In this episode, Pastor Rudy Swigart shares openly about what it feels like to be spiritually directionless—adrift without clear vision or purpose—and how that affects our faith, habits, and health.

We’ll explore:

• The causes of spiritual drift and seasons of lethargy

• The unhealthy patterns and self-soothing behaviors that can creep in

• The toll this takes on mental, physical, and spiritual health

• God’s invitation to rest, listen, and realign with His will

• Practical ways to regain spiritual bearings and take the next faithful step

This is an honest conversation for anyone who has felt tired, lost, or unsure of where God is leading. You’ll walk away encouraged to pause, trust God in the stillness, and take one small step closer to Him this week.

👉 Call to Action: What’s one intentional step you can take this week to reorient yourself toward God? Share it in the comments or send a message, we’d love to hear from you.

📖 Scripture references: Proverbs 29:18, 1 Kings 19, John 20–21, Psalm 46:10, Matthew 11:28–30, Isaiah 30:21.

📬 Contact the Show:

[email protected]
[email protected]

Why do so many Christians leave their church feeling hurt, misunderstood, or even offended? In this candid episode of Substance of Faith, we confront the reality that offense, whether justified or not, can poison our spiritual walk and fracture the Body of Christ.

Join us as we unpack:

• Why offense happens in church life for both members and leaders

• Healthy rhythms that protect against burnout, bitterness, and isolation

• How churches can respond with wisdom and grace to those struggling with addiction, depression, and other hidden battles

• Practical ways for churchgoers to feel safe, supported, and confident in asking for help when they need it most

We’ll also explore the example Jesus set for reconciling differences, extending grace, and fostering genuine relationships within the Body. Whether you’re in leadership or sitting in the pew, this conversation is about creating a culture where grace, not offense, has the final word.

Scripture References: Matthew 18:15-17, Galatians 6:1-2, Colossians 3:12-14

🎙 Substance of Faith exists to create a space for grace—a place where the church can talk honestly about struggles, healing, and transformation.

#ChurchHurt #ChristianLeadership #AddictionRecovery #FaithAndMentalHealth #GraceInAction

In this powerful and personal episode of Substance of Faith, we’re diving deep into a reality many Christians silently face: turning to alcohol, drugs, or other self-soothing behaviors when stress and burnout become unbearable.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed, exhausted, or unsure of how to cope, and have found yourself drifting from God in the process, this episode is for you. We'll look at real workplace stress and burnout statistics, explore the toll these stressors take on our physical and spiritual lives, and confront the sin cycle that often follows.

But we won't stop there.

At the heart of this conversation is God’s invitation—to rest, to draw near, and to be transformed. Scripture isn't just a mirror; it's a lifeline. This episode offers biblical encouragement and practical steps for walking away from harmful coping strategies and toward the grace, presence, and healing of God.

📖 Key Scriptures:

• Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…”

• 1 Peter 5:7 – “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

• Isaiah 30:15 – “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…”

🌐 Visit Us Online:
www.substanceoffaithmedia.com

📬 Contact:
[email protected]

Today on The Substance of Faith Podcast, Rudy Swigart tackles a critical yet often overlooked moment in church life: the departure of a beloved pastor. Whether it's a peaceful retirement, an unexpected firing, or a scandal, pastoral transitions impact far more than Sunday attendance—they affect the faith of the people in the pews.

In this episode, Rudy unpacks:

• Why 10–30% of church members leave after a pastoral transition—sometimes permanently.

• How sudden leadership changes can trigger a crisis of faith, especially in younger generations.

• The difference between a healthy transition and a damaging one.

• What pastors, boards, and congregants can do to preserve unity, trust, and spiritual connection during leadership change.

• Why the church’s response during a transition may determine whether people stay connected to Jesus—or walk away entirely.

If your church has ever experienced the shockwave of a leader stepping down, this episode is for you.

“Don’t let a change in the pulpit become a breaking point for faith in the pews.”

Visit: www.substanceoffaithmedia.com
Contact Rudy: [email protected]

Subscribe, share, and join the conversation—because when pastors leave, the real work begins.

In this sobering episode of The Substance of Faith Podcast, Rudy Swigart explores the hidden pressures crushing pastors across the United States—and why pastoral care isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

From endless hours and constant crisis management to burnout, depression, infidelity, and addiction—today’s pastors are struggling. Some in silence. Some until collapse.

Drawing from credible research, Rudy lays out the alarming statistics that too many churches ignore:

• 75% of pastors report severe stress-related crises

• 40% face high burnout risk

• 35% battle depression

• Many face addiction, infidelity, and moral failure—not due to weak character, but from unrelenting pressure with no real support

This episode casts a bold vision for what healthy church leadership can look like when congregations and church boards step up to protect the shepherds, not just the sheep.

• The quiet epidemic: why pastoral burnout is at record highs

• Why addiction and moral failure often trace back to exhaustion and isolation

• Real-world strategies for creating safe leadership environments

• Why pastoral care is essential to the church’s long-term health

• Practical steps every church can take to protect their pastors

• A plea to church boards, leaders, and congregants: “What are you doing to care for those who care for your soul?”

“Pastors are human. If your church doesn’t protect your pastor’s health, you’re not protecting your church’s future.”

📬 Resources & Contact:
🌐 www.substanceoffaithmedia.com
📧 [email protected]

🎧 Be sure to subscribe, rate, and share. Help us create churches where leaders heal, not hide.

In this week’s episode of The Substance of Faith Podcast, Rudy Swigart speaks straight to the heart of the church—and the hurting.

