Posts by Transforming Center
Special Mini-Episode: A State of the Podcast Announcement
Hello! We’re popping in the podcast feed with a little “State of the Podcast” announcement (don’t worry! It’s not ending!). Ruth gives a peak behind the curtain as to what is happening over at the Transforming Center this year and shares about our Alumni Retreat in July. Then, we’ll hear from some Transforming Community alumni…
Read MoreSeason 19: Easter Monday | Transforming Post-Resurrection Encounters with Jesus
He is Risen, indeed! Happy Easter Monday, friends. Today, Ruth helps us celebrate the Risen Christ with five stories of post-resurrection encounters with Jesus. In each story she helps us consider our own invitations to transforming encounters with Jesus that God might have for us. Which story resonates most profoundly with you and what healing…
Read MoreSeason 19: Lent Week 6 | Lament: Saying No to Triumphalism
This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has…
Read MoreSeason 19: Lent Week 5 | Communal Suffering: Can These Bones Live?
This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has…
Read MoreSeason 19: Lent Week 4 | Opposing Violent Injustice: Bringing Light to the Darkest Places
This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has…
Read MoreSeason 19: Lent Week 3 | The Work of Justice: Healing our Broken Ways
This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has…
Read MoreSeason 19: Lent Week 2 | Colonialism and Christianity: Bible Translation as a Work of Justice
This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has…
Read MoreSeason 19: Lent Week 1 | Confession: What We Have Done and What We Have Left Undone
This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the modern church has…
Read MoreSeason 19: Ash Wednesday | Learning to Love What God Loves
This season we are focusing on justice as an aspect of spiritual formation and we believe Lent to be the perfect season to explore this connection. Using A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey, and the lectionary, we will look at various aspects of justice, its importance to God and why the church has often…
Read MoreSeason 18: Episode 5 | What about the Congregation? How Everyone Benefits from a Pastor’s Sabbatical
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…
Read MoreSeason 18: Episode 4 | Are You Willing to Quit Your Job: Sabbatical for the Rest of Us
Are sabbaticals just for pastors? This week, Ruth sits down with guest Andy Crouch to talk about sabbatical from an everyman perspective. Andy has taken full responsibility for his own rhythm of regular sabbaticals by saving up and risking the need to find a new job at the end of his time away. Ruth and…
Read MoreSeason 18: Episode 3 | Boundaries: Protecting What is Precious
Inevitably, every sabbatical will meet a challenge, a place where the outside world creeps in and threatens to call you back to the work you’ve committed to set aside. When that happens, what is a leader to do? Ruth sits down with Dr. David C. Alves to discuss how to discern the necessary boundaries each…
Read MoreSeason 18: Episode 2 | More Than a Vacation: Planning for a Meaningful Sabbatical
We have two extra special guests this week! First, Ruth sits down with Christine Lee, Priest-in-Charge of St. Peter’s Chelsea in New York City. She and Ruth discuss how Christine discerned what was most important for her sabbatical and how she responded when her plan for sabbatical coincided with a challenging time for her congregation.…
Read MoreSeason 18: Episode 1 | When Sabbath Isn’t Enough: Embracing the Gift of Sabbatical
Happy New Year! We are ringing in the new year by talking about sabbatical! Friend of the Transforming Center Rick McCall is back with us, and he and Ruth are sharing their experiences with sabbaticals, what ways Ruth sees it as an extension of sabbath, and why it’s so important for the church to build…
Read MoreBonus: Advent 2022 Year A
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…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 11 | Sabbath Journey: Do Something Before You Do Everything
We’re wrapping up our sabbath season with a solo episode. Ruth is on the mic to help us discern the something we can do to start our sabbath journey. What are your invitations and resistances? What are the obstacles you face as you attempt to “return to rest?” At the end of the episode producer…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 10 | Fruit and Frustration: Creating a Culture Where Everyone Can Rest
As we’ve camped out around this idea of a “sabbath community” the last few weeks, we’ve explored the possibility and very real struggles of what that kind of commitment to sabbath looks like for pastors. This week we’re speaking with a pastor whose community is living out that practice in a variety of ways. In…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 9 | Getting Honest About the Challenges of Sabbath Community
Today’s conversation is an honest and vulnerable one about the challenges of leading communities in the ways of the sabbath. Ruth sits down with Christine Lee who leads a busy church in New York City. Christine shares her own journey of practicing sabbath herself and the struggles she sees to “lead a sabbath community.” She…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 8 | Sabbath Leaders Cultivating Sabbath Communities
Over the next few episodes we are turning our attention from a leader’s personal sabbath practice towards how they can form and shape their communities around sabbath. We’ll be talking to a number of pastors and leaders about their efforts and challenges in leading others in the practice. Today Ruth sits down with Jeanne and…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 7 | Sabbath Rhythms During Seasons of Singleness and Care-giving
