In this final episode of the season, we are joined by none other than the author of 'Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent’ herself, Enuma Okoro!! Enuma joins Charity, Colleen, and Jeff to share the inspirations behind her book, personal insights on faith, the significance of untold stories in the Bible, and the challenges of maintaining faith. Continuing with our Advent story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, they discuss the challenges and blessings of waiting on God's “inconvenient timing.” The four also reflect on God's presence in everyday life and the importance of recognizing divine manifestations in people and situations we least expect.

 

This season, as Advent falls on the heels of a contentious election season here in America and amidst the reality of war and violence around the world, we here at the Transforming Center wanted to approach the Advent podcast season with the awareness that many people are deeply in need of space and hope right now. TC staff member Charity McClure and ministry partners Jeff James and Colleen Powell will be walking listeners through Advent with the intention of broadening and deepening the practice and experience of silence as a way to hold that space. Using Enuma Okoro’s book 'Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent, which highlights the story of Elizabeth and Zachariah, for inspiration and wisdom, Charity and Jeff will be joined by guests as they explore themes of lament, barrenness, waiting, dependence on God, community, friendship, and hope.

 

Enuma Okoro is a Nigerian-American author, writer, lecturer, curator, and arts and culture critic. Her globally read column, “The Art of Life,” reflects her broader research and writing interests: how the intersection of art, philosophy, spirituality, ecology and culture can speak to the human condition and interrogate how we live with ourselves and one another, and how we relate to the more-than-human. She has contributed to a number of different publications and is the author of Reluctant Pilgrim and Silence and other Surprising Invitations of Advent. You can find more from her over on her substack A Little Heart to Heart, Letters about life and living, art and spirit, and staying curious and courageous.

Mentioned in this episode:

Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent by Enuma Okoro (You can also purchase this resource through The Upper Room!)

Enuma’s Substack A Little Heart to Heart

Poem reference:  Gerard Manley Hopkins’ Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

 

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Journey from Advent Music in Solitude

Help us expand our online and digital presence so that we can make teaching, practices and experiences more accessible for you as you continue to seek God in your life and leadership! To contribute towards our year end fundraising efforts, you can GIVE HERE.

 

Support the podcast! This season patrons will receive special bonus episodes that take the conversation deeper with a practice or continued dialogue.  Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self! Learn more and apply HERE.

 

*this post contains affiliate links

Charity, Jeff, and Colleen are joined this week by the Transforming Center’s ambassador and resident theologian, David Hughes. David brings a depth of wisdom and experience to this conversation. The four continue to explore the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah, exploring the importance of finding safe spiritual companionship, the interplay between wilderness and community in spiritual growth, and the promises of hope and joy during Advent. They emphasize the need for vulnerability, acceptance, and spiritual community, whether within or beyond traditional church settings, to navigate transformative experiences.

 

This season, as Advent falls on the heels of a contentious election season here in America and amidst the reality of war and violence around the world, we here at the Transforming Center wanted to approach the Advent podcast season with the awareness that many people are deeply in need of space and hope right now. TC staff member Charity McClure and ministry partners Jeff James and Colleen Powell will be walking listeners through Advent with the intention of broadening and deepening the practice and experience of silence as a way to hold that space. Using Enuma Okoro’s book 'Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent, which highlights the story of Elizabeth and Zachariah, for inspiration and wisdom, Charity and Jeff will be joined by guests as they explore themes of lament, barrenness, waiting, dependence on God, community, friendship, and hope.

 

Mentioned in this episode:

Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent by Enuma Okoro (You can also purchase this resource through The Upper Room!)

Howard Thurman’s prayer “Lord, Open Unto Me”

 

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

O Come O Come Emmanuel from Advent Music in Solitude

Help us expand our online and digital presence so that we can make teaching, practices and experiences more accessible for you as you continue to seek God in your life and leadership! To contribute towards our year end fundraising efforts, you can GIVE HERE.

 

Support the podcast! This season patrons will receive special bonus episodes that take the conversation deeper with a practice or continued dialogue.  Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self! Learn more and apply HERE.

 

*this post contains affiliate links

If a greater understanding and awareness of our own desires is part of the future of Christian spirituality, then today’s topic, spiritual direction, is a necessary companion in that journey of discovery. In this episode, Ruth shares some of her thoughts on what spiritual direction is and is not, why she thinks it is an important part of the future of Christian spirituality, and some of her own personal experience as a director and a directee. Then she shares a conversation with Transforming Center friend and alumn, Reverend Dr. David Hughes, about his experience as a high-level pastor and leader who found himself with a surprising invitation to spiritual direction. David shares about how strange and even uncomfortable the practice was initially and why he thinks it’s especially important for men to enter into spiritual direction.

This season we are exploring the future of Christian spirituality. Based on her own experience and the lives of people she accompanies on the journey, Ruth has been naming what she is noticing and observing regarding the future of Christian spirituality– how the Spirit is moving and how we can align ourselves to participate in the future God is leading us into. Elements she is naming include respect for the role of desire; emphasis on spiritual direction; welcoming and inclusive; committed to justice; and more. This season Ruth will sit down with thoughtful Christian leaders to discuss their thoughts on one of these elements, as it has to do with the future of Christian spirituality. This season was inspired by the Beyond Words series by the same name. Check out those posts here.

 

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Chasing Butterflies from Music in Solitude

 

Support the podcast! This season patrons will receive special bonus episodes with each guest, guiding listeners on how to pray into these different topics. Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self! Learn more and apply HERE.

 

*this post contains affiliate links

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 together.

 

In this conversation, we wondered what it looked like to “lift your soul to God” in the midst of so many difficult realities, how we bring our anger and despair to God, and Ruth’s practice of watching for the light each day. Ruth concluded with the poem “For the Darkness of Waiting” by Janet Morely. 

 

Mentioned in this episode:

Invitation to Silence and Solitude by Ruth Haley Barton

Bread of Tomorrow: Prayers for the Church Year by Janet Morely

This podcast season is designed to be a companion to this year’s updated Advent Reflections, “Come, Lord Jesus, Come: Walking Through the Advent Season Together, Year C.”  The Advent Bundle includes both the softcover and digital edition of the Advent Reflections and a set of 5 corresponding Advent Liturgies to print out and pray as a family or with others. It is available now in our online store.

This month, patrons at all levels received a bonus conversation between the creator of the Advent Liturgies, Charity McClure, and podcast producer, Colleen Powell where they discussed their experience using these liturgies with their families. Become a Patron today to hear that conversation and all of our other bonus content.

Season 14 of the podcast invites leaders to walk through Advent by engaging with the lectionary Scripture readings for the New Year of the church calendar and listening for what God might want to say to us through them. In each episode, Ruth will sit down with members of the Transforming Center staff to read and reflect on the themes of Cycle C of the Revised Common Lectionary for Advent. This podcast season is designed to be a companion to this year’s updated Advent Reflections, “Come, Lord Jesus, Come: Walking Through the Advent Season Together, Year C.”  The Advent Bundle includes both the softcover and digital edition of the Advent Reflections and a set of 5 corresponding Advent Liturgies to print out and pray as a family or with others. It is available now in our online store.

 

Patrons at all levels received a bonus conversation this month between the creator of the Advent Liturgies, Charity McClure, and podcast producer, Colleen Powell where they discussed their experience using these liturgies with their families. Become a Patron today to hear that conversation and all of our other bonus content.

 

Please join us when the new season of the podcast begins on November 22

BONUS: Ask Ruth #3 Excerpt

 

In this bonus episode, we want to share another excerpt from our most recent Ask Ruth episode.  Every month we release bonus content to our patrons through Patreon. In our Ask Ruth series, patrons get the opportunity to submit questions for Ruth to answer. Ask Ruth #3 covered questions specific to season 13 of The Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast | Invitations from God. In this excerpt, you can hear Ruth share what she thinks are the most important invitations for pastors to respond to right now.

 

The Ask Ruth series is available to patrons at both the $5 and $10 levels. Patrons at the $10 monthly level also receive regular Beyond the Episode content when the podcast is in season. These episodes take the conversations from The Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast to deeper and more personal places.

 

We would love for you to join us over on Patreon! You can go to our Patreon page to sign up to become a patron and support our podcast ministry.

In this special bonus episode, we are sharing a conversation with Biz Gainey, a pastor and long-time Transforming Community alum, about his experience leading a Transforming Church. The Becoming a Transforming Church Retreat has equipped him and his team to foster a community that gathers around the presence of Christ for the purpose of spiritual transformation so that they can discern and do the will of God. Biz shares the practices and disciplines his church uses for spiritual formation and how they have served him and his congregation in the midst of challenges facing many churches today.

 

If you are interested in attending the upcoming Becoming a Transforming Church retreat on November 1-3 find out more here.

 

To sign up and receive special promotional pricing exclusive for podcast listeners email podcast@transformingcenter.org

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

On this last episode of season 13, listen as Ruth and Adele discuss God’s invitation to the most excellent way: love. Using 1 Corinthians 13 as a guide, they examine the counterfeits of love as well as love’s litmus tests.  We close with an opportunity to reflect on all the invitations covered in this season and ponder which one God might be nudging you to explore more deeply.

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

 

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Music Credit:

Yesterday Today Forever: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store) 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

In this week’s conversation, Ruth and Adele explore the invitation to remember. They discuss how we remember, the forces that shape our narratives around our memories, God’s invitation to allow our memories to uncover truths about the present day, and the discipline of remembering God’s goodness and faithfulness. God’s invitation to remember, both the good and the bad, can be a catalyst for healing in our lives.

 

 

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

The Healing Presence by Leanne Payne

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

In this episode, Ruth and Adele use the Lord’s Prayer to examine God’s invitation to prayer. They share what God is currently calling each of them to as it pertains to prayer. How does the “Our” in the opening line “Our Father” call us to “a seismic shift in orientation” and what does it mean to bring God’s kingdom to earth inside of us as we pray? Adele closes with practical ways to incorporate prayer into the margins of your life.

 

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder 

Engaging a transforming conversation around policing in America (Beyond Words Blog post)

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Music Credit:

Grace and Peace: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store) 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

This week Ruth and Adele discuss God’s invitation to wait. They process the difference between good waiting and bad waiting and ask what waiting exposes in us? The two also examine when waiting is avoidance, particularly as it pertains to justice and how to discern when to wait and when to act. Finally, they also look at what invitations to wait God might have for the church as we come out of the pandemic. 