We’re diving into what it really means to be a safe church for those who are silently battling addiction, mental health challenges, grief, trauma, or spiritual burnout. For too long, the church has unintentionally fostered environments where people feel pressure to appear whole instead of being honest about their brokenness.

This episode is a call for something better.

• What makes a church unsafe for the struggling

• The quiet crisis of leaders who suffer in silence

• How shame, silence, and stigma destroy healing

• Real-world, practical ideas for shifting church culture

• Why discipleship and recovery aren’t separate journeys

• A vision for “space for grace”—where truth is told and people are still loved

• Pastors and church leaders who want to lead well while carrying their own burdens

• Church members who wonder if they’re the only ones who feel out of place in “perfect” spaces

• Recovery communities looking for a spiritual home

• Anyone hungry for authenticity, grace, and truth in action

“Space for grace isn’t soft on sin—it’s strong in mercy. It’s the environment where healing is possible and shame no longer gets the final word.”

📬 Connect with Rudy:
🌐 www.substanceoffaithmedia.com
📧 [email protected]

🧭 Looking for tools to make your church safer for the struggling? Visit the site for coaching, resources, and recovery-friendly ministry support.

In this heartfelt episode of The Substance of Faith Podcast, Rudy Swigart shares a story that stopped him in his tracks—a story of relapse, redemption, and what it looks like when the church truly becomes a safe place for its leaders.

While attending an AA meeting, a friend witnessed a powerful moment: a pastor receiving his 12-month sobriety chip. But even more powerful was the backstory—this pastor had once relapsed after years of sobriety. Instead of hiding it or being disqualified in shame, he came forward, and his church leadership did the unthinkable in today’s cancel culture: they ministered to him.

• A true story of addiction, confession, and grace in church leadership

• Why Rudy believes this is the right way to handle relapse in ministry

• A call to church boards, denominations, and congregations to rethink their response

• The difference between disqualifying a leader vs. walking them through restoration

• A preview of upcoming podcast guests who have lived similar journeys

• A deeper look at what "space for grace" means in leadership culture

“When a pastor comes forward with a struggle, it should not be the end of their story. It should be the beginning of the healing. This is how we ‘do church’ right.”

• Church boards, elders, and decision-makers in ministry

• Pastors secretly struggling with addiction or relapse

• Congregations who want to be part of a restorative, not reactive, faith culture

• Anyone wondering: What would Jesus do when a leader falls?

📬 Connect with Rudy:
🌐 www.substanceoffaithmedia.com
📧 [email protected]

🎧 Be sure to subscribe, share, and join us again for honest, redemptive conversations that reflect the substance of our faith.

In this soul-searching episode of The Substance of Faith Podcast, host Rudy Swigart dives into a topic that too often remains buried in the shadows of church life: lust and sexual temptation, especially among those in ministry and spiritual leadership.

The conversation begins with the reality of pastoral burnout, serving in high-stress, low-control environments with little visible reward. When volunteers are inconsistent, when crises are constant, and when the emotional needs of a congregation feel unending, it can create an atmosphere where temptation gains a foothold, especially for leaders who feel isolated or unseen.

But Rudy doesn’t stop at the diagnosis. This episode is about naming the hidden struggle, yes, but also about lifting the veil on the hope of healing.

• The emotional and spiritual toll of unpaid, overworked church leadership

• Why lust thrives in secrecy, stress, and spiritual fatigue

• The role of pastoral anonymity, and why it might be God’s gift rather than a punishment

• Lust as a misdirected hunger, a desire to feel something when leadership feels dry or unrewarded

• How grace, holiness, and confession can dismantle cycles of shame

• A challenge to pastors: “Are you elevating the name of Jesus, or trying to recover a sense of your own worth?”

• Why the impact of one soul is still worth the hours, the labor, and the obscurity

This episode is not about condemnation, it’s about courage. It’s about helping pastors, ministry leaders, and faithful believers acknowledge the unseen struggle while pointing them toward freedom, accountability, and transformation through the power of Christ.

“If you’re in a dark place, you’re not alone. But you can’t stay there. The body of Christ must be a place where even leaders can be honest, and be healed.”

• Visit our official website: www.substanceoffaithmedia.com

• Connect with Rudy directly: [email protected]

• For pastoral coaching, support, and recovery resources, explore Faith Nest

🙏 If this episode resonates with you, please consider sharing it with someone you trust.

In this powerful and introspective episode of The Substance of Faith Podcast, host Rudy Swigart is joined by Randy Davis, a ministry leader and voice of experience in the world of addiction recovery and spiritual care. Together, they explore the deep intersection between discipleship, mental health, and the church’s response to addiction—particularly among leaders.

Randy shares insights from his work with A Better Life – Brianna’s Hope, a faith-based recovery movement created for and by individuals battling substance use disorder. Through their discussion, Rudy and Randy challenge the idea that recovery is a ministry “over there” and instead argue that it must be fully integrated into the life of the church.

• The spiritual component of recovery that often goes overlooked

• Why discipleship must be tied to long-term wellness

• How churches can (and must) respond when leaders face addiction or mental health crises

• Creating spaces for honesty, grace, and accountability in leadership

• What it means to “find your own Gethsemane” in the journey toward healing

Whether you're a church leader, someone in recovery, or someone walking alongside the hurting, this conversation will encourage, equip, and challenge you to view addiction and discipleship through a fresh, gospel-centered lens.

• Randy Davis & A Better Life – Brianna’s Hope: www.ablbh.org

• The Substance of Faith Podcast: Where faith, recovery, and leadership intersect.

➡️ Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode spoke to you.

Contact for the show: [email protected] or [email protected]

Learn more at www.substanceoffaithmedia.com

In this episode of The Substance of Faith Podