Pursuing God’s Will Together: A Discernment Practice for Leadership Groups (InterVarsity Press/Formatio) by Ruth Haley Barton was chosen for a 2012 Leadership Book Award in the category of “The Leader’s Outer Life.” Leadership Journal editors and contributing editors narrowed the awarded titles down to the ten “books that are too good to miss.”
In Pursing God’s Will Together Barton, president of The Transforming Center, helps teams discover personal and group practices that lead them into a new way of experiencing community and listening to God together. “It is hard to imagine that spiritual leadership could be about anything but seeking to know and do the will of God,” said Barton. “My first prayer is that this book will cast vision for discernment as the heart of spiritual leadership in a church/Christian ministry culture that has relied quite heavily on secular leadership models over the last number of years. Closely related to that prayer is my hope that many leaders will be moved to drive a stake in the ground and commit themselves to discerning and doing God’s will as the focus of their leadership.”
Author and pastor Mark Buchanan said this about Pursuing God’s Will Together: “Ruth mines riches from Scripture, blends them skillfully with the best traditions, and produces a magnum opus for hearing God in community.”
Barton travels widely, teaching and doing consulting with leadership teams in the areas of leadership transformation, corporate discernment and spiritual community. A trained spiritual director and retreat leader, Barton is the author of numerous books and resources on the spiritual life, including Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, Sacred Rhythms, Longing for More and Invitation to Solitude and Silence.
“InterVarsity Press has been proud to partner with Ruth Haley Barton for over fifteen years,” said Cindy Bunch, Barton’s editor and the associate editorial director. “She has become a much-needed spiritual guide to pastors and churches who are seeking individual and corporate transformation.”
Founded in 1947 as an extension of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, InterVarsity Press serves those in the university, the church and the world by publishing thoughtful Christian books that equip and encourage people to follow Jesus as Savior and Lord in all of life. For more information, visit ivpress.com or contact Krista Carnet at 630.734.4013 or
kkcarnet@ivpress.com.