 

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Music Credit:

Springs of Living Water: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store) 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

The invitation to forgive is one of our most weighty invitations, as Ruth and Adele will explore. In this conversation, they will put some definitions around forgiveness, reconciliation, and how our narratives and facts are involved when it comes to the process of forgiveness. They share wisdom for when forgiveness is needed but not offered and close with tangible support for pastors to enter into their own process of forgiveness as they untangle the many wounds they may have received in this difficult season. 

 

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

The Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson 

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Music Credit:

Grace And Peace: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store) 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

The invitation in this episode may be our most challenging yet: God’s invitation to admit I might be wrong. Why is it so hard to admit that we may be wrong and how does shame keep us from this invitation? Ruth and Adele discuss the invitation to teachability, confession, discerning when to allow space to be wrong and when to speak up for what is right, and more.

 

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

The future of Christian spirituality will be propelled by a greater understanding and respect for the role of desire and desperation in the spiritual life. That is Ruth’s belief and our topic du jour. And to tackle a topic this important and encompassing, we needed two guests! Father Ron Rolheiser returns to discuss how the concept of desire has been misunderstood and even feared, the importance of desire in the spiritual life, and guidance for living with these complex dynamics within ourselves.

Then, Tiffany Childress Price joins Ruth to discuss how her journey with desire took her from her life as a teacher on the west side of Chicago to becoming a summertime farmhand on an urban farm. She also shares the healing that came along the way and how attending to and following her deepest desires has impacted her parenting and made her a more loving and merciful person. 

This season we are exploring the future of Christian spirituality. Based on her own experience and the lives of people she accompanies on the journey, Ruth has been naming what she is noticing and observing regarding the future of Christian spirituality– how the Spirit is moving and how we can align ourselves to participate in the future God is leading us into. Elements she is naming include respect for the role of desire; emphasis on spiritual direction; welcoming and inclusive; committed to justice; and more. This season Ruth will sit down with thoughtful Christian leaders to discuss their thoughts on one of these elements, as it has to do with the future of Christian spirituality. This season was inspired by the Beyond Words series by the same name. Check out those posts here.

Ronald Rolheiser is a Roman Catholic priest and member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He is President Emeritus of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, and a Professor of Spirituality there. He is a community builder, lecturer, and writer. Along with his academic knowledge in systematic theology and philosophy, he has become a popular speaker in the areas of contemporary spirituality, religion, and secularity.

Tiffany Childress Price is in her 18th year as a public school teacher and serves in Chicago Public Schools as an instructional coach. Tiffany is married to Bobby and they have three sons: Elah, Solomon and Elias, and their beloved Bull Terrier, Circle. They make their home in the Greater Lawndale community on the West side of Chicago and enjoy hiking, cycling, road tripping, and taking Amtrak trips to new places.

 

Mentioned in this episode:

The Holy Longing by Ron Rolheiser 

The Confessions of St. Augustine by St. Augustine of Hippo

Befriending our Desires by Philip Sheldrake

The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis

Before the Living God by Ruth Burrows

 

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Dusk from Music in Solitude

 

Support the podcast! This season patrons will receive special bonus episodes with each guest, guiding listeners on how to pray into these different topics. Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self! Learn more and apply HERE.

 

*this post contains affiliate links

In this week’s episode, Ruth and Adele discuss God’s invitation to weep. Listen as the two cover the gift of tears, as well as what makes it hard to weep. As we come out of the pandemic it may be easy to miss this invitation in favor of celebrating our ability to return to the many things lost in the last year. Why should leaders create awareness and space to name these losses and mourn them? What practical things can we do to help us grieve? 

 

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

In this episode, Ruth and Adele respond to God’s invitation to rest. They acknowledge the fears and cultural rewards that keep us from resting and examine what freedoms we might have found during the pandemic that we want to carry with us into a new season as it pertains to rest. And finally, they discuss soft addictions that prevent true rest and provide practical disciplines to help us respond to this very important invitation.

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Barna article about groups returning to church (or not) after pandemic (barna.com)

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

This week Ruth and Adele are breaking down the invitation to practice the presence of people. What does it mean to “shine your face upon someone” and why is our physical presence so important? Listen as Ruth and Adele tackle the notion of “relationship quotas” and share their thoughts on how to respond to this invitation in relationships that have been fractured by all that has happened during the last year and a half.

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Dr. Edward Tronick Still Face Experiment (YouTube)

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self! 

For this special bonus episode, we wanted to give all of our listeners a peek into what is happening over on Patreon. This is a short sample of our bonus “Ask Ruth” series where patrons get the opportunity to ask Ruth questions and hear her responses in an exclusive to patrons episode. In this episode, hear Ruth speak to the issue many Christians are facing as they figure out how to return to a church that may have revealed itself to hold very different views on what it means to be a follower of Christ in regards to power, racial justice, etc. over the last year. As expected, Ruth’s response is full of wisdom, grace, and insight.

 

The Ask Ruth series is available to patrons at both the $5 and $10 levels. Patrons at the $10 a month level also receive regular Beyond the Episode content when the podcast is in season. These episodes come out after the main feed episode has been released and contain conversations that relate to the main episode but are more extensive or personal than what is covered in the main episode.

 

If you are interested in what we provide our patrons, head over to our Patreon page and become a patron today to support our podcast ministry.

 

Listen as Ruth and Adele use the invitation from chapter two of Invitations from God to examine the ways following and leading are connected in the life of Christ and what it means to steward your role as a follower well. What do we do when the leaders we follow disappoint and how does this invitation to follow fall differently on people groups depending on their historic ability or lack thereof to lead in their own right? 

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

 

Support the podcast by joining our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

In this episode, Ruth and Adele discuss chapter 1, Invitation to Participate in Your Own Healing. Ruth and Adele cover everything from the particular wounds we have encountered societally over the past year and a half to how to identify participation in healing versus passively waiting for something to happen to us. Learn what happens when we ignore this invitation and become transmitters of pain and what practices help us to respond to this invitation. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

The Six-Way Fracturing of Evangelicalism (mereorthodoxy.com)

Invitations From God by Adele Calhoun

 

Become a patron and check out our revamped patron program over on Patreon. Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Music Credit: Anthem: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store) 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

Welcome to season 13! Ruth is spending this season with her dear friend and fellow spiritual director, Adele Calhoun, discussing Adele’s book Invitations from God. The invitations outlined in this book are particularly relevant to us now, as we emerge from what has been a life-shaping season. In this first episode listen as Ruth and Adele discuss what attending and responding to God’s invitations does inside each of them and the ways freedom and invitations are deeply interconnected.

 

If you sign up to become a patron in the month of June you will receive a free ebook of Adele’s book Invitations From God, as a thank you for your support.  Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Music Credit: Anthem: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store) 

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!  

Season 13 of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast is just around the corner! Join us on June 23 as we kick off a new season with Ruth’s friend and fellow spiritual director Adele Calhoun. In this special teaser episode hear Ruth and Steve share what’s in store for season 13 and learn about our revamped patron program!

 

If you sign up to become a patron in the month of June you will receive a free ebook of Adele’s book Invitations From God, the subject of season 13 of the podcast, as a thank you for your support.  Patrons will now also receive regular bonus content as well as opportunities to hear Ruth answer their questions. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access the podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Music Credit: Anthem: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store)

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Ruth and Steve conclude this season with some practical advice and discussing a persistent practice for leaders. How do we detach ourselves from all that is not God to attach ourselves to all that is God? A powerful conclusion for leaders who long to be in God for the world. We are grateful for Bob Mulholland's deeply theological and practical spiritual formation resource and encourage you to read this Transforming Resource. Pick up a copy of the Deeper Journey at your local bookstore or you can purchase in our new online store.  

Support the podcast now and immediately receive our Lent bonus

Podcast patrons at any level will receive our brand new revised digital download of Ruth Haley Barton's Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes all the scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Listen to other episodes from Season 12 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self, M. Robert Mulholland Jr. Lent: A Season of Returning, Ruth Haley Barton

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders! Become a patron at any level during Lent and immediately receive our new digital edition of Lent: A Season of Returning when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Lent: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

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 patrons at any level will receive our brand new revised digital download of Ruth Haley Barton's Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes all the scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Listen to other episodes from Season 12 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self, M. Robert Mulholland Jr. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives, Wayne Muller Lent: A Season of Returning, Ruth Haley Barton

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders! Become a patron at any level during Lent and immediately receive our new digital edition of Lent: A Season of Returning when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Lent: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Welcome to season 24! This season we are exploring the future of Christian spirituality. Based on her own experience and the lives of people she accompanies on the journey, Ruth has been naming what she is noticing and observing regarding the future of Christian spirituality– how the Spirit is moving and how we can align ourselves to participate in the future God is leading us into. Elements she is naming include respect for the role of desire; emphasis on spiritual direction; welcoming and inclusive; committed to justice; and more. This season Ruth will sit down with thoughtful Christian leaders to discuss their thoughts on one of these elements, as it has to do with the future of Christian spirituality. This season was inspired by the Beyond Words series by the same name. Check out those posts here.

In this episode, Ruth sits down with Father Ron Rolheiser. This topic for this season was born out of an invitation from Ron to Ruth in 2019. Ruth was invited to speak at a conference honoring Ron’s time at the Oblate School. The conference theme was the future of Christian spirituality. This idea has captivated Ruth, and she has been thinking and writing about it ever since. In today’s episode, Ruth and Father Ron discuss their thoughts on the future broadly. They discuss theology vs. spirituality, how going deeper into our own denominations brings us toward unity, and how God is like a GPS that never tires. The two close with their thoughts on how the future of Christian spirituality is Christocentric and what that looks like in practice. 

Did the audio quality make it difficult to hear episode 1? You were not alone. Ronald Rolheiser’s audio quality was not great and yet what he said was worth the extra effort. We have transcribed the episode in the hopes it  would help you digest this great content. Find the transcript HERE.

Ronald Rolheiser is a Roman Catholic priest and member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He is President Emeritus of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, and a Professor of Spirituality there. He is a community builder, lecturer, and writer. Along with his academic knowledge in systematic theology and philosophy, he has become a popular speaker in the areas of contemporary spirituality, religion, and secularity.

Mentioned in this episode:

Our Secular Age by Charles Taylor

The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser

Befriending our Desires by Philip Sheldrake

 

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Tender Moment from Music in Solitude

 

Support the podcast! This season patrons will receive special bonus episodes with each guest, guiding listeners on how to pray into these different topics. Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self! Learn more and apply HERE.

 

*this post contains affiliate links

We have been deep in theological waters in this season. In this episode  we are going to look at abandoning our false self through the lens of the Enneagram. This is not going to be a deep dive, but it is aligned with what the purpose of the enneagram – a tool to help us recognizing our own besetting sin.  

Support the podcast now and immediately receive our Lent bonus

Podcast patrons at any level will receive our brand new revised digital download of Ruth Haley Barton's Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes all the scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

 

Listen to other episodes from Season 12 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self, M. Robert Mulholland Jr. Self to Lose, Self to Find: Using the Enneagram to Uncover Your True, God-Gifted Self, Marilyn Vancil  Lent: A Season of Returning, Ruth Haley Barton

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders! Become a patron at any level during Lent and immediately receive our new digital edition of Lent: A Season of Returning when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Lent: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Episode 4 starts with some very good news if you are feeling trapped by your false self. This episode raises up some theological questions and Robert Mulholland's perspective as a New Testament theologian. Good news for those who are struggling with being stuck. Maybe God is knocking. A rich episode that will challenge and encourage you, and a practice to help become more open to the activity and presence of God in your life.

Support the podcast now and immediately receive our Lent bonus

Podcast patrons at any level will receive our brand new revised digital download of Ruth Haley Barton's Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes all the scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.

Listen to other episodes from Season 12 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self, M. Robert Mulholland Jr. Lent: A Season of Returning, Ruth Haley Barton

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders! Become a patron at any level during Lent and immediately receive our new digital edition of Lent: A Season of Returning when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Lent: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Ruth names it – this is the most convicting part of the book for any of us who are Christians – especially for Christian leaders. Steve and Ruth have different reasons it is difficult to acknowledge their religious false self. If anyone thought we were done with the attributes of the false self in the last episode be warned – Mulholland brings up the list again.  There is no doubt, our religious false is very dangerous and it is alive and well in all of us. Ruth ends with sharing Mulholland's penetrating questions that conclude chapter 3. 

Support the podcast now and immediately receive our Lent bonus

Podcast patrons at any level will receive our brand new revised digital download of Ruth Haley Barton's Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes all the scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

You can also access podcast on Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 12 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self, M. Robert Mulholland Jr. Lent: A Season of Returning, Ruth Haley Barton

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders! Become a patron at any level during Lent and immediately receive our new digital edition of Lent: A Season of Returning when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Lent: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Ruth and Steve begin the second episode defining terms – expanding on Mulholland's definition of the false self. A lot of what is happenings in churches is superficial tinkering, and the reality is that not everyone in the church is on the same journey. The Bible doesn't call it the narrow way for nothing. Steve and Ruth work their way through the basic attributes of the false self. The episode ends with a discussion of the role of community in wrestling with the false self because one is often choosing between good and good and Ruth's reminder of the role of the spirit.

Support the podcast now and immediately receive our Lent bonus

Podcast patrons at any level will receive our brand new revised digital download of Ruth Haley Barton's Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes all the scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 12 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self, M. Robert Mulholland Jr. Lent: A Season of Returning, Ruth Haley Barton

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders! Become a patron at any level during Lent and immediately receive our new digital edition of Lent: A Season of Returning when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Lent: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

We are excited to be back with our first season of 2021. Ruth launches the season by connecting Robert Mulholland's book, The Deeper Journey with the season of Lent and discussing the Examen and leadership. Is the goal of the Christian life to become like Christ? Listen to the first episode to find out the surprising answer. If you would like to read along with this podcast season you can purchase Robert Mulholland's book, The Deeper Journey, at your favorite place to buy books or visit our online store https://transformingcenter.christianbook.com/deeper-journey-spirituality-discovering-true-self/m-mulholland/9780830846184/pd/846184?event=Home-Pages|1015322

Support the podcast and immediately receive our Lent bonus. Podcast patrons at any level will receive our brand new revised digital download of Ruth Haley Barton's Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes all the scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry. Visit https://transformingcenter.org/patron/

Mentioned in this podcast: The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self, M. Robert Mulholland Jr. Lent: A Season of Returning, Ruth Haley Barton

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders! Become a patron at any level during Lent and immediately receive our new digital edition of Lent: A Season of Returning when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Lent: Music in Solitude CD (Available soon in our online store)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

 

We are excited to be back with our first season of 2021. If you would like to read along with this podcast season you can purchase Robert Mulholland's book, The Deeper Journey, at your favorite place to buy books or visit our online store https://transformingcenter.christianbook.com/deeper-journey-spirituality-discovering-true-self/m-mulholland/9780830846184/pd/846184?event=Home-Pages|1015322

Support the podcast and immediately receive our Lent bonus. Podcast patrons at any level will receive our brand new revised digital download of Ruth Haley Barton's Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes all the scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. Become a patron today and support our podcast ministry. Visit https://transformingcenter.org/patron/

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

 

Join Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins for spiritual encouragement based on this year's Advent Reflections (Cycle B) with an episode for each week of Advent. This podcast season is designed to help leaders (and everyone) carve out time to make Advent a season of transformation. If you would like to make listening to the scriptures each day a spiritual practice for this season, there is a link below. The podcast conversation begins at 8:00.

