Posts by Ruth Haley Barton
Staying Awake During Holy Week
Lectionary readings and guidance on using the lectionary Good Friday: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42 “Stay together, friends, don’t scatter and sleep. Our friendship is made of being awake.” Rumi In…
Read MoreJoin 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…
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…
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…
Read MoreEquipping and Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders
Dear Friend, When a few of us started meeting together fifteen years ago to attend to our own spiritual formation as leaders, it would have been impossible to imagine all…
Read MoreAdvent: Leaders in Waiting
Lectionary Readings for the first week of Advent: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 Click for complete Advent calendar (CycleB) and guidance on using the lectionary.…
Read MoreFall Garden
In fall the garden is spent having given its all. Cucumber vines lie exhausted on the ground Tomato plants list to one side Cornstalks stand dignified and empty Sunflower faces…
Read MoreSpiritual Direction (Part 2): A Key Practice for Transforming Leaders
Part One of this eReflections series can be found here. “There is a temptation to think that spiritual direction is the guidance of one’s spiritual activities, considered a small part…
Read MoreSpiritual Direction (Part 1): A Key Practice for Healthy Leaders
Part Two of this eReflections series can be found here. “The whole purpose of spiritual direction is to penetrate beneath the surface of a man’s life, to get behind the…
Read MoreThe Darkness of Indifference
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite…
Read MoreOn the Road to Becoming a Transforming Church
“Nondiscipleship is the elephant in the church.” – Dallas Willard Oak Hills Church was founded in 1984 with seventeen people in rented space at a strip mall in the “quickly growing…
Read MoreWhat Kind of Church Are You?
“Eventually, someone looking for a church home will ask some variation of this question: So what kind of church are you?” – Kent Carlson Recently while signing books at a…
Read MoreThe Loneliness of Leadership
Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me…If your presence…
Read MoreAn Act of Discipleship: Walking with Christ through Holy Week
Guidance on using the lectionary. “It is not the act of a good disciple to flee from the cross in order to enjoy an easy piety.” St. John of the…
Read MoreObserving Lent: Seeing What We’re Missing
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…
Read MoreReturning to God with All Our Hearts: Preparing for a Holy Lent
Lectionary readings for Ash Wednesday Cycle A: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; II Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Guidance on using the lectionary. I invite you, therefore, in the…
Read MoreAll the Lord has Done: Sharing Stories of Transformation
“I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness, from the…
Read MoreMartin Luther King, Jr. and the Soul of Leadership
We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you… One day we shall win freedom, but not…
Read MoreEpiphany: In Celebration of the Journey
Guidance on using the lectionary. Lectionary readings for January 6, 2017: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12 “A good journey begins with knowing where you are…
Read MoreTransforming leaders — may their tribe increase!
Dear Friend, It is hard to remember a time when the topic of leadership and character has been more pressing on our minds and hearts. The most oft-repeated sentiment I…
Read MoreCan You Hear God Now? Your Most Important Leadership Role
Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. …
Read MoreAdvent 1: The Importance of Waking Up
Lectionary readings for November 27, 2016: Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Rom 13:11-14; Matt 24:36-44 Click for complete Advent calendar (Cycle A) and guidance on using the lectionary. “God comes to us like…
Read MoreElection Day 2016: Lord, Teach Us to Pray…Today
“Lord, teach us to pray…” ~ Jesus’ disciples in Luke 11 Ok, I admit it. I’ve been discouraged, grumpy and even a bit depressed this election season, as I’m sure…
Read MoreFirst Things First: Practicing What We Preach
“A leader is a person who must take special responsibility for what’s going on inside him/herself, inside his or her consciousness, lest the act of leadership do more harm than…
Read MoreThe Prayer of Lament: What To Do When We Don’t Know What To Do
“Our only hope is to march ourselves to the throne of God and in loud lament cry out the pain that lives in our souls.” Ann Weems Our hearts are…
Read MoreSweet Hours of Prayer: How Fixed-Hour Prayer Nourishes the Soul
“At last I believe life itself is a prayer, and the prayers we say shape the lives we live, just as the lives we live shape the prayers we say.”…
Read MoreChoosing to Walk Together: Encountering the Risen Christ on the Road of Life
“The Lord is risen! He is risen, indeed!” Luke’s account of Resurrection Sunday includes the story of two dazed and distraught disciples traveling along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus.…
Read MoreHoly Week: An Invitation to Walk with Christ
Guidance on using the lectionary. Lectionary readings for the Liturgy of the Palms: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-20; Luke 19:28-40 Lectionary readings for the Liturgy of the Passion: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16;…
Read MoreRemembering Bob Mulholland
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear, the saying goes, and that is certainly what happened to me with Bob Mulholland. When I first encountered his book, Invitation to…
Read MoreLent: Help us Find Our Confession
Guidance on using the lectionary. Lectionary readings for March 6, 2016: Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 God, help us find our confession; The truth within…
Read MoreAsh Wednesday: Crossing the Threshold into Lent
Guidance on using the lectionary. Lectionary readings for February 10, 2016: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 “‘And yet even now,’ says…
Read MoreLent 2016: Ready or Not—Here it Comes!
