Strengthening The Soul Of Your Leadership With Ruth Haley Barton

Today we are sharing a clip from an episode that was released over on Patreon. This is a conversation between Rory and Ruth about what they both consider to be the principles of transforming worship. They draw from the ideas in Rory’s book and from their work together in Transforming Community. If you are not already a patron, may we humbly ask that you consider supporting the work of this podcast over on Patreon? Patrons receive all sorts of excellent bonus content like additional podcast conversations, guided spiritual practices, and episodes where listeners get to ask Ruth their questions. This season we have a ton of great stuff for our patrons including extras from Rory’s book, Transforming Worship: Planning and Leading Sunday Services as If Spiritual Formation Mattered, a guided practice helping us to reflect on the attributes of God, and a special conversation between Rory and Ruth about the tension between prioritizing the planning of Sunday services to edify believers or engage non-believers.  Right

We’re back! This season we’re focusing on worship, particularly worship that is transformative. Our season long guest is Rory Noland and we will be working with his book, Transforming Worship: Planning and Leading Sunday Services as If Spiritual Formation Mattered. In addition to Rory and Ruth, we will also be bringing other guests into the conversations about worship with spiritual formation at its core. This season is for all who worship, not just pastors and leaders who plan the weekly services!   This week Ruth and Rory discuss how this idea of transforming worship grew from their time together in Transforming Community. They share the necessity of making space for the Holy Spirit in worship that is transformative, the importance of one’s own private worship in the public worship setting, and the sacred cows of Sunday morning worship.    Rory Noland is the director of Heart of the Artist Ministries, an organization dedicated to serving artists in the church. He mentors worship leaders, speaks at churches

This is a replay of an episode we released only to patrons of The Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast. While we take a small hiatus from normal programming to attend to the work of The Transforming Center as well as a special Digital Film Capture project we invite you to revisit some of our previous seasons.    Please visit our website to learn more about the work of The Transforming Center and our Digital Capture project!   For our patrons during the Lent season we recorded a special conversation with Sandra Van Opstal. Sandra sat down with Ruth and Tina to discuss why lent is so significant to someone who was formed in a Latina Roman Catholic tradition, how the Transforming Center helped make the bridge to a reforma-costal BIPOC pastoral space as well as why diverse spiritual practices lead us to solidarity and mutuality.  This conversation was insightful and important for us all as we seek to be leaders doing God's important justice work. Sandra Maria Van Opstal is a second-generation Latina

This is a replay of an episode we released only to patrons of The Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast. While we take a small hiatus from normal programming to attend to the work of The Transforming Center as well as a special Digital Film Capture project we invite you to revisit some of our previous seasons.    Please visit our website to learn more about the work of The Transforming Center and our Digital Capture project! Over on patreon we close out every podcast season with a special Ask Ruth episode, where Ruth answers patron’s questions about the season. This episode includes Ruth and Transforming Center staff member Tina answering questions about our most recent season, A Just Lent: Learning to Love What God Loves. These questions were thoughtful and challenging and we hope they serve to round out our most recent season.   If you’d like to hear more content like this, become a patron! Patrons receive an overflow of bonus content from the episodes, including exclusive conversations between

This is a replay of a previous episode of The Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast. While we take a small hiatus from normal programming to attend to the work of The Transforming Center as well as a special Digital Film Capture project we invite you to revisit some of our previous seasons. Please enjoy this episode from Season 17: Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again.   Please visit our website to learn more about the work of The Transforming Center and our Digital Capture project! We’re here this week to talk about the elephant in the sabbath room… technology. Ruth and guest, Tiffany Shlain, talk all about how our technology impacts our ability to truly rest, why a “tech Shabbat” has been a lifeline for Tiffany, and the nitty gritty details of how Tiffany goes completely screen-free (and we mean completely) for 24 hours each week. We also hear from one of the founders of our sponsor, Good Kind, Chris Pappalardo, about the Sabbath Boxes they created to hel

This is a replay of a previous episode of The Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast. While we take a small hiatus from normal programming to attend to the work of The Transforming Center as well as a special Digital Film Capture project we invite you to revisit some of our previous seasons. Please enjoy this episode from Season 16: Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within our Communities.   Please visit our website to learn more about the work of The Transforming Center and our Digital Capture project! Sometimes our greatest anxieties can surround areas of stuckness, places where we know what we are doing isn’t working, but we can’t seem to find our way out. This week, Ruth and Steve will discuss second order change and how we can recognize and dissolve our stuck patterns. How does paying attention to process over content help us with this? And how can changing our own behaviors actually change the behaviors of others? Find out all this and more in this episode.   Helpful to this episode:

This is a replay of a previous episode of The Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast. While we take a small hiatus from normal programming to attend to the work of The Transforming Center as well as a special Digital Film Capture project we invite you to revisit some of our previous seasons. Please enjoy this episode from Season 10: Invitation to a Journey   Please visit our website to learn more about the work of The Transforming Center and our Digital Capture project! We begin this episode by redeeming the word “disciplines" by offering up the word “practices” and looking at disciplines through the lens of desire and about opening ourselves up to God, reminding us that we are not in charge of our spiritual journey. Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins discuss four practices: prayer, spiritual readings, lectio divina, and liturgy. They sound familiar, but be prepared for some refreshing ideas on how to use them to open yourself up to God. SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES You can also access podcast on Google Pla

This is a replay of a previous episode of The Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast. While we take a small hiatus from normal programming to attend to the work of The Transforming Center as well as a special Digital Film Capture project we invite you to revisit some of our previous seasons. Please enjoy this episode from Season 6: Invitation to Retreat.   Please visit our website to learn more about the work of The Transforming Center and our Digital Capture project! Human beings are made with rhythms and for rhythms. A beautiful conversation ensues about the beauty of rhythms, and how to find and recognize rhythms. In the Christian tradition tears are always a gift. Ruth provides a great encouragement to let the tears come. We end this episode with Ruth sharing a personal story of how the rhythm of retreat opened up space for God to speak to her. Go deeper with this content and purchase Ruth's newest book, Invitation to Retreat: The Gift and Necessity of Time Away with God. Mentioned in this p

Hello! We’re popping in the podcast feed with a little “State of the Podcast” announcement (don’t worry! It’s not ending!). Ruth gives a peak behind the curtain as to what is happening over at the Transforming Center this year and shares about our Alumni Retreat in July. Then, we’ll hear from some Transforming Community alumni about their experiences applying for and participating in a Transforming Community. It’s not too late to sign up for TC19, which starts in June!   As an added bonus we’re offering to waive the application fee for podcast listeners who apply to Transforming Community 19. Simply go to the application page for TC19 and use the code TC15CVL45 at checkout!   Alumni! Come join us on retreat! We’re having a special Sabbath retreat exclusively for alumni on July 9-11, 2023. Sign up today!   Interested in learning more about the Digital Capture Project and how to support this work? Check out what we’re doing!   Music Credit: Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist Support the podcast! Patrons receive

He is Risen, indeed! Happy Easter Monday, friends. Today, Ruth helps us celebrate the Risen Christ with five stories of post-resurrection encounters with Jesus. In each story she helps us consider our own invitations to transforming encounters with Jesus that God might have for us. Which story resonates most profoundly with you and what healing or transformation is God wanting to bring as you sit with God and these stories? We invite you to take some time today to listen to these stories reflectively, imagining yourself in them. Then take a moment to be with Jesus in the biblical story as you find him and yourself there.   Transforming Post-Resurrection Encounters with Jesus   Weeping in the Garden (John 20:11-18)  Encountering Jesus’ Behind Locked Doors (John 20:19-22) Being with Jesus in the Midst of our Doubts (John 20:24-29) The Emmaus Road: Encountering Jesus on the Road between the Now and the Not Yet (Luke 24:13-35) Breakfast on the Beach:  Resurrecting Relationships  (John 21:1-19)    Journey with us

This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has often regrettably failed to live out God’s call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord.”   As we head into Holy Week Ruth is joined by Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah to discuss the importance of Lament as a part of justice work. What is lament and why is it important? How does it help us to counter American Christianity’s penchant for triumphalism? How does lament move us to justice and right action? Then, Ruth gives us some guidance as we walk through Holy Week toward Easter.   Lectionary scripture for this week: Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 31:9-16 Philippians 2:5-11 Matthew 26:14-27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54 Mentioned in this episode: Prophetic Lament by Soong-Chan Rah Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Ra

This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has often regrettably failed to live out God’s call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord.”   Our dream team from episode one returns this week to discuss communal suffering and the Paschal Mystery. Ruth is joined again by David Bailey and Tina Harris to explore these topics. How do oppressed people experience the Paschal Mystery? What is redemptive suffering? How do we determine where we are in the cycle of suffering, death, burial and resurrection and how can we discern if God might be calling us towards the next movement in this cycle?   Lectionary scripture for this week: Ezekiel 37:1-14 Psalm 130 Romans 8:6-11 John 11:1-45 Mentioned in this episode: Martin & Malcolm & Am

This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has often regrettably failed to live out God’s call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord.”   Ruth is joined by Gary Haugen on today’s episode. Gary Haugen has spent most of his career fighting injustice at the systemic level as a lawyer and founder of International Justice Mission. Ruth and Gary discuss the moment Gary realized he’d grown up his whole life in the church never once hearing a message about how much God cared about justice. They talk about the ways in which the poor are chronically vulnerable to violence, how the church often isn’t doing work that addresses this issue, and how, at IJM, attention to their own spiritual formation is crucial in sustaining their justice work.