In this episode we continue discussing how each season or stage of life presents its own challenges and opportunities with regard to sabbath keeping. Today we’re joined by two guests, Phaedra Blocker and Vicki Degner. In the first half Phaedra and Ruth talk about sabbath keeping in seasons of singleness. Phaedra shares the ways in…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 6 | Sharing Sabbath Presence Within Our Families
As we continue to discuss the idea of a sabbath practice and the very practical ways one can incorporate it into one’s life, we want to acknowledge that each season or stage of life presents its own challenges and opportunities with regard to sabbath keeping. In the next two episodes we’re going to speak with…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 5 | The Power of Unplugging
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…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 4 | Shabbat: Conversation with a Jewish Rabbi
Our guest this week is Rabbi Evan Moffic, a rabbi leading a congregation in the Chicago suburbs who also teaches and writes about the Jewishness of Jesus. He and Ruth discuss the importance of the sabbath and its roots in the Jewish faith, the communal aspect of the practice, and how the activities we engage…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 3 | Sabbath as Resistance
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…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 2 | The Poetry of Sabbath
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…
Read MoreSeason 17: Episode 1 | Awakening to God’s Gift of Sabbath
We’re back! This season we are celebrating the launch of Ruth’s newest book, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again. Ruth has invited a number of friends to come on the show to discuss the themes found in her book. These episodes are for pastors and leaders who are…
Read MoreBONUS: A Conversation with Glenn Packiam on Being a Resilient Pastor, Challenges Facing the Church, and Cultivating A Spiritual Life
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…
Read MoreBONUS: Ask Ruth #5 Excerpt
Over on Patreon, we concluded season 16 with our fifth installment of our Ask Ruth series. This episode included questions specific to this past season on Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities with Steve Cuss. Patrons submitted questions that arose from their listening of the podcast, and Ruth provided her trademark thoughtfulness, wit and…
Read MoreJuneteenth: Celebrating the Good News of Freedom
Where the Spirit of the Lord there is freedom. II Corinthians 3:17 Today as we mark the Juneteenth national holiday, we invite you to reflect on this documentary that expands our awareness of our nation’s journey towards freedom for all. This documentary was produced through a partnership between the Jude 3 Project and Our Daily…
Read MoreSeason 16: Episode 8 | Systems Theory and Leadership: Picking Up the Tools that Diffuse Anxiety
We’re nearing the end of our season on Systems Theory and leadership anxiety! In this last episode with Ruth and Steve together, the two give really practical help with concrete tools that can help diffuse anxiety. These tools range from personal to relational, and they are rooted in deep care for the soul of the…
Read MoreSeason 16: Episode 7 | It’s a Human Thing: Systems Theory in Non-Majority Spaces
This week we invited two additional guests to tackle this tender and challenging topic. Ruth and Steve are joined by Pastor Tina Harris, a former pastor and lawyer and currently Transforming Center’s Cultivator of Community and Connection, and Pastor Marvin Williams, the pastor of Trinity Church in Lansing, MI, and a doctoral candidate doing his…
Read MoreSeason 16: Episode 6 | Second Order Change: Recognizing and Dissolving Stuck Patterns
Sometimes our greatest anxieties can surround areas of stuckness, places where we know what we are doing isn’t working, but we can’t seem to find our way out. This week, Ruth and Steve will discuss second order change and how we can recognize and dissolve our stuck patterns. How does paying attention to process over…
Read MoreSeason 16: Episode 5 | The Freedom of Taking Responsibility
This week, Ruth and Steve are talking about differentiation. What is differentiation and how does it differ from individualism? Steve shares his framework of the Four Spaces and explains how paying attention to these spaces can help us differentiate and understand what is happening in a group. As we wrapped up, Steve shared a few…
Read MoreSeason 16: Episode 4 | Calm Presence: Leadership, Anxiety, and the False Self
Ruth and guest Steve Cuss continue to explore Systems Theory. This week they look at leadership, anxiety, and the false self. What are some examples of false selves and false beliefs and how do they relate to anxiety? What is the calm presence? Ruth and Steve’s conversation covers all this and more, including an invitation…
Read MoreSeason 16: Episode 3 | The Sins of the Fathers (and Mothers): How Family of Origin Impacts Our Leadership
This week, Ruth and Steve delve into the topic of family of origin and its impact on leadership. Why do we need to do the messy work of untangling our childhood issues? How do we carry childhood wounds into our leadership? How can genograms help us do this work? Ruth and Steve share their thoughts…
Read MoreSeason 16: Episode 2 | The Most Powerful Leadership Tool: Diagnosing and Diffusing Anxiety
