The Contemplative Pastor – Details, episodes & analysis

What thoughtful shifts can we make in our churches to cultivate a deeper understanding and greater potential for discipleship?

In this first episode of The Contemplative Pastor, join John Mark Comer, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they explore how spiritual formation has reached its current moment in the Western church and consider the invitation for what might come next.

This teaching was delivered by John Mark Comer at the first annual Practicing the Way Pastor Conference in Portland, Oregon, in the fall of 2022.

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor. 

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.

The Contemplative Pastor is a podcast for the pastor who longs to embody a less hurried, less overwhelmed, less CEO-like form of leadership, and to recover the ancient path of pastoring in the way of Jesus.

Each episode features insightful teachings from guides and sages on key topics within spiritual formation, along with practical conversations on those teachings between Bryan Rouanzoin and Bethany Allen, pastors from Canopy Church and Bridgetown Church, followed by guided prayers and reflections to help you sit with the rich wisdom of each episode. 

Our aim? To shape a new, yet ancient, kind of pastor—more unhurried, more prayerful, more peaceful—and to see the formational role of the local church flourish once again.

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor.

This podcast and its episodes are free thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle, or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.

What might change if you saw pastoral ministry at its core not as leadership, but as suffering love?

In this episode, join John Mark Comer, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they honestly consider the risks and wounds of pastoring while holding up the goal of a faithful and fruitful lifetime of following Jesus that leads others to the same.

This teaching was delivered by John Mark Comer at a gathering called Searock in Los Angeles, California in the summer of 2022. Searock is a cohort of pastors seeking the renewal of the church through building hopeful and courageous leaders.

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor. 

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.

Is your life as a pastor arranged in such a way that you are experiencing deep joy, contentment, and freedom in your life with God?

In this episode, join John Ortberg, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they explore the vision for building an inner life that can allow you and your ministry to flourish, even amid the unique demands and temptations of pastoring today.

This teaching was delivered by John at the first annual Practicing the Way Pastor Conference in Portland, Oregon, in the fall of 2022.

John Ortberg is a pastor, author, and speaker. He’s been in ministry for over 40 years and teaches around a central theme of spiritual formation. John is a deep believer that the main thing God gets out of your life is the person you become. He desires for people to know God in an interactive, life-transforming way. Presently, John leads the ministry Become New, focused on helping you grow spiritually one day at a time.

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor. 

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.

What if the table was the primary gathering place for the family of God?

In this episode, join John Mark Comer, Daena Dooley, and Chris and Merryl Weinand for a highly practical conversation about what it looks like to move the table from the periphery to the centre of our lives and churches.

This conversation took place at the Practicing the Way Pastor Conference in Portland, Oregon, in the fall of 2024.

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor. 

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.

What are the stages of discipleship that we must consider to help cultivate a lifetime of discipleship to Jesus? 

In this episode, join John Mark Comer and Father Rolheiser as they explore lessons he’s learned after spending a half-century in the priesthood, what cultivating a mature life looks like while reckoning with age and illness, and the three stages of discipleship. This conversation took place in the spring of 2023.

Father Ronald Rolheiser is a priest, theologian, professor, and award-winning author whose life’s work has had a deep impact on Practicing the Way.

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor. 

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.

In what ways might your community be more spiritually impacted by their relational history than they realize?

In this episode, join Dr. Todd Hall, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin for part one of a conversation about how our relational history impacts our spiritual lives and the potential for the family of God to restore our relationships with one another and with God.

This teaching was held at the Practicing the Way Pastor Conference in Portland, Oregon, in 2024. 

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor.

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.

How is the ancient practice of a Rule of Life desperately needed in the modern church?

In this episode, join Gemma Ryan, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they explore how quiet, everyday rhythms can root you in Christ and anchor you through the demands of ministry.

This teaching and panel conversation was held at the Practicing the Way Pastor Conference in Portland, Oregon, in 2024. 

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor.

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.

What could change for you if you returned to the first principles of the Gospel? 

In this episode, join Rich Villodas, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they discuss leading from the inside out, and the kind of ministry that can be sustained not by activity or gifting, but only by an identity secured in Christ.  

This teaching was delivered by Rich Villodas at the Practicing the Way Pastor Conference in Portland, Oregon, in 2024. 

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor.

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.

If spiritual formation were the primary goal of your church, what might need to change?

In this episode, John Mark Comer invites us to consider whether the way we have organized church life is actually forming people into maturity in Christ, and the kinds of convictions that support a more intentional pathway of life-change. This is an invitation to a new, yet ancient pastoral imagination rooted in the way of Jesus — one that is slow, patient, and transformative.

This session was held at the Practicing the Way Pastor Conference in Los Angeles, California, in 2026. 

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor.

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/give.