This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has often regrettably failed to live out God’s call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord.”   This week, Ruth and Tina are joined by Sheila Wise Rowe to discuss racial trauma and collective healing. What exactly is racial trauma and what is the long term impact of this trauma on people of color? How can the church play a part in the healing of this trauma? And why is this healing work a part of justice work? The three women also look at the lectionary reading this week from John, the story of the Samaritan woman.   Lectionary scripture for this week: Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 95 Romans 5:1-11 John 4:5-42 Mentioned in this episode: Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience by Sheila Wi

This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has often regrettably failed to live out God’s call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord.”   In week two, Ruth and Transforming Center team member Tina Harris sit down with Terry Wildman, translator of the First Nations Version of the New Testament. The three discuss the tragic impact colonialism has had on indigenous people, the part Christianity has played in it and how he sees the First Nations Version translation as an act of justice. Terry also reads his translation of the lectionary reading in his own voice. This conversation is incredibly powerful and insightful.    Lectionary scripture for this week: Genesis 12:1-4a Psalm 121 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 John 3:1-10 or Matthew 17:1-9  

This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has often regrettably failed to live out God’s call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord.”   In week one, Ruth brings back Transforming Center team member Tina Harris, and guest Dominique DuBois Gilliard to look at the theme of confession. The three discuss the relational nature of justice, how our silence, inaction, and indifference to injustice breeds relational death, how our privilege can keep us disconnected from the pain of others and more.    Lectionary scripture for this week: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 Psalm 32 Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11   Mentioned in this episode: Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores by Dominique DuBois Gilliard Subversive Witness: S

This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the church has often regrettably failed to live out God’s call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord.” For this Ash Wednesday episode Ruth sits down with David Bailey and Tina Harris to examine the connections between Lent and pursuing justice as a spiritual practice. They name areas of injustice and do some definitional work around exactly what God’s call to justice is. The three also speak candidly on why the white church has often failed to focus on this call, in both word and deed. To end they look at Matthew 6 for inspiration on practices and postures we can all have this Lenten season as we look to pursue justice as a part of our spiritual formation.   David Bailey is a public theologian, culture m

We are wrapping up our sabbatical season by turning our attention to the congregation; how does a congregation benefit from a pastor’s sabbatical. Ruth sits down with her brother, Pastor Jonathan Haley, to discuss the thoughtful and intentional ways he included his congregation in his sabbatical planning, how he stayed connected with them and how they, together, wrapped up the entire experience. Then, Ruth shares some final thoughts about sabbatical, her takeaways from her conversations this season and things to think about as you go forward with the idea of a sabbatical. Finally, Ruth closes with a meditation inspired by Psalm 46:10 by Henri Nouwen.   Jonathan Haley -- also known as Taylor -- is a husband, father, pastor and endurance athlete. Jonathan was a part of the first Transforming Community, and has served numerous  communities, as well as served on the board of directors for the Transforming Center. Jonathan earned his D.Min. from McCormick Seminary, where he researched and reflected on how a pastor

Are sabbaticals just for pastors? This week, Ruth sits down with guest Andy Crouch to talk about sabbatical from an everyman perspective. Andy has taken full responsibility for his own rhythm of regular sabbaticals by saving up and risking the need to find a new job at the end of his time away. Ruth and Andy also talk about the place of trust sabbaticals take us, the rhythms Andy sees happen when you start to take a regular sabbatical, and of course, since it’s Andy Crouch, we’re going to talk about technology   Andy Crouch is partner for theology and culture at Praxis, an organization that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship. His writing explores faith, culture, and the image of God in the domains of technology, power, leadership, and the arts. He is the author of five books including The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place, and Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling.   Purchase Ruth’s new book! Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest is out

Inevitably, every sabbatical will meet a challenge, a place where the outside world creeps in and threatens to call you back to the work you’ve committed to set aside. When that happens, what is a leader to do? Ruth sits down with Dr. David C. Alves to discuss how to discern the necessary boundaries each individual must create for their own sabbatical, the resistance they may encounter and how congregations can help their pastors set and keep boundaries.   Then Ruth brings back former guest Rev. Dr. Phaedra D. Blocker to discuss their shared story of a time when they had to discern together whether or not to hold firm to the boundaries Ruth and the Transforming Center board set for Ruth’s sabbatical. This period of dormancy for Ruth and the organization coincided with the national tragedy of George Floyd’s murder and the question of if and how to respond publicly was difficult to discern. Dr. David C Alves is a New Hampshire writer, and the author of both A Sabbatical Primer for Pastors: How to Initiate an