red and yellow flower growing next to a rusty beam

“If you aren’t resting, you are a slave to something.” – Adele Calhoun We tend to think of sabbath as being mostly about rest and replenishment—and it is!—but if that’s all we emphasize, it can come across as being rather soft. For those who were first given the gift of sabbath, it was so much…

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sun beams bursting through dark clouds

“God gave us the Sabbath. Jesus taught us that we weren’t made for the Sabbath but that Sabbath was made for us. Sabbath time is our time, our chance to rest, to worship God, to forgive each other, to taste a wee bit of heaven, and to be more in sympathy with all that is,…

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Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast Show Notes

We had so much goodness in our conversations around the idea of sabbath as resistance that we decided to release them as separate episodes. In this episode, Ruth and guest Cole Arthur Riley continue the discussion with a conversation around whether or not sabbath is just for the privileged few. Cole shares how she experiences…

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Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast Show Notes

We continue to celebrate the launch of Ruth’s newest book, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again. This week, Ruth sits down with pastor and poet Drew Jackson to discuss the idea of sabbath as resistance. Ruth and Drew discuss how the practice of sabbath itself can be a…

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Sabbath in the fall

For everything there is a season… Sometimes on the Sabbath all you can do is settle into the soft body of yourself and listen to what it says. Listen to the exhaustion that is deeper than tiredness the hunger that is for more than food the thirst that is for more than drink the longing…

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6-WEEK JOURNEY: Begin this Saturday Slow down and enter into spiritual rhythms that will strengthen the soul of your leadership You’re invited to take a guided journey for leaders written by Ruth Haley Barton. Delivered over 6 weeks, when you sign up you’ll receive: a text message (SMS) prompt on Wednesdays from Ruth to ponder…

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Week 1: Rhythms of Work and Rest by Ruth Haley Barton “We are blessed with inner rhythms that tell us where we are, and where we are going. No matter, then, our fifty and sixty hour work weeks, the refusing to stop for lunch, the bypassing sleep and working deep into the darkness. If we…

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Join Ruth and the Transforming Center team A Sabbath Retreat for Transforming Community Alumni In returning and rest you shall be savedReturn to a space where you experience rest, rhythms, and relationships in community July 9-11, 2023 (Sunday through Tuesday) University of St. Mary of the Lake Working with themes from Embracing Rhythms of Work and…

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Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast Show Notes

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…

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Season 18 When Sabbath is Not Enough: Embracing the Gift of Sabbatical Don’t miss new episodes of Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast with Ruth Haley Barton — subscribe on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher. This season we continue to celebrate the launch of Ruth’s newest book, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest From…

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Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast Show Notes

We find ourselves again beginning a new Christian year with Advent. This year the lectionary finds us in Cycle A. In this episode Ruth helps us prepare for advent with an invitation to use this season as actual space to practice sabbath keeping. She shares some of the greater themes we find in Advent and…

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With Ruth Haley Barton From Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again For information and to register, see link below.

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Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast Show Notes

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…

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Season 17 Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again Don’t miss new episodes of Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast with Ruth Haley Barton — subscribe on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher. This season we are celebrating the launch of Ruth’s newest book, Embracing Rhythms of Work and…

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Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast Show Notes

We can’t wait for you to hear this encouraging conversation between Ruth and Glenn Packiam, a pastor and author of The Resilient Pastor: Leading Your Church in a Rapidly Changing World. Glenn and Ruth shared their thoughts on why it’s so hard for pastors to prioritize their life with God, performing our spirituality vs. cultivating a…

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NEW BOOK BY RUTH HALEY BARTON: RELEASES OCT 11, 2022 Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath and Sabbatical and Back Again “God gave us the Sabbath. Jesus taught us that we weren’t made for the Sabbath but that Sabbath was made for us. Ruth Haley Barton reminds us that Sabbath time is our…

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First glimpse of Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again by Ruth Haley Barton “In order for communities to order their lives around sane rhythms of work and rest, it is essential for respected leaders to live within a sustainable lifestyle themselves and to champion sabbath-keeping as a spiritual…

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Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast Show Notes

Putting off the vices of the old self is only half the equation. We are to put off the old nature and put on the new nature. A great conversation flows around rest and sabbath, forbearance, and forgiveness. A helpful conversation for leaders today. Support the podcast now and immediately receive our Lent bonus Podcast…

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Transforming Community® | 17 Upcoming Events and Opportunities Alumni Retreat | July 9-11, 2023 Take a Sabbath Retreat for yourself this summer! Don’t miss the chance to connect with other alumni during a time that is set apart for rest, worship and delight! transformingcenter.org/alumni-retreat-2023 Pursuing God’s Will Together April 22-24, 2024 (tentatively) Plan ahead to…

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Spiritual Directors Be Listed as a Spiritual Director The Transforming Center is pleased to offer a listing of spiritual directors* who have completed one or more of our two-year Transforming Community® experiences and have also completed a recognized training program in spiritual direction. Each listing indicates if the spiritual director offers in-person and/or remote (online…

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Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership A Podcast with Ruth Haley Barton Welcome to the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast with Ruth Haley Barton. In each 30-minute episode, you will discover how forging and maintaining your own life-giving connection with God is the best thing you bring to leadership. Apple Podcasts Stitcher Spotify…

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The Becoming a Transforming Church® Retreat Equipping You to Cultivate a Community of Spiritual Transformation Designed for pastors and leaders who long for their churches to become centers for spiritual transformation. Sign up to receive notification of our next Becoming a Transforming Church Retreat. Receive early notice of our next retreat Watch the expanded message…

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man sitting on pew in old church

 “If we don’t come apart for while, we will come apart after awhile.” –Dallas Willard Brad is a pastor whose church is going well. Attendance at weekend services is growing steadily, and they have just completed a building project that is enabling them to grow and provide a variety of ministries to meet needs within…

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A Story from Transforming Community #4 by Vincent Rife

Continuing the story of Transforming Community: Transforming Community 4 (TC4)  continued to impact the greater sense of community as more spouses of alumni and a church pastor, along with one of his elders, decided to embark on the transformational journey together. Shared language and experience can have a profound impact on these significant relationships, and it was…

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Lent-2017

Lectionary readings for Fourth Sunday of Lent Cycle A: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 Guidance on using the lectionary. “Spiritual masters often refer to a kind of “dread,” the nagging sense that we have missed something important and have been somehow untrue—to ourselves, to others, to God. Lent is a good…

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sunset

“A Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God…Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest.” —Hebrews 4:9,11 Sabbath-keeping is more than just a day of rest; it is a way of ordering one’s entire life around a pattern of working six days and then resting on the seventh. It is an…

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Twenty years ago, as a young minister in my early thirties, I hit a wall in my spiritual life.  I was exhausted.  I was driven.  I was disillusioned. I had sucked every last bit of marrow out of the dry bones of traditional quiet times, noisy church services, chatty small groups, and Christian self-help books.…

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Sacred Rhythms

“Many of us have more clearly developed plans for finances, further education, home improvements and physical fitness than we do for our spiritual lives.” —Ruth Haley Barton An Interview with Ruth Haley Barton What is the significance of the phrase “sacred rhythms”? Ruth Haley Barton: The phrase “spiritual rhythms” is a way of talking about the…

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pentecost

Lectionary readings: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34; I Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23 This week we celebrate Pentecost—the incarnate and risen Christ present to us in a new way through the gift of the Holy Spirit—enlivening, empowering and transforming us to further Christ’s redemptive mission in the world. Pentecost signals the beginning of Ordinary Time—not because it…

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branch of tree in foreground on beach

A Biblical and Theological Perspective Following is a brief summary of the core beliefs that form the foundation of our approach to spiritual transformation (spiritual formation). Christ Formed in Us Spiritual transformation is the process by which Christ is formed in us …for the glory of God, for the abundance of our own lives, and…

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