Scriptures only for Advent Cycle B Christmastide

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 11 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Advent Reflections: Revive Restore Reveal Revised Common Lectionary and guidance on how to use the lectionary

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders.  We need you! Become a patron at any level through December 31 and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Advent: Music in Solitude CD (this is currently not available for purchase. New store coming January 2021)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Join Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins for spiritual encouragement based on this year's Advent Reflections (Cycle B) with an episode for each week of Advent. This podcast season is designed to help leaders (and everyone) carve out time to make Advent a season of transformation. If you would like to make listening to the scriptures each day a spiritual practice for this season, there is a link below. The podcast conversation begins at 7:31.

Scriptures only for Advent Cycle B Fourth Sunday of Advent

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 11 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Advent Reflections: Revive Restore Reveal Revised Common Lectionary and guidance on how to use the lectionary

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders.  We need you! Become a patron at any level through December 31 and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Advent: Music in Solitude CD (this is currently not available for purchase. New store coming January 2021)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Join Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins are definitely keepin' it real. Listen and discover what is so far in the rear view mirror for Ruth. Based on this year's Advent Reflections (Cycle B), this podcast season is designed to help leaders (and everyone) carve out time to make Advent a season of transformation. If you would like to make listening to the scriptures each day a spiritual practice for this season, there is a link below. The podcast conversation begins at 7:15.

Scriptures only for Advent Cycle B Third Sunday of Advent

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 11Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Advent Reflections: Revive Restore Reveal Revised Common Lectionary and guidance on how to use the lectionary

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders.  We need you! Become a patron at any level through December 31 and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Advent: Music in Solitude CD (this is currently not available for purchase. New store coming January 2021)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Join Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins for spiritual encouragement based on this year's Advent Reflections (Cycle B) with an episode for each week of Advent. This podcast season is designed to help leaders (and everyone) carve out time to make Advent a season of transformation. If you would like to make listening to the scriptures each day a spiritual practice for this season, there is a link below. The podcast conversation begins at 7:35.

Scriptures only for Advent Cycle B Second Sunday of Advent

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 11 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Advent Reflections: Revive Restore Reveal Revised Common Lectionary and guidance on how to use the lectionary

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders.  We need you! Become a patron at any level through December 31 and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Advent: Music in Solitude CD (this is currently not available for purchase. New store coming January 2021)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Finally, we’ve arrived at the head center! Ruth and Erin will discuss the 5s, 6s, and 7s of this triad and their special relationship to fear. Erin and Ruth cover all the aspects we’ve been discussing this season as they apply to the head center: the instincts and their impact on the numbers, what unique challenges and transformation opportunities exist in this triad, and how to love our 5s, 6s, and 7s well. Ruth also asks Erin some broader enneagram questions about wings and arrows (and you’ll hear producer Colleen chime in with some clarifying questions here) and what spirituality she applies to the enneagram. Erin also briefly gives us an overview of a few enneagram theories, including the rules of 1, 3, and 7. Over on Patreon, Erin continues to share journal prompts for 5s, 6s, and 7s as well as guidance specific to the unique challenges for head center folks as they work through those questions. Additionally, she elaborates on those enneagram theories that we could only briefly touch on in the episode.

This season we are using the framework of the enneagram, and in particular the ways the 3 instinctual subtypes impact each enneagram number, to help people do the necessary inner work of knowing themselves and managing anxiety, triggers, and stuck patterns so that they can lead others well. This season, we are moving beyond the basics of describing each number type to look at our instincts and what motivates our behaviors. Special guest Erin Baute, a leadership behavior strategist with over 20 years of experience in behavior change and professional development, joins us all season long to help us do this important work.

 

Erin Baute is a professional business coach and leadership behavior strategist with over 20 years of experience in behavior change and professional development, working with individuals and teams. She has a bachelor’s degree in Human Development, a Master of Public Health and a PhD in Organizational Psychology, with a focus on personal and professional development using personality as a framework underway. She has been studying and using Enneagram for 14 years and is a Certified Enneagram Teacher and Trainer and an Accredited Enneagram Professional from the International Enneagram Association (IEA). You can find more information about Erin on her website, https://livingtheenneagram.com/, or follow her on Instagram, @livingtheenneagram!

Helpful Enneagram Resources:

We are diving straight into the deep end of the enneagram this season. If you need some introductory resources to the Enneagram, we highly recommend the following:

Self to Lose, Self to Find by Marilyn Vancil

The Road Back To You by Suzanne Stabile and Ian Cron

The Story of You by Ian Cron

The Enneagram for Black Liberation by Chichi Agorom

The Enneagram A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr

Support the Transforming Center! Right now you can double the impact of your gift through a $25,000 challenge gift from an alum. Donate today and receive our Good Things ‘zine!