Oh God, let something essential happen to me, something more than interesting or entertaining or thoughtful. Oh God, let something essential happen to me, something awesome, something real. Speak to…
Read MoreEntering Advent: Hurry Up and Wait!
Lectionary readings for November 29, 2015: Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Psalm 25: 1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21: 25-36 Click for complete Advent calendar (Cycle C) and guidance on using the lectionary. “Unto you, O Lord,…
Read MoreSolitude: In God for the World
“Wherever there is something in our life that is not conformed to the image of Christ, there is a place where we are incapable of being all God wants us…
Read MoreEastertide : Then They Told What Had Happened on the Road
That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord had risen indeed, and he…
Read MoreEastertide: The Nature of the Spiritual Journey
You can also read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this Beyond Words series. Then he said to them, “How foolish you are, and slow of heart to believe all that…
Read MoreEastertide: Welcoming the Stranger
Part 1 of this Beyond Words series can be found here. “While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from…
Read MoreEastertide: The Emmaus Road – Between the Now and the Not-Yet
“Liminal space is a unique spiritual position where humans hate to be, but where the Biblical God is always leading them.” –Richard Rohr Luke’s account of Resurrection Sunday includes the…
Read MorePracticing Lent: Ash Wednesday as a Way of Entering In
Click for guidance on using the lectionary Lectionary Readings for Ash Wednesday Year B: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Today is Ash Wednesday—the beginning…
Read MorePreparing for Lent – Returning to God with All My Heart
Click for guidance on using the lectionary Lectionary Readings for Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 “‘And yet even now,’ says the Lord,…
Read MoreLeadership that is Transforming or Deforming?
For the last few weeks I have been pondering what one journalist calls “The Painful Lessons of Mars Hill Church.” For those who may not be familiar, Mars Hill is…
Read MoreReveal: Finding God in the Ordinary
Click for guidance on using the lectionary. Epiphany of the Lord: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12 “The incredible gift of the ordinary! Glory comes streaming from…
Read MoreSpiritual Transformation in the Church
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH WHEN IT COMES TO SPIRITUAL FORMATION IN CHRIST? Barton: The Church (capital C) is the body of Christ on earth now and it…
Read MoreHow Silently, How Silently, The Wondrous Gift is Given
Christmas Eve: Isaiah 9:2-7 Psalm 96 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) Christmas Day: Isaiah 52:7-10 Psalm 98 Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12) John 1:1-14 Click for complete Advent calendar (Cycle B) and…
Read MoreWith Gratitude for Pastors Everywhere
“On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.” Psalm 138:3 Several years ago I went to a particularly difficult memorial service with my daughter,…
Read MoreThe Courage to Dream: Celebrating the Vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The forces that threaten to negate life must be challenged by courage, which is the power of life to affirm itself in spite of life’s ambiguities. This requires the exercise…
Read MoreLeadership as Intercession Part 3: Entering into the Suffering of God’s People
The rest of our summer eReflections series can be found here: Part 1 and Part 2. “Do not be afraid to suffer.” Rainer Maria Rilke Oftentimes when I am in God’s…
Read MoreLeadership as Intercession Part 2 : Present to God on Others’ Behalf
Part 1 of our summer eReflection series can be found here. “I look at God, I look at you, and I keep looking at God.” —Julian of Norwich The practice…
Read MoreLeadership as Intercession Part 1: Key to Surviving and Thriving in Ministry
Editor’s Note: Every summer we offer a special eReflections series that offers the opportunity to reflect on some aspect of leadership that requires a bit more consideration and prayer. Since…
Read MoreWhen Human Wisdom Isn’t Enough: Becoming a Community for Discernment
One great need of the church today is to experience the dynamic leadership of Christ as its Head…This is the most striking implication of one’s belief in the resurrected Lord. …
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