Archive for 2018
Join a worldwide prayer vigil on Good Friday 2018
For many years we have hosted a Stations of the Cross prayer service on Good Friday as a way of joining Jesus on his journey to the cross. Sadly, the beautiful chapel we have used is no longer in existence so this year we are inviting you to join us virtually. When we have invited people…
Read MoreSeason 3: Episode 7 | Get Ready: Preparing for Discernment
We are seven episodes in and we haven’t yet talked about the practice of discerning together. Everyone knows that it doesn’t go well when you paint a room and skip the prep work. Ruth shares why the prep work is so important to corporate leadership discernment. The running joke through this season crops up again…
Read MoreLent: Dying That We Might Live
Lectionary readings and guidance on using the lectionary “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can…
Read MoreSeason 3: Episode 6 | Values and Practices for Being Safe Together
The truth is, sadly, that many have lost faith that a community can be a safe place. How many leadership teams talk about love in the context of leadership? Ruth gives wonderful examples of the practices born out of the values important to the Transforming Center. Steve shares how it can all become derailed by…
Read MoreSeason 3: Episode 5 | Values and Practices For Opening to God Together
What is the first thing that goes when a leadership team gets busy? Does community mean two hours of checking in about how the kids and grandkids are doing? Ruth and Steve have a rich conversation about values and practices that helps us live together as a leadership community. The good news is that values…
Read MoreSeason 3: Episode 4 | Community at the Leadership Level
What is corporate leadership discernment? Ruth kicks off this episode with defining each word and leads us through the movements of corporate leadership discernment. Discover why hikers and sailors value true north over magnetic north and why conviction is much different than understanding. Ruth and Steve answer the question: Do we all need to sing…
Read MoreSeason 3: Episode 3 | Leaders Who are Discerning
Magical thinking not allowed in this episode… ok not in any episode. Steve leads by pondering whether the western church needs to make a confession. In this episode, Ruth and Steve go deep on five foundations of discernment. Through these foundations they uncover some hard truths – leaders struggle with believing in the goodness of…
Read MoreLove, Lent, and Leadership: Fashioning Your Own Wilderness
Lectionary readings and guidance on using the lectionary Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 First Sunday in Lent: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-10; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15 “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where for forty days he was…
Read MoreSeason 3: Episode 2 | Beginning with Spiritual Transformation
What is the best thing a leader brings to leadership? The answer is countercultural. Ruth makes a clear distinction between being healthy and transforming. Listen for an important question that needs to be asked first in leadership groups. A challenging question, but not hard to answer. Steve jumps in with an “asking for a friend”…
Read MoreNew Podcast Season | Season 3: From Decision-Making to Discernment in Community
It is 2018 and we are excited to be back with Ruth Haley Barton and Transforming Center friend and Transforming Community (TC6) alum, Steve Wiens. In this episode Ruth and Steve dive right into the topic of pursuing God’s will together, and Ruth begins by defining the heart of spiritual leadership. Is discerning together just for…
Read MoreTransforming Center Welcomes Rob Kastens as COO
The Transforming Center is thrilled to announce that, through a long and grace-filled process of discernment, Rob Kastens has agreed to join us as Chief Operations Officer beginning in mid-February. Working in close partnership with founder Ruth Haley Barton and the Transforming Center board, Rob will provide day-to-day leadership for staff along with strategic leadership…
Read MoreEpiphany: Who am I now?
Guidance on using the lectionary. Lectionary readings for January 7, 2018: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12 Epiphany originated in the Eastern Church in the third century as a feast on January 6 to honor our Lord’s birth and baptism. It ranked with Easter and Pentecost as one of the three principal…
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