 

Join our Patreon Book Club this summer! Patrons at all levels will have the opportunity to read and discuss Ashlee Eiland’s newest book, Say Good: Speaking Across Hot Topics, Complex Relationships, and Tense Situations. We will meet twice over Zoom, once in July and once in August (with special guest, author Ashlee Eiland! ), to dialogue about the book and our own experiences speaking across difficult topics and conversations. Visit our Patreon page for more information and to sign up today!

 

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Anthem from Music in Solitude

 

Support the podcast! This season patrons will receive weekly bonus episodes that will help take these conversations deeper. We have journal prompts for each of the 9 numbers, guidance from Erin on how to determine your instinct or subtype, and more! Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self! Learn more and apply HERE.

 

*this post contains affiliate links

Happy New Year! Advent marks the beginning of the church year. Join Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins for spiritual encouragement based on this year's Advent Reflections (Cycle B) with an episode for each week of Advent. This podcast season is designed to help leaders (and everyone) carve out time to make Advent a season of transformation. If you would like to make listening to the scriptures each day a spiritual practice for this season, there is a link below. The podcast conversation begins at 7:19.

Scriptures only for Advent Cycle B

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

 

Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Advent Reflections: Revive Restore Reveal Revised Common Lectionary and guidance on how to use the lectionary

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders.  We need you! Become a patron at any level through December 31 and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: Advent: Music in Solitude CD (this is currently not available for purchase. New store coming January 2021)

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!

Our next podcast season is designed to help leaders carve out some time to make Advent a season of transformation for themselves. Join Ruth and Steve for spiritual encouragement with an episode for each week of Advent. Based on this year's Advent Reflections (Cycle B), you can enhance your Advent practice when you follow along with a digital version of this popular resource. It is yours free, when you become a patron at any level. Visit transformingcenter.org/patron today. Our first episode launches on Monday November 23. 

There is a tension between personal holiness and social holiness. This last episode is a helpful conclusion to the season and serves to protect us from dangers on the spiritual journey, and sadly, once again Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins have to deal with the issue of control. There are some radical demands of a vital relationship with God. Wow.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 10 | Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

What is the body of Christ? If you think it is only the church little “c” you will want to listen to this episode. Frustrated with your local church? Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins have some bad news for you and it will likely surprise you. Join them for an expanding conversation about corporate spirituality.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 10 | Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

We jump into the deep weeds in episode 8 and begin with a paradox and Romans 8:10. Note there is a dead body in this episode, and neither Ruth Haley Barton or Steve Weins want to talk about it. In Mulholland's work, he talks about silence, solitude and prayer as postures and not just practices – inviting us into a deeper journey where only God can do the work. Very inviting and very challenging.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 10 | Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland Invitation to Solitude and Silence, Ruth Haley Barton

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

We begin this episode by redeeming the word “disciplines" by offering up the word “practices” and looking at disciplines through the lens of desire and about opening ourselves up to God, reminding us that we are not in charge of our spiritual journey. Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins discuss four practices: prayer, spiritual readings, lectio divina, and liturgy. They sound familiar, but be prepared for some refreshing ideas on how to use them to open yourself up to God. SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 10 | Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

In this episode, Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins move to looking at the four classic Christian stages of spiritual journey – awakening, purgation, illumination, union. Mulholland makes a valuable contribution to our understanding with five aspects of purgation. Steve and Ruth discuss current events and why we shouldn't shy away from the sin of omission in regards to systematic racial injustice and the role the church has played it in.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 10 | Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weins continue their discussion of holistic spirituality, and they finish their discussion of the personality types. You will want to catch Part 1 to fill out the discussion.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 10 Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

What is Holistic Spirituality? How does one nurture the whole person along with answering this question: What does love require of me? Because insisting on "being myself” is really not holistic spirituality. Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Wiens discuss both the positive and negative expressions of each of the Myers-Briggs personality types.

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You can also access this episode on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 10 Access past podcast seasons

This season we are walking through Invitation to a Journey, part of the Transforming Resources collection published by InterVarsity Press. We encourage you to get a copy of the book, and now more than ever is a great way to support a local book store, or you can buy it directly from the publishers website. IVP is even offering Invitation to A Journey at 30% off — Visit them at Ivpress.com and use code: SOUL30. Offer expires on July 15, 2020.

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Listen in to learn what creation gifts are and how they relate to our spiritual journey. Make no mistake, this journey is not about self actualization. Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Wiens discuss why Mulholland uses Myers-Briggs. A relevant conversation in a time when the Enneagram is overhyped.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 10 | Access past podcast seasons

This season we are walking through Invitation to a Journey, part of the Transforming Resources collection published by InterVarsity Press. We encourage you to get a copy of the book, and now more than ever is a great way to support a local book store, or you can buy it directly from the publishers website. IVP is even offering Invitation to A Journey at 30% off — Visit them at Ivpress.com and use code: SOUL30. Offer expires on July 15, 2020.

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

It’s time for the heart center numbers! Ruth and Erin will discuss the 2s, 3s, and 4s of this triad and their special relationship to connection and disconnection. Erin breaks down each of these numbers and how their instincts impact them. They talk about the challenges our broken and often violent world presents for those in this feelings-centered triad, as well as the unique ways the world needs their heart more than ever. Over on Patreon, Erin continues to share journal prompts for 2s, 3s, and 4s as well as guidance specific to the unique challenges for heart center folks as they work through those questions.

This season we are using the framework of the enneagram, and in particular the ways the 3 instinctual subtypes impact each enneagram number, to help people do the necessary inner work of knowing themselves and managing anxiety, triggers, and stuck patterns so that they can lead others well. This season, we are moving beyond the basics of describing each number type to look at our instincts and what motivates our behaviors. Special guest Erin Baute, a leadership behavior strategist with over 20 years of experience in behavior change and professional development, joins us all season long to help us do this important work.

 

Erin Baute is a professional business coach and leadership behavior strategist with over 20 years of experience in behavior change and professional development, working with individuals and teams. She has a bachelor’s degree in Human Development, a Master of Public Health and a PhD in Organizational Psychology, with a focus on personal and professional development using personality as a framework underway. She has been studying and using Enneagram for 14 years and is a Certified Enneagram Teacher and Trainer and an Accredited Enneagram Professional from the International Enneagram Association (IEA). You can find more information about Erin on her website, https://livingtheenneagram.com/, or follow her on Instagram, @livingtheenneagram!

Helpful Enneagram Resources:

We are diving straight into the deep end of the enneagram this season. If you need some introductory resources to the Enneagram, we highly recommend the following:

Self to Lose, Self to Find by Marilyn Vancil

The Road Back To You by Suzanne Stabile and Ian Cron

The Story of You by Ian Cron

The Enneagram for Black Liberation by Chichi Agorom

The Enneagram A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr

 

Join our Patreon Book Club this summer! Patrons at all levels will have the opportunity to read and discuss Ashlee Eiland’s newest book, Say Good: Speaking Across Hot Topics, Complex Relationships, and Tense Situations. We will meet twice over Zoom, once in July and once in August (with special guest, author Ashlee Eiland! ), to dialogue about the book and our own experiences speaking across difficult topics and conversations. Visit our Patreon page for more information and to sign up today!

 

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

No Matter What from Music in Solitude

 

Support the podcast! This season patrons will receive weekly bonus episodes that will help take these conversations deeper. We have journal prompts for each of the 9 numbers, guidance from Erin on how to determine your instinct or subtype, and more! Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

 

The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self! Learn more and apply HERE.

 

*this post contains affiliate links

Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Wiens continue their conversation about the road map of spiritual formation and discuss what it means to be transformed into the image of Christ. Confirmed to the image of Christ does not mean we are trying to copy Christ, because when we try to copy someone we are not being changed. This is something far deeper. A wonderful rich conversation about holiness as wholeness. If you feel shame, you want to listen to this episode. We conclude with the idea of what "for the sake of others” means.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Listen to other episodes from Season 10  | Access past podcast seasons

———————————————

This season we are walking through Invitation to a Journey, part of the Transforming Resources collection published by InterVarsity Press. We encourage you to get a copy of the book, and now more than ever is a great way to support a local book store, or you can buy it directly from the publishers website. IVP is even offering Invitation to A Journey at 30% off — Visit them at Ivpress.com and use code: SOUL30. Offer expires on July 15, 2020.

———————————————

Mentioned in this podcast:

• Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland
• The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery by David Benner
• Mr Rogers Documentary: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
• A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level. Music

Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

When the student is ready the teacher appears. Ruth begins by sharing the story of her friendship with Bob Mulholland and how the Transforming Center has come to stewards some of his works. As always, we start with definitions and Bob’s definition in Ruth's estimation is the greatest and full of grace! Self compassion and patience is needed for this journey as we are products of a culture that is all about instant gratification. Spiritual formation is the great reversal. It requires more of us than anything that we can do in the world. Join Ruth Haley Barton and her conversation partner, Steve Wiens, as we begin a new journey.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.

Access past podcast seasons

———————————————

This season we are walking through Invitation to a Journey, part of the Transforming Resources collection published by InterVarsity Press. We encourage you to get a copy of the book, and now more than ever is a great way to support a local book store, or you can buy it directly from the publishers website. IVP is even offering Invitation to A Journey at 30% off — Visit them at Ivpress.com and use code: SOUL30. Offer expires on July 15, 2020.

———————————————

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: I am New by Joel Hanson. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

This season we are walking through Invitation to a Journey, part of the Transforming Resources collection published by InterVarsity Press. We encourage you to get a copy of the book, and now more than ever is a great way to support a local book store, or you can buy it directly from the publishers website. IVP is even offering Invitation to A Journey at 30% off — Visit them at Ivpress.com and use code: SOUL30. Offer expires on July 15, 2020.

Access past podcast seasons

Mentioned in this podcast: Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, M. Robert Mulholland

Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron this summer and receive our free Fixed- Hour Prayers for Families with guidance for how to get started and ideas for engaging children when you become a patron at any level.

Music Credit: New Way to Live written by Joel Hanson. I am New written by Joel Hanson and Jason Gray. Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist.

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher.