks ago, I did learn that Sophia Wisdom has its roots also in Orthodox Christianity. So this isn't new, of course, this goes really back to almost the beginning. Well, and in being part of the Godhead, I would say goes back to the beginning.
Bishop Cynthia: Well, and actually some of in the Book of John, there's some references to the Sophia Wisdom being there with God when God was created. Right. And that's some places where the word is used interchangeably for Jesus And for Sophia wisdom,
Crystal: Is there any significance I guess in that we would think of Sophia as female as a word that's female? Do you think that there's a significance in that?
Bishop Cynthia: Oh, absolutely. In Greek it's a female word. And so in the beginning that concept of Sophia Wisdom was hand in hand with a feminine character, a feminine personification of part of the Godhead. And so I think that that is very intentional and actually I think helps us to have a better, more complete understanding of who God is. And remember, this was a part of the Christian understanding because the Book of Wisdom was included in the Bible until the Protestant Reformation. So up until that time, that book of wisdom that so clearly delineated Sophia Wisdom was a part of who we were as Christians and the remnants of it as preserved in books like the Book of James. And in other places in the Old Testament, it still remains.
Crystal: You said you feel like this has always been a part of your learning and your faith. Why do you choose to call upon Sophia Wisdom specifically when you pray in a gather? How do you call upon Sophia wisdom?
Bishop Cynthia: So I think that I do that partly because whenever I take a spiritual gifts, inventory, discernment comes up pretty highly on my spiritual giftedness. And so I compare or I liken Sophia wisdom to discernment. And so for me, it's critical in me being fully present in all of my giftedness in any space to ask God to continue to work on that and refine it and perfect it. And then I just think wisdom is a good thing to have. I really do think it's a good thing to have, particularly in our United Methodist tradition where we don't shy away from reason being part of the way in which we make decisions and discern if something is from God or not. And so I think just recognizing that it's in this space and asking God to perfect it while it is among us in our space is an important thing to do. If we're going to even have an inkling of being able to discern what God's will is for us, we need God's wisdom to discern God's will
Crystal: When you are going through the definition out of the Book of Wisdom. I mean, we need all of those attributes every day all the time.
Bishop Cynthia: That's right. That's right. That's right. Yeah. And another thing that just occurred to me as you were reminding me that we need all those things was that when we more heavily relying on just peace as a denominational entity to help us to manage conflict, a lot of the attributes that you want in somebody who's helping to mediate or manage conflict equate with the personification of Sophia. And so in some of the work that I did in conflict transformation, I called on all those characteristics from Sophia Wisdom, and then in training others helped try to help pull out from them those characteristics of Sophia Wisdom so that they could be fully present and use all of their giftedness as they were helping folks to navigate conflict. So that could become transformational.
Crystal: I don't mean to put you on the spot, but have there been times in your life that immediately come to mind where the Sophia Wisdom that you had called upon was right there to give you the discernment that you needed?
Bishop Cynthia: It's happened here a few times in my new assignment here in EP and GNJ where people have come to tell me things and I've said, oh, thank you. And I already knew that, and this is how I knew that. And so in fact, just yesterday somebody came to me and said, Bishop, you're just so wise because I was going to tell you something, and you already knew that bit of information. How did you discern that? And I said, I just put my hands up. And I said, it's God, it's God. So yeah, particularly in this new setting, it has come up a couple of times where I said that only came from God
Crystal: Bishop Cynthia, I think as a Christian sometimes, and I'll just talk for myself because I can't really speak to anyone else, but I think that I fail to use all the, I don't know if resources is the right word, but all that's available to me through God. I think that I do not call upon the Holy Spirit in the way that would really be beneficial to my life, should I do that more? And so it almost feels like Sophia wisdom is like that. We don't get taught about it and we don't know that it's there for us. How can we change that? Why aren't we talking about it?
Bishop Cynthia: That's a good question. Why aren't we talking about it? I think because sometimes it can be scary. We have shied away from accepting and cooperating with the gifts of God's Holy Spirit. I think because they kind of scare us and perhaps that fear is well founded because sometimes it's misused. Those gifts are misused in ways, but then also because we don't understand them and it's not something you can have possession of and have control of. And that's scary too. And so I think that's part of the reason why we kind of shy away from it. And unfortunately in the United Methodist movement, we have gotten away from our early learnings and reliance on the Holy Spirit. I think we've gotten too much into our heads and thought that we could think our way out of situations based on our human capacity rather than discerning our way out of things based on the gift of the Holy Spirit that helps us to do that. So yeah, I think it's scary and it's something that we can't control. And so I think for those reasons, we don't teach it and we don't support and encourage it.
Crystal: So for someone like myself who was intrigued and interested in learning more, apart from going to the apocrypha in which I actually am going to link to that on the episode page because that's something else I don't know really much about, but where can I learn more about Sophia Wisdom and how to incorporate that into my faith journey?
Bishop Cynthia: So we have wonderful ecumenical relationships, and as I said, the Catholic Church really has done a lot of work around found discernment and wisdom from God. And so I would urge folks if they could Google a Catholic retreat center that's near them and perhaps do a retreat or some kind of training, that would be a wonderful idea. I don't know whether or not Wesley Theological Seminary still does this, but when I was at Wesley, they had a number of courses on the Holy Spirit and discernment. And so perhaps folks could take some of those classes as non-graded students. So there are things that are out there that Richard War has a center for meditation on the internet, so people could Google that from time to time. That website will have information about Sophia Wisdom on it. So there are a number of avenues out there and places where people can go to get resourced and tooled and to learn more about it. And then just pray. Pray that God will open you up and point you to places and people where you can discern if that is a gift that you have, and then how you can refine and perfect. It
Crystal: Feels empowering to have Sophia Wisdom be a part of you moving through the world. As I hear you talk about that, what's your experience been? You've been in ministry for what, 15 years? Is that about right?
