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You are Made for More
We’re made for more. And yet, the road between where we are and where we want to go can feel long and uncertain and sometimes disillusioning. Many of us have become weary of the journey and impatient with the waiting, but the truth is that it is in the waiting that the unseen work of…
Read MoreTransforming Center welcomes Executive Director and creates new position, Director of Strategy and Programs
Following a significant search characterized by disciplined discernment, the Transforming Center board is thrilled to announce Rev. Cole Griffin (TC2) as our new Executive Director along with Charity Barton McClure (TC12) in a newly created role as Director of Strategy and Programs. By way of introduction…. We have known Cole Griffin since he participated in…
Read MoreSpiritual Direction (Part 2): A Space for Rigorous Honesty
Click here to read “Spiritual Direction (Part 1): A Vital Practice for Discerning Leaders.” “The whole purpose of spiritual direction is to penetrate beneath the surface of a [person’s] life, to get behind the façade of conventional gestures and attitudes which he presents to the world, and to bring out his inner spiritual freedom, his…
Read MoreSpiritual Direction (Part 1): A Vital Practice for Discerning Leaders
“A spiritual director is one who helps another to recognize and to follow the inspirations of grace in his life, in order to arrive at the end to which God is leading him.” —Thomas Merton It was over 20 years ago now when, as a young leader, I crept into a spiritual director’s office desperate…
Read MoreLectio Divina: Engaging the Scriptures for Spiritual Transformation
Lectio Divina (translated “divine [or sacred] reading”) is an approach to the Scriptures that sets us up to listen for the word of God spoken to us in this present moment. Lectio divina refers to the ancient practice of divine reading that dates back to the early mothers and fathers of the Christian faith. Referring…
Read MoreJustice and the Inner Life
In October of 2004, I gave each of my colleagues at International Justice Mission two gifts: a blank leather journal with the words “8:30 Stillness” embossed on the cover and Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton. As an organization, we were experiencing incredible growth on a global scale. We were bringing rescue to…
Read MoreTransformation Before My Eyes
“See, I am doing a new deed, even now it comes to light; can you not see it?” (Isaiah 43:19, The Jerusalem Bible) As a former long-term pastor of a congregation, I had the honor of witnessing occasional spiritual transformation in the lives of congregants. Generally, the changes were more gradual than sudden, more subtle than…
Read MoreA Cruciform Journey into the Cruciform God
A journey into God may be the best way to describe Lent and Holy Week. Of course, it is also the best description of the Christian life. In Paul’s words, we are to “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15). Peter frames it more boldly; we are…
Read MoreSpiritual Direction with Pastoral and Corporate Leaders
“A spiritual director is one who helps another to recognize and to follow the inspirations of grace in his life, in order to arrive at the end to which God is leading him.” —Thomas Merton It was almost twenty years ago now when, as a young leader, I crept into a spiritual director’s office…
Read MoreIs the Average Church a Center for Spiritual Transformation?
One of the great mysteries of my life as a pastor’s kid was the fact that many of the adults in my church—some of whom had been attending for many years—were just not changing. I wondered, How can someone go to church year after year, read the Bible, listen to sermons—and remain selfish, stuck in…
Read MoreSoul Care: Dr. Ruth Haley Barton ’81 Ministers to Those in Ministry.
by Michael Murray It’s a question pastors are accustomed to asking: How is it with your soul? Trained to lead people to the heart of the matter, church leaders often pose this question in counseling sessions, sermons, even in casual conversations over coffee. But who is helping Christian leaders ask this question of themselves? While…
Read MoreTransforming Center website nominated for Best Marketing in Wheaton Chamber’s Gamon Awards
We are proud to announce that the Transforming Center website has been nominated for Best Marketing in Wheaton Chamber’s Gamon Awards. You can find our listing and the voting ballot by visiting: http://www.wheatonchamber.com/pages/GamonAwards20121 Scroll down to find the Best of Wheaton 2012 Gamon Awards Voting Ballot. Look for Nathan Lewis Best Marketing of the Year…
Read MoreThe Fruit of Active Waiting
Dear Friend of the Transforming Center, Greetings to you this Advent season! During Advent we practice the spiritual discipline of waiting—waiting for the coming of Christ not only in the ancient world of the Biblical story, but in our own lives now. We become aware of those places where we long to experience Christ’s presence…
Read MoreMartin Luther King, Jr.’s Strength of Soul
“Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.” Martin Luther King, Jr. One of the things that disturbs me most about the way we talk about spirituality and related themes in evangelical circles today is the way we often create false dichotomies between being and doing, prayer and…
Read MoreWhat We Believe About Spiritual Transformation
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…
Read MoreArranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation
I remember the first time I noticed that some people arrange their lives to see sunsets. It was summertime in the Gulf of Florida when the days were hot and the nights were balmy. During the day, crowds of people were lying in the sun and playing noisily on the beach, but in the early…
Read MoreA Powerful Model for Leadership Transformation: A Two-Year Experience of Spiritual Formation for Leaders
Wheaton, IL–First there were 12. Then 25, then 38—and now 70. Those numbers testify to the quiet-but-steady growth of a spiritual transformation movement specifically designed for those who serve in demanding roles as pastors, spiritual leaders, and business leaders. The initial group of 12—the first Transforming Community®—was formed in 2002. They gathered for eight quarterly…
Read MoreMake a Joyful Silence
“On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.” Psalm 138:3 Long ago, a wise spiritual director said to me, “Ruth, you are like a jar of river water all shaken up. What you need is to sit still long enough so that the sediment can settle and the water…
Read MoreDiscerning God’s Will Together: Discovering a Process of Leadership Discernment
It was a conversation similar to many I have had with Christian leaders. A pastor from a large church was telling me that his church was going through a major transition as its leaders tried to respond to the growth they were experiencing. They had outgrown their facility (a good problem to have!) so the…
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