This week, Ruth and Steve delve into the topic of family of origin and its impact on leadership. Why do we need to do the messy work of untangling our childhood issues? How do we carry childhood wounds into our leadership? How can genograms help us do this work? Ruth and Steve share their thoughts on these questions and more in today’s episode.

This week’s practice invites you to sit with the following questions: What’s a family trait that was an asset to you? What is a family trait that was a liability?  We encourage you to explore genograms, as well. Check out Steve's genogram key

Steve Cuss Resources:

Steve’s website

Managing Leadership Anxiety, Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss

Calm, Aware, Present Journal kickstarter campaign

General Resources for Systems Theory:

Season 9 Episode 6 of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast

Season 9 Episode 7 of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast

Family Systems and Congregational Life: A Map for Ministry by R. Robert Creech

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center

Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue by Edwin H. Friedman

Extraordinary Relationships: A new Way of Thinking about Human Interactions by Roberta M Gilbert

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Support the podcast! This season, patrons will receive exclusive bonus content that includes conversations with Ruth and Steve that delve into episode topics a little deeper. This week we will be sharing a more personal conversation with Ruth and Steve about parenting and systems theory. 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!

Welcome to Season 16, Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities. This season we will be exploring Systems Theory, also called Family Systems Theory. Many of us have seen the troubling Barna research about the extreme levels of burnout pastors are experiencing right now. As we look at Systems theory, we will be examining how it relates to and can transform our lives in leadership. 

In today’s episode Ruth welcomes our season-long guest, Steve Cuss, a pastor and author of Managing Leadership Anxiety, Yours and Theirs. Steve and Ruth dive into the deep end of Systems Theory as they discuss the most powerful leadership tool: diagnosing and diffusing anxiety. What is chronic anxiety? How does anxiety spread throughout a group? How can leaders attend to their own anxiety in healthy ways? Ruth and Steve answer all this and more in this week’s conversation.

Steve Cuss Resources:

Steve’s website

Managing Leadership Anxiety, Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss

Calm, Aware, Present Journal kickstarter campaign

General Resources for Systems Theory:

Season 9 Episode 6 of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast

Season 9 Episode 7 of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast

Family Systems and Congregational Life: A Map for Ministry by R. Robert Creech

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center

Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue by Edwin H. Friedman

Extraordinary Relationships: A new Way of Thinking about Human Interactions by Roberta M Gilbert

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Support the podcast! This season, patrons will receive exclusive bonus content that includes conversations with Ruth and Steve that delve into episode topics a little deeper. This week we will be sharing a conversation with Ruth and podcast producer Colleen where Colleen gets to ask Ruth her questions about Systems Theory. 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!

Welcome to Season 16, Transforming Leadership: Managing Anxiety Within Our Communities. This season we will be exploring Systems Theory, also called Family Systems Theory. Many of us have seen the troubling Barna research about the extreme levels of burnout pastors are experiencing right now. As we look at Systems theory, we will be examining how it relates to and can transform our lives in leadership. Ruth welcomes guest Steve Cuss, pastor and author of Managing Leadership Anxiety, Yours and Theirs, to help us unpack Systems Theory.

In today’s episode Ruth is flying solo to give us an introduction to Systems Theory. She lays the groundwork for the season by detailing Bowen’s 8 concepts, while also giving us a general idea of Systems Theory and how it relates to anxiety and leadership. We think this introductory episode is just what we need to help us dive into the deep end with Ruth and Steve.

Resources used in today’s episode: 

Managing Leadership Anxiety, Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss

Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue by Edwin H. Friedman

Extraordinary Relationships: A new Way of Thinking about Human Interactions by Roberta M Gilbert

General Resources for Systems Theory:

Season 9 Episode 6 of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast

Season 9 Episode 7 of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership Podcast

Family Systems and Congregational Life: A Map for Ministry by R. Robert Creech

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Support the podcast! This season, patrons will receive exclusive bonus content that includes conversations with Ruth and Steve that delve into episode topics a little deeper. This week we will be sharing a conversation with Ruth and podcast producer Colleen where Colleen gets to ask Ruth her questions about Systems Theory. 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!

We couldn’t leave you hanging in the darkness of Good Friday, so to wrap up season 15 of the podcast we are concluding with a conversation about Easter and the Resurrection. Ruth and Steve discuss the story of Mary and the empty tomb and what it reveals about the new order Jesus wants to bring. They marvel at the ways that Jesus cares for each of the disciples exactly as they need it most. Ruth encourages us to ask, what do we need from Jesus at this point? Are we willing to ask for it, or can we recognize the ways that Jesus is already meeting us in these needs? Join us for this discussion that invites us into the Easter season.

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus from Lent Music In Solitude

Mentioned in the episode:

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

Support the podcast! Patrons at the $10 level will receive a digital download of Ruth Haley Barton’s Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes Cycle C scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. This season, $10 patrons will also receive guided spiritual practices, like the Lectio Divina and Examen, that correspond with each week’s episode. Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

Ruth and Steve guide us into Holy Week with the reminder of the importance of keeping vigil and a discussion on the temptation to fall asleep. In what ways do we turn our gaze away from that which is difficult to see? What does it mean to keep vigil with Jesus and how is it an expression of our intimacy with Him? This conversation will prepare us for Holy Week and the work of walking with Jesus until the end.

It’s not too late to join us for a VIRTUAL Stations of the Cross service on Friday, April 15 at 12 pm CST. Details and sign up here.