Bishop Cynthia: Yeah. Yeah.
Crystal: And so what has your experience as a gift? You have this gift of discernment, but I would imagine you kind of maybe look at the world through a different lens.
Bishop Cynthia: So because Sophia Wisdom is not something that we have control over, it is something that is a gift from God. It is not as if I always know that I'm relying on that gift when I make decisions. And while I do have confidence that God is always with me, I don't always have confidence that I have access to the gifts that God has made available like peace, like wisdom, like grace. And so while it does provide comfort and I think does allow me to be more of a non-anxious presence in situations, I also acknowledge the fact that I am not always operating in the gift of wisdom and do some really foolish things. From time to time your humanity just comes out. That's right. That's right. It just comes out. But to answer your question, there is a sense of comfort though, knowing that that is a gift that I could have access to if I would just open myself up to it.
Crystal: Well, as we finish up today, Bishop Cynthia, is there anything that you wanted to talk about that we didn't on the topic of Sophia Wisdom?
Bishop Cynthia: Well, since it is Women's History month, I just wanted to call to mind a couple of biblical characters that are lauded or lifted up because of their wisdom, particularly Esther, that she had the wisdom to be able to speak in a way that the king was able to hear her and grant her request. Deborah is another female character that has lifted up. She had people rushed to her access her gift of discernment and asked her to mediate and judge issues or concerns that they may have had. There's also a little known biblical character named Abigail who eventually became David's wife, but she used her wisdom to prevent David from wiping out her then husband and a number of her people. So she is also lifted up as a character that had a great deal of wisdom. And so I would just lift up those three, and if people want to find out more about them, I would encourage them to open the biblical text and to learn more about those three in particular. There are others, but those in particular are named in the Bible. And as we know there are many women who are not named in the Bible. Yeah.
Crystal: Thank you for reminding us of those really important women who have been part of faith back to the beginning. So we definitely, I'll list those on our episode page too, so folks can learn more if they dive deeper into those books of the Bible to, well, the last question we'll ask you, Bishop Cynthia, is the question that we ask all of our guests on get your Spirit in shape, and that's how do you keep your own spirit in shape?
Bishop Cynthia: Thank you. Thank you for that question. And I do all the regular things that most people do Bible study worshiping. I really enjoy worship music. Worship is something that really helps me to get in touch with God. And I also have found two kind of non-conventional practices, particularly one in Christian circles is very non-conventional, so I like to ride my bike. There's something about the rhythm of pedaling and being out in nature that helps me to connect with God. And I also like to do acupuncture. There is, for me, just the activity of acupuncture helps me to release my anxieties and clear my mind so that I can be more in touch with who God is in me. And so I, I've had some real profound revelations I believe from God while undergoing acupuncture. And you can get acupuncture for a number of different, I don't want to say ailments, but concerns a number of different concerns from sinuses. I suffer from sinuses in the springtime and in the fall, but then also from some emotional concerns like anxiety and depression. And so I've used acupuncture for both anxiety and depression, and that really has helped me to calm my thoughts when it was primarily anxiety and for me to get in touch with the hope and joy that is mine through Jesus Christ when that was an issue too.
Crystal: Thank you for sharing that. I believe that there's so much out there that we in the Western world have never really fully discovered and called upon that are effective tools and effective for a lot of different reasons. So I appreciate you sharing that. That is something you've discovered that works for you medically and emotionally in a lot of ways. So that is, it is untraditional, but certainly not new.
Bishop Cynthia: Right. And I will say my acupuncturist at one season was actually my medical doctor, and so he had all the appropriate credentials and degrees in Western medicine, but also was trained in Eastern medicine. And so it's not a substitute for people going to their regular doctors or to a therapist or anything like that, but rather, I found that it enhanced and helped those other more traditional treatment measures.
Crystal: Thank you for sharing that, and thank you for being a part of “Get Your Spirit in Shape” today in this episode, which honestly, it was out of my own curiosity, but I just thought, well, maybe if I'm curious about Sophia Wisdom, others might be curious as well. So thank you. Maybe this is the start of us learning more and it not being unfamiliar as we move forward.
Bishop Cynthia: Amen to that. And I would say that your curiosity was God's grace calling out to you, asking you to learn more because perhaps you do have that gift of wisdom and discernment and he's just wanting to perfect it in you.
Crystal: I'll receive that in the way is intended. Thank you. Just graciously. Thank you. Well, thanks again for being our guest.
Bishop Cynthia: Thank you again for the invitation. It's been delightful.
Epilogue
That was Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi, resident Bishop of the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey annual conferences discussing Sophia Wisdom. To learn more, go to umc.org/podcast and look for this episode where you'll find helpful links and a transcript of our conversation. If you have questions or comments, feel free to email me at a special email address just for “Get Your Spirit in Shape” listeners, GYSIS@umcom.org. If you enjoyed today's episode, we invite you to leave a review on the platform where you get your podcast. Thank you for being a "Get Your Spirit in Shape" listener. I'm Crystal Caviness, and I look forward to the next time that we're together.
