In this final episode of season 1 of the Care for Pastors Podcast, Pastor Shane Becton shares the raw and redemptive journey of confronting unresolved anger after a season of ministry betrayal, leadership crisis, and personal loss. Shane opens up about the emotional toll of online accusations, sudden resignations within his church leadership, and the spiritual fog that followed.

When everything he had poured his life into began to unravel, Shane found himself consumed by hurt and confusion. But in his most broken moment, a quiet nudge from his wife led him to reach out to Care for Pastors, and that phone call marked the beginning of healing.

In this honest conversation, Shane reflects on:

• How anger can mask grief, fear, and disillusionment
• The challenges of leadership in crisis and isolation
• The role of wise counsel and mentorship in recovery
• Why processing pain is essential for personal and spiritual health
• How writing letters and pursuing Matthew 18-style reconciliation brought freedom
• What it means to rebuild life and ministry with surrender, not control

Resources mentioned on the episode:

Care for Pastors

If this episode spoke to you or someone you love, please share it with others in ministry who may be struggling. Subscribe to the Care for Pastors Podcast so you never miss an episode and leave a review to help others find support.

About our Guest:

Shane Becton is a seasoned ministry leader with over 25 years of experience in church leadership. He has faithfully served in various roles, including Family Ministries Pastor, Campus Pastor, and Executive Pastor, and now serves as the Lead Pastor of a growing church community, New Life Seacoast Church in New Hampshire. In 2019, Shane and his wife, Holly, relocated from the coast of North Carolina to New Hampshire, where they’ve continued to share the transforming message of Jesus and build meaningful relationships in their local community.

What happens when staying faithful in ministry means walking through the fire?

In this gripping and emotional episode, Robby sits down with Keith and Patti Johnson as they share their journey through 16 years of ministry pain, spiritual opposition, broken relationships, and a shocking cancer diagnosis that nearly took Patti’s life. What started as a season of relentless hardship turned into a story of restoration, as God began to heal not only Patti’s body but also their fractured church and estranged family.

From raw conversations with God in the hospital to powerful moments of quiet surrender, Keith and Patti offer a rare and honest look at what it means to obey God when everything around is falling apart. If you’ve ever asked, “Where is God in my suffering?”, this episode offers a deeply personal answer.

This conversation explores:

•  How obedience to God sometimes means staying in painful ministry assignments longer than you’d like.
• How God can restore and heal what is broken, even through the most difficult trials of our lives.
• Why community and humor are vital lifelines for surviving ministry wounds.
• That trusting God doesn’t always feel good, but it always leads to growth.
• How trials and suffering become sacred ground when God is trusted through it.

Resources mentioned on the episode:

Care for Pastors 

The Confidante for Pastors’ Wives

Hallelujah by Casting Crowns

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

If this conversation encouraged you or someone you love, share it. You never know who might need to hear they’re not alone. Be sure to subscribe to the Care for Pastors Podcast and leave a review to help others find this healing resource.

About our Guest:

Keith and Patti Johnson have served in pastoral ministry for over 16 years and have been married for 40 years. Keith is a lead pastor who is deeply committed to “teaching truth and loving well.” After coming to faith as an adult, he followed God’s call to ministry and earned a Master of Theology (Th.M.) from Dallas Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 2003 and has spent his ministry focused on shepherding the local church and helping people experience life-changing relationships with Jesus. Patti serves on staff at Care for Pastors, where she has ministered to pastors’ wives across the country through The Confidante community. Patti helps lead the Confidante Facebook group, contributes regularly to the Care for Pastors blog, and offers compassionate support to ministry wives walking through seasons of hardship.

Parenting a prodigal is never easy, but when you’re a pastor or a pastor’s spouse, the pain can be even more complex and isolating. 

In this episode of the Care for Pastors Podcast, Art and Mary Ellen Eaton open up about their journey through the highs and lows of ministry and parenting. They candidly share how moral failures in church leadership deeply affected their family and how they’ve navigated the painful reality of raising prodigal children.

With wisdom shaped by personal experience, the Eatons discuss the power of grace, the tension between unconditional love and tough truth, and the importance of prayer in parenting. They offer hope to fellow parents who may be walking through similar seasons of heartache, encouraging them to remain firm in their faith and to trust in God’s greater plan for their children.

This conversation explores:

• Navigating ministry while facing personal and leadership failures
• Raising children who have strayed from their faith
• Balancing grace and truth in parenting
• The emotional and spiritual toll of prodigal seasons
• Encouragement and hope for parents of prodigals

Resources mentioned on the episode:

Care for Pastors

If this conversation encouraged you or someone you love, share it. You never know who might need to hear they’re not alone. Be sure to subscribe to the Care for Pastors Podcast and leave a review to help others find this healing resource.

About our Guest:

Art and Mary Ellen Eaton have been faithfully serving in full-time ministry since 1997. Over the past 27 years, they have worn many hats, including senior pastor and pastor’s wife, while also ministering in single adult ministry, youth and children’s ministry, music ministry, and more. For a decade, they served as church planters in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where they cultivated a deep heart for shepherding others through both the joys and challenges of ministry life.

What happens when the people you’ve given your life to serve turn on you? 

In this raw and redemptive episode, Robby Bolden sits down with Rodetta Cook, co-founder of Care for Pastors, to talk about the often unseen and unspoken pain many pastors’ wives endure in ministry. Rodetta vulnerably shares her story: how she experienced decades of hostility, betrayal, and spiritual trauma, and how God used those painful seasons to shape her faith, calling, and purpose.

From unpaid early ministry roles to a devastating attempted church takeover, Rodetta’s journey is marked by tears, surrender, and God’s unfailing grace. With authenticity and wisdom, she offers hope to other ministry spouses who are quietly walking through their own valleys.

If you’ve ever felt alone, unseen, or hurt in the shadows of ministry, this episode will remind you that God sees, heals, and redeems.

This conversation explores:

• The unspoken weight and wounds pastors’ spouses often carry
• How to surrender unmet desires and find purpose in pain
• The spiritual and emotional toll of ministry betrayal
• Importance of Scripture and worship in seasons of trauma
• How community and safe spaces are essential for healing
• The origin and impact of The Confidante, a support group for pastors’ wives
• Stewarding your pain to help others heal

Resources mentioned on the episode:

Care for Pastors

The Confidante for Pastors’ Wives Private Facebook Group

Wounded by God’s People by Anne Graham Lotz

Forgiving What You Can’t Forget by Lysa TerKeurst

Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table by Louie Giglio

“Tell Your Heart to Beat Again” by Danny Gokey

If this conversation encouraged you or someone you love, share it. You never know who might need to hear they’re not alone. Be sure to subscribe to the Care for Pastors Podcast and leave a review to help others find this healing resource.

About our Guest:

Rodetta Cook has been a pastor’s wife for over 40 years. She and her husband, Ron, have actively served the Lord together in ministry during the entire time and are co-founders of Care for Pastors. She understands the expectations, loneliness, and how hard it is to find balance in ministry as a pastor’s wife. Rodetta also leads the pastors’ wives initiative at Care for Pastors called The Confidante and ministers to hundreds of wives each week. Besides leading The Confidante, she also manages the office and coordinates events for Care for Pastors.

Forced termination is one of the most painful and disorienting experiences a pastor can face, often leaving behind confusion, grief, and a shattered sense of purpose. 

In this raw and deeply personal episode, Robby is joined by Kevin Urichko, former executive pastor of a megachurch, who shares the story of his own forced termination after 30 years of faithful service. Kevin opens up about the betrayal, burnout, and identity crisis that followed, and how God used that season to reshape his soul, pace of life, and ministry purpose.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that God does not waste our pain. Kevin’s journey through disillusionment, counseling, and ultimately healing with the help of Care for Pastors offers hope for any pastor who has walked through--or is currently walking through--a similar valley. Kevin's story helps us understand the gravity of forced termination and why a healthy path to recovery is essential for ministry leaders and their families.

This conversation explores themes of:

• The emotional and spiritual trauma of forced termination
• Identity loss and betrayal in ministry
• The importance of slowing down and seeking soul care
• Learning radical self-awareness through pain
• Rebuilding purpose outside traditional church roles
• How pastors can navigate grief and find safe community
• The sacred role of rest, counseling, and healing

Resources mentioned on the episode:

Care for Pastors

Pastors’ Hope Network

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast

Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero 

If this episode resonated with you or someone you know, we encourage you to share it and help us spread healing and hope for those who are hurting. Subscribe to the Care for Pastors Podcast and leave a review to help others discover this life-giving resource.

About our Guest:

Dr. Kevin Urichko was born in Illinois but raised in Central Florida. He holds degrees from Boston University (B.A.) and Reformed Theological Seminary (M.Div. & D.Min.). Kevin was a pastor with Northland Church in Longwood, Florida, for 30 years, and continues to serve through Shepherd Ministries today. He and his wife, Linda (married since 1991), enjoy ministry and teaching together. They are the grateful parents of two grown children, Kristen and Isaac. Kevin’s desire is to come alongside pastors and pastoral family members with an understanding heart, sharing the compassion and hope he has received from Jesus in his own needs and challenges. He joined the Care for Pastors team in February 2023.

Depression is often misunderstood in the church, and even more so within the walls of a pastor’s home. 

In this deeply moving episode, Krissie Glass (PK Ministry Director/Counselor with Care for Pastors) opens up about her journey through the heartbreak of walking alongside her late husband as he battled depression, and the unimaginable loss that followed. Krissie shares how her faith was tested and how God began a process of healing and redemption in her life.

With honesty and vulnerability, Krissie helps us see the very real emotional and spiritual toll that mental illness can have on pastoral families. She discusses the silence and stigma that too often surround these conversations in church culture and why we must do better in creating spaces for truth, support, and healing.

Today, Krissie shares not only her pain, but also her journey of hope. She speaks about God’s redemptive work in her life, how she found support in her darkest seasons, and the importance of community and compassion in helping others heal.

This conversation explores themes of:

• Recognizing the signs of depression
• Breaking the silence and stigma around mental health in the church
• Navigating fear, isolation, and vulnerability in leadership
• The unique emotional challenges faced by pastors’ kids
• The redemptive hope found in Christ and community

Resources mentioned on the episode:

Care for Pastors

PastorsKids.org

Open Letters to Our Fellow Fighters by Rob Phillips and Krissie Glass

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero

Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund

Mental Health and Your Church by Helen Thorne and Dr. Steve Midgley

The Pastors’ Ally Private Facebook Group

The Confidante for Pastors’ Wives Private Facebook Group

If this episode spoke to you or someone you love, please share it with others in ministry who may be struggling. Subscribe to the Care for Pastors Podcast so you never miss an episode and leave a review to help others find support.

About our Guest:

Krissie Glass is a faithful follower of Jesus. She grew up a pastor’s kid and loved singing and traveling on mission trips with her church family. She and her husband Cameron have two amazing twins, Joah and Selah. They reside in Fort Worth, Texas, where her husband serves as a lead pastor. Krissie is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Trauma Specialist, Speaker and Author of Open Letters to Our Fellow Fighters: How the gospel brings hope to anxiety and depression. She partners with local churches and ministries around the world to help educate others in understanding mental illness in a biblical and practical way. Krissie is the Pastors’ Kids Ministry Director and Counselor for Care for Pastors, a faith-based organization that provides trauma care and counseling resources to pastoral families.

How do you move forward after the pain of ministry betrayal? 

In this deeply honest conversation, host Robby Bolden welcomes Care for Pastors co-founder Ron Cook to illuminate just that. Ron shares the story of a painful attempted "hostile takeover" at the church he planted—how friends became adversaries and the struggle that followed. Listeners will hear Ron’s candid journey through confusion, spiritual crisis, and ultimately, the surprising comfort and growth God unfolded from profound pain. 

Along the way, Ron and Robby explore biblical wisdom for pastors facing opposition, the significance of community when wounded, and the choice to steward pain rather than merely survive it. Through practical insights and powerful storytelling, this episode is a guiding light for anyone recovering from betrayal in ministry.

Ron’s testimony reminds us that even when it seems like the end, God’s plan is at work in the pruning, and no painful season is wasted.

This conversation explores themes of:

• How to respond biblically and healthily to betrayal in ministry
• Why processing pain in safe community is essential
• The stewardship of pain—letting God bring healing and comfort
• How to discern when to confront toxicity and when to let go
• Learning to trust again after deep wounds 

Resources mentioned on the episode:

Care for Pastors

Clergy Killers by G. Lloyd Rediger

Forgiving What You Can't Forget by Lysa Terkeurst

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero

The Pastors’ Ally Private Facebook Group

The Confidante for Pastors’ Wives Private Facebook Group

If this episode speaks to you or someone you know who’s been hurt in ministry, please share it. And be sure to subscribe to the Care for Pastors Podcast so you never miss an episode. Your review also helps others discover the support they need.

About our Guest:

Ron and his wife Rodetta have been married for 47 years and have served in ministry together throughout that time. They are the co-founders of Care for Pastors, where Ron serves by counseling and mentoring hundreds of pastors and spouses each year, both in person and online. With over 46 years of pastoral experience, Ron understands the pressures of ministry firsthand. His passion is to help pastors finish well by drawing from his own longevity in ministry to offer wisdom, encouragement, and care.

In this powerful kick-off to the first season of the Care for Pastors Podcast, host Robby Bolden sits down with Dr. Robert White, a pastor, counselor, and coach, to explore the profound pain of loss in ministry. Through personal, vulnerable storytelling, Dr. White recounts his own experience with divorce during his tenure as a senior pastor and how it brought him to the brink of despair. His moving story includes finding hope on the floor in prayer, learning to forgive, and discovering unexpected purpose and fruitfulness after devastation.

Listeners will gain insight into why God sometimes “suffers the tree”—withholding what we think we need to deepen our spiritual roots. Dr. White discusses the stigma pastors face after divorce, the importance of seeking help, and how pain can become the seedbed for a greater ministry. The conversation is filled with honesty, practical advice, and compassion for hurting leaders.

Dr. White’s journey reminds us that no situation is hopeless while serving a risen Savior and that God does not waste our pain. Leaders and their families in any season of loss will find wisdom, empathy, and renewed hope in this episode.

This conversation explores themes of:

• How loss and heartbreak can deepen your compassion and ministry impact
• Why vulnerability and honesty matter for leaders
• The daily discipline of forgiveness and what it looks like in practice
• Learning to process pain in community rather than isolation
• Finding hope and renewed calling after devastating personal loss

Resources mentioned on the episode:

Care for Pastors

GriefShare.org

The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller

It Wasn’t Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst

The Pastors’ Ally Private Facebook Group

The Confidante for Pastors’ Wives Private Facebook Group

If this episode spoke to you or someone you love, please share it with others in ministry who may be struggling. Subscribe to the Care for Pastors Podcast so you never miss an episode and leave a review to help others find support.

About our Guest:

Dr. Robert White was raised in central Florida and completed his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Central Florida. After college, he completed the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees at Luther Rice Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. For more than 40 years he has served as pastor of churches in Florida and in Massachusetts. In October 2016, Dr. White joined Care For Pastors as a Pastoral Counselor/Coach. Robert currently resides with his wife, Kaye, in Leesburg, Florida.

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