Lectionary Readings for Holy Week

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Mentioned in the episode:

The Book of Common Prayer

Support the podcast! Patrons at the $10 level will receive a digital download of Ruth Haley Barton’s Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes Cycle C scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. This season, $10 patrons will also receive guided spiritual practices, like the Lectio Divina and Examen, that correspond with each week’s episode. Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

We have arrived at Palm Sunday and this week Ruth and Steve discuss the disorienting swing the people create between hailing Jesus as King and calling for his crucifixion in a matter of days. It brought us to wonder, in what ways do we create our own agendas to put on Jesus, and how do we fall into the temptation to make Jesus the King we want him to be rather than allow ourselves to be challenged by the King he actually is? As we move into Holy Week, this conversation will challenge us to consider the ways we make Jesus into our own image and provide practices to combat that tendency.

Lectionary Readings for the sixth Sunday of Lent, Cycle C:

• Liturgy of the Palms: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29  •  Luke 19:28-40

Join us for a VIRTUAL Stations of the Cross service on Friday, April 15 at 12 pm CST. Details and sign up here.

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus from Lent Music In Solitude

Mentioned in the episode:

Jesus Before Christianity by Albert Nolan 

What Every Christian Should Know About the Jewishness of Jesus by Rabbi Evan Moffic

(These were not mentioned in the episode but are excellent resources for studying the historical Jesus.)

Support the podcast! Patrons at the $10 level will receive a digital download of Ruth Haley Barton’s Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes Cycle C scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. This season, $10 patrons will also receive guided spiritual practices, like the Lectio Divina and Examen, that correspond with each week’s episode. This week we will be providing some thoughts on challenging scripture passages about Jesus that we often dismiss and a lectio practice for one of those passages. 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!

We seem to be turning a corner during this week of Lent! Ruth and Steve discuss the lectionary readings for the fifth Sunday of Lent and the call to prepare ourselves for whatever new things God desires to do in us. This requires us to resist the temptation to cling to the past. In this conversation Ruth and Steve also ask us to consider how to discern when it’s time to put things behind us, how we perceive the new thing God is doing and lean into it, and what it means to move into divine forgetfulness when the situation calls for it.

Lectionary Readings for the fifth Sunday of Lent, Cycle C:

Isaiah 43:16-21  • Psalm 126  •  Philippians 3:4b-14  • John 12:1-8

Join us for a VIRTUAL Stations of the Cross service on Friday, April 15 at 12pm CST. Details and sign up here.

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Returning from Lent Music In Solitude

Mentioned in the episode:

“Help Me to Believe in Beginnings” from Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle by Ted Loder

Support the podcast! Patrons at the $10 level will receive a digital download of Ruth Haley Barton’s Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes Cycle C scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. This season, $10 patrons will also receive guided spiritual practices, like the Lectio Divina and Examen, that correspond with each week’s episode. This week we will be providing a guided printable journaling exercise in PDF form. 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!

This week’s temptation may bring us to the hardest, deepest places of Lent. We are talking about the temptation to be silent about our sin and the power of the practice of confession. Why are leaders especially tempted to hide our wrongdoings, and how can we use confession carefully, lovingly and honestly in our lives? Ruth and Steve use the story of the prodigal son and Psalm 32 to have an honest conversation about the importance and challenge of confession.

Lectionary Readings for the fourth Sunday of Lent, Cycle C:

Joshua 5:9-12  •  Psalm 32  • 2 Corinthians 5:16-21  •  Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Prayer for Healing from Lent Music In Solitude

Mentioned in the episode:

The Prayer Tree by Michael Leunig

Support the podcast! Patrons at the $10 level will receive a digital download of Ruth Haley Barton’s Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes Cycle C scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. This season, $10 patrons will also receive guided spiritual practices, like the Lectio Divina and Examen, that correspond with each week’s episode. This week we will be providing a conversation about the ministry of reconciliation. 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!

This week Ruth and Steve address the temptation to invest in that which does not satisfy. So many of us leaders find ourselves turning towards escapist behaviors in our exhaustion and grief. How do we discern between what is distracting and what is satisfying? How can we abstain in order to give time to that which is most life-giving? How do we cultivate our freedom and choose our hearts' deepest desire through fasting? Ruth and Steve discuss all this and more in this episode.

Lectionary Readings for the third Sunday of Lent, Cycle C:

Isaiah 55:1-9  •  Psalm 63:1-8  •  1 Corinthians 10:1-13  • Luke 13:1-9

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus from Lent Music In Solitude

Mentioned in the episode:

Show Me the Way by Henri Nouwen

Additional Resources:

Fasting by Scot McKnight

Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond Our Appetites  by Lynne Baab

Support the podcast! Patrons at the $10 level will receive a digital download of Ruth Haley Barton’s Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes Cycle C scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. This season, $10 patrons will also receive guided spiritual practices, like the Lectio Divina and Examen, that correspond with each week’s episode. This week we will be providing a guided Examen to identify consolation and desolation. Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!  

What is it about leaders that we seem to struggle so much with the temptation to take matters into our own hands and “help” God out when we distrust His plans or when we are impatient with His timing? And what is our transformational moment when we realize we’ve been pushing our own agenda and trying to take back control? This week Ruth and Steve discuss this temptation to impose our own will onto God’s will and the opportunity Lent provides to practice letting go of our own plans and surrendering to God’s will deep within. 

Lectionary readings for the second Sunday of Lent, Cycle C:

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18  • Psalm 27  •  Philippians 3:17-4:1  •  Luke 13:31-35 or Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)

Music Credit:

Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist

Prayer for Healing from Lent Music In Solitude

Mentioned in the episode:

The Human Condition by Thomas Keating

Iona Abbey Worship Book

Support the podcast! Patrons at the $10 level will receive a digital download of Ruth Haley Barton’s Lent: A Season of Returning. It includes Cycle C scriptures and space to journal your own thoughts and prayers. This season, $10 patrons will also receive guided spiritual practices, like the Lectio Divina and Examen, that correspond with each week’s episode. This week we will be providing a guided Centering Prayer. Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!