Welcome to Season 16, Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities. This season we will be exploring Systems Theory, also called Family Systems Theory. Many of us have seen the troubling Barna research about the extreme levels of burnout pastors are experiencing right now. As we look at Systems theory, we will be examining how…
Read MoreSeason 16: Episode 1 | What’s Really Going On? Systems Theory and the Soul of Leadership
Welcome to Season 16, Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities. This season we will be exploring Systems Theory, also called Family Systems Theory. Many of us have seen the troubling Barna research about the extreme levels of burnout pastors are experiencing right now. As we look at Systems theory, we will be examining how…
Read MoreSeason 15: Easter Monday | Practicing Resurrection
We couldn’t leave you hanging in the darkness of Good Friday, so to wrap up season 15 of the podcast we are concluding with a conversation about Easter and the Resurrection. Ruth and Steve discuss the story of Mary and the empty tomb and what it reveals about the new order Jesus wants to bring.…
Read MoreSeason 15: Holy Week | Following Jesus All the Way
Ruth and Steve guide us into Holy Week with the reminder of the importance of keeping vigil and a discussion on the temptation to fall asleep. In what ways do we turn our gaze away from that which is difficult to see? What does it mean to keep vigil with Jesus and how is it…
Read MoreSeason 15: Lent Week 6 | Living Between Two Passions
We have arrived at Palm Sunday and this week Ruth and Steve discuss the disorienting swing the people create between hailing Jesus as King and calling for his crucifixion in a matter of days. It brought us to wonder, in what ways do we create our own agendas to put on Jesus, and how do…
Read MoreSeason 15: Lent Week 5 | Out With the Old, In With the New
We seem to be turning a corner during this week of Lent! Ruth and Steve discuss the lectionary readings for the fifth Sunday of Lent and the call to prepare ourselves for whatever new things God desires to do in us. This requires us to resist the temptation to cling to the past. In this…
Read MoreSeason 15: Lent Week 4 | The Power of Confession
This week’s temptation may bring us to the hardest, deepest places of Lent. We are talking about the temptation to be silent about our sin and the power of the practice of confession. Why are leaders especially tempted to hide our wrongdoings, and how can we use confession carefully, lovingly and honestly in our lives?…
Read MoreSeason 15: Lent Week 3 | Seeking God While He May Be Found
This week Ruth and Steve address the temptation to invest in that which does not satisfy. So many of us leaders find ourselves turning towards escapist behaviors in our exhaustion and grief. How do we discern between what is distracting and what is satisfying? How can we abstain in order to give time to that…
Read MoreSeason 15: Lent Week 2 | Consenting to God’s Will Deep Within
What is it about leaders that we seem to struggle so much with the temptation to take matters into our own hands and “help” God out when we distrust His plans or when we are impatient with His timing? And what is our transformational moment when we realize we’ve been pushing our own agenda and…
Read MoreSeason 15: Lent Week 1 | Fashioning Our Own Wilderness
Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins will journey through Lent with a spirit of self-examination and desire for intimacy with God. Each episode will highlight a particular temptation found in one of the passages from Cycle C of the Revised Common Lectionary for Lent that is relevant for leaders today and Ruth and Steve will…
Read MoreLent 2022 Teaser | Lent for Leaders: With God in the Wilderness
Our next podcast season begins on Ash Wednesday! Season 15 will help us walk through Lent together. Steve Weins is back with Ruth and together the two will tackle this time that invites us to self-examination and intimacy with God. In this teaser episode, Ruth and Steve will share their hearts for this season of…
Read MoreBONUS: A Conversation with Rory Noland about Transforming Worship
Please enjoy another bonus conversation about worship, this time with our friend and former Transforming Community worship leader, Rory Noland. Rory has a new book out called Transforming Worship: Planning and Leading Sunday Services as if Spiritual Formation Mattered. He and Ruth sat down to discuss the book as well as their long history and…
Read MoreA Conversation with Aaron Niequist about Fixed Hour Prayer and Transforming Community 18
Please enjoy this bonus episode, a conversation between Ruth Haley Barton and Aaron Niequist, recorded at the Becoming A Transforming Church retreat. Ruth and Aaron discuss Aaron’s experience as both a participant and worship leader of Transforming Communities and the ways in which worship and fixed hour of prayer contributed to his journey in community.…
Read MoreSeason 14: Advent Week 4 | Saying Yes to God
This season we invite you to walk through Advent by engaging with the lectionary Scripture readings and listening for what God might want to say through them. In each episode, Ruth and members of the Transforming Center staff will read and reflect on the themes of Cycle C of the Revised Common Lectionary for Advent…
Read MoreSeason 14: Advent Week 3 | A Call to Repentance
This season we invite you to walk through Advent by engaging with the lectionary Scripture readings and listening for what God might want to say through them. In each episode, Ruth and members of the Transforming Center staff will read and reflect on the themes of Cycle C of the Revised Common Lectionary for Advent…
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