Flourishing in Real Life

Caitlyn Stenerson, Pastor of Knox Church in Minneapolis, MN, joins Kaitlyn on this episode to talk about how she discerned a call to pastor in a small church, why she resisted at first, what she feared the most, and how much she loves it. Pull up a chair and hang out with Kaitlyn and Caitlyn!

Michael Thornton, Pastor of Discipleship from First Pres Colorado Springs, joins Kaitlyn on this episode to talk about how he approaches discipleship.

Rob Laukoter from Peoples Church in West Virginia joins us on this episode to talk about leading his church (and himself) through a wilderness season full of discernment, pruning, and transformation. He shares the unbelievable story of how the church moved into a new building after years without a home. And he talks about how the new Cultivating Flourishing Congregations process is helping them take confident steps toward the future!

Laura Crosby joins us on this episode to talk about how her journey through church hurt helped her develop a secure identity in Christ and led her to a ministry life full of unexpected adventures. Laura loves connecting people and has a heart for mentoring.

Keith Case is a church planter, pastor, and licensed counselor in West Palm Beach, Florida. He joins us on this episode to talk about his journey to faith as a teenager and his path to pastoral ministry and counseling. Keith is a church planter and currently leading at both an established church and young plant. He is also passionate about the loneliness he sees every day and creating spaces where people feel safe and connected.

Tim & Jan Devine are recently retired co-pastors from Living Hope Church in Endicott, NY (and currently serving as the Flourishing Church Facilitators for Cornerstone Presbytery. They join us on this episode to talk about how they navigated co-pastoring, discerning their calls, and the succession planning process.

Steve Clark, assistant pastor in Bonita Springs, Florida, joins us for an honest and important conversation about the fear of "failing" as a pastor, the importance of developing a pastoral identity, and how to respond when your plans aren't working out.

Resources mentioned in the podcast:

Assessments:

• Working Genius (workinggenius.com)
• Leadership Circle Profile (flourishmovement.org)

Spiritual Direction: Email [email protected] to connect to a Spiritual Director

Books:

• The Imperfect Pastor by Zack Eswine
• The Art of Pastoring by David Hansen
• Rising Strong & Dare to Lead by Brene Brown

Chelsea Ham, solo pastor of Dinuba Presbyterian Church in Dinuba, CA, joins Tim and Kaitlyn for an honest conversation about growing up as a PK, the seminary class she wishes she could teach on pastoring while parenting toddlers, and Amy Grant.

Petey Crowder, senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, MN joins us for a conversation about discerning pastoral calling and building collaborative leadership team culture.

In this episode of the Flourishing Church Podcast, Dana Allin brings back Mike Bonem to talk about his new book The Art of Leading Change: Ten Perspectives on the Messiness of Ministry. The two discuss the difficulties of change as well as areas that we need to pay attention to as leaders. Mike spends some time discussing the importance of culture in change as well as areas like trust, communication, and courage.