Hope Renewed

The Soul Care Institute (https://www.soulcareinstitute.com/) is a six-retreat journey spread over two years where participants learn to care for their own souls. Sean interviewed the Soul Care Institute president Kaylene Derksen and her husband Jimm (who serves a s Vice President of the Institute). The talked about how pastors are often so busy caring for others that they neglect to care for their own souls. The Soul Care Institute experience is an ideal way for pastors to find safety, friendships, and healing as they learn soul care.

As leaders there is always the subtle temptation to allow our identity to be found in our own accomplishments. Our degrees, successes, networks, and personalities become what form and inform our perspectives for ministry. But what if God is choosing a different way to shape us for His call? Desert experiences. Painful self-awareness. Suffering. What if God’s way involves the breaking of ourselves to be filled by Him? Join us as we sit down with PIR Board Member and friend Shalini Bennett who shares with joy and passion from her experiences of growth in understanding God’s sovereign ways, and the living hope we have in Christ.

Resources mentioned:

By Vaneetha Rendall Risner:

Article: “When God Does the Miracle We Didn’t Ask For”

Books: “The Scars that have Shaped Me”; “Walking Through Fire”

Shame. It’s the lie that says, “You’re worthless. You're a mistake.” It can get to the root of our being and poison our lives. Pastors and ministry leaders face unique battles with shame even as they hold out the Word of life that heals. What is it about shame that is so devastating? When and how does it attack? What are some ways those in ministry can unmask shame, build “shame resilience”, finding freedom and renewal? Join us as we talk with Pastor Mike Gorr (D.Min.) whose own confrontation with shame became the focus of his doctoral work and the basis of a new and healthy way of ministering God’s grace!

Resources Referenced

Brené Brown's “Men, Women and Worthiness”

Curt Thompson's “The Soul of Shame”

Gershen Kaufman’s “Shame: The Power of Caring”

Robert McGee's “The Search for Significance”

John Trent’s “People Fuel”

Often pastors and ministry leaders find themselves occupied and even struggling with the very same issues they help others face. The danger is the assumption - the lie - that "pastors can deal with these things on their own" or, "pastors don't need counselors, that's a sign of weakness." Nothing could be further from the truth. Literally. The truth of God's word admonishes all of us to seek and receive good, biblical, godly counsel. Our lives and health depend upon it. We sit down with pastor and professional counselor Nate Wagner to discuss the benefits and challenges pastors and ministry leaders face in finding good counsel, and how that can lead to greater resiliency and strength in ministry.

You can find Nate at spartabaptist.org.

When a car's wheels are out of alignment, it can create a domino effect of issues which could ultimately result in a crash. So it is in life, and perhaps more so in ministry. Inattention to our soul's alignment can be the fundamental issue that expresses itself in ever increasing difficulties. We sit down with pastor and ministry coach John Opalewski, whose story is one of the wheels coming off, but finding new hope and strength through alignment with God's truth and purposes.

Resources

Find all of John's materials at Converge Coaching

Many leaders are hurried, and hurry is costing them more than they realize. What if we were to rediscover the genius of Jesus' unhurried way of life and leadership? Great leadership grows in the soil of good rest. This is the conviction Alan Fadling has found in his quest to live and minister from the fullness of life in Jesus. Join us as we discuss living life at the pace of Jesus and what it means to abandon the rush of doing ministry our own way and in our own strength, and surrendering to the rhythm of work and rest God has shown us.

Find out more about Alan's ministry at Unhurried Living

Links to Alan's Books:

An Unhurried Life: Following Jesus' Rhythms of Work and Rest

An Unhurried Leader: The Lasting Fruit of Daily Influence

What Does Your Soul Love?: Eight Questions That Reveal God's Work in You

The Way of Presence: The Empowering Reality of God-With-Us

Inhaling Grace: A 60-Day Unhurried Living Devotional

Good health in any aspect of our lives requires Attention and Intention. It just doesn't happen, it must be pursued and practiced. This is especially true in ministry because there is an enemy - of our souls and of our ministry - who would have us weak, ineffective and irrelevant. How we cultivate our ministry health is as important as the ministry we seek to do! In this episode of Hope Renewed, we talk with Bryan Moak of Converge, and glean some crucial insights from how his work in the Mid-America District is helping to strengthen the Church and her leaders, providing hope to weary and worn warriors.

To see what Converge Mid-America is doing to strengthen the church and her leaders, visit:

https://convergemidamerica.org/strengthen/

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”—John 15:9

What would ministry - and life - look like if done from a basis of abiding deeply in Christ and his love? If that's not your current experience, it may be that this command of Jesus is an invitation to explore a more life-giving and joyful way to engage in your call to serve and minister. Join us as we sit down with Jack and Sharon Brown, who share their journey of ministry and life, and the lessons of identity, boundaries, self-care and healing they have learned that have led to experiencing healthy and hope-filled ministry.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Abiding Way Ministries

Sharon's Author Website

Hope Renewed Episode with Sharon Garlough Brown

Serving the small (or ordinary) sized church is filled with challenges. So many of the resources and conferences for ministry leaders are geared toward larger-church contexts, and can leave those called to smaller congregations feeling under-served and less than confident about their ministry. In this episode of Hope Renewed we sit down with Karl Vaters, whose love for and experience in small church leadership have uniquely equipped him to be a voice of encouragement for pastors of congregations under 100. He shares some powerful insights about bringing God-sized faith to lesser-sized congregations, how health and numbers are NOT synonymous, and helpful thoughts about navigating these challenging times in the small church.

Resources Mentioned:

Find all of Karl's Resources at karlvaters.com

Each of us has a story which serves as a testimony to God's grace in our lives. Some of these stories involve deep pain and potential ruin. Others are stories of perseverance and discovery. All of them point to Jesus and the hope of his gospel. In this episode of Hope Renewed, PIR's own Jason Eddy opens his heart and shares his story of burnout and recovery. From a promising beginning in ministry, through an almost catatonic crash, to a renewed and flourishing role in service and ministry, Jason traces the hand of God at work in, around and through him as he navigated an incredibly difficult time of life and ministry. What shines clearly in his story is the One, True God who renews hope and sets our feet on solid ground.