A Season of Discernment for the Transforming Center
After twenty-five years of ministry, the Transforming Center has reached an important moment of transition and discernment.
For several years, our Board and staff have been prayerfully asking what faithfulness requires in this season, whether our current organizational model is sustainable, and how the work of strengthening the souls of leaders and the communities they serve might best be carried forward.
We have not yet discerned what comes next.
We invite you to understand what has brought us to this moment and to join us as we listen for God’s way forward.
A Time For Change
Ruth will bring her full time employment at the Transforming Center to an end no later than January 31, 2027.
This does not mean she is stepping away from the work to which she continues to feel called, it means that she cannot continue to do it with the same pace and intensity as she has for many years.
Not bearing the full weight of the organization will allow Ruth more time to be with family and give greater attention to her health and well-being while focusing on core aspects of her calling, including:
- writing and creating content,
- speaking,
- leading retreats,
- offering spiritual direction with leaders and leadership groups seeking to cultivate transforming communities.
Ruth’s transition is an important part of this season, but it is not the sole reason the Transforming Center is discerning its future. The questions before us have been emerging over several years and involve our organizational model, capacity, sustainability, leadership, and sense of God’s invitation for what comes next.
Listen to a coversation about this pivotal moment
with Ruth Haley Barton, Charity McClure (Director of Strategy and Programs) and Tony Frank, (Board Chair)
The Decision Before Us
These realities bring the Transforming Center
to a pivotal decision.
Path One: Bring this chapter of ministry to a close
Complete our current commitments through the end of 2026 and then bring the ministry to a close, celebrating all that God has done through the Transforming Center over the past twenty-five years.
Path Two: Pause With A Purpose
Complete our current commitments through the end of 2026 and then beginning in January 2027, we would enter a six month season of rest, prayer, listening, and assessment.
During this time a group of Transforming Center Board members and leaders would gather to prayerfully discern whether there is a faithful and sustainable way forward.
*This will only be possible with the financial support from our community. We need to complete our fundraising
for 2026 and raise additional money for 2027.
We are seeking clarity for which path is ours to take.
Why We Are Listening
The Transforming Center Board carries responsibility for discerning the ministry’s way forward.
But we do not believe that discernment can happen faithfully in isolation.
For twenty-five years, a community of pastors, spiritual leaders, alumni, donors, friends, and partners has helped shape the Transforming Center—and has itself been shaped by the work God has done through this ministry.
We intend to listen together for whether God may be making a way for this ministry to
continue—and whether this community feels called to help make that possible.
Continuing the conversation
In September, we invited members of the Transforming Center community to gather for two live Zoom conversations about this pivotal moment. More than 220 people registered to join the conversation.
During these gatherings, members of the Transforming Center leadership:
- shared more about what has brought us to this moment,
- explained the paths we are discerning,
- responded candidly to your questions,
- listened to what members of this community are seeing and sensing,
- shared how you can participate in the discernment ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
New as of 9.10.2026:
New as of 9.30.2026:
We are deeply grateful for God’s faithfulness over the past twenty-five years and for every person who has been part of this community.
We enter this season without assuming the outcome, trusting that the God who has guided the Transforming Center from its beginning will continue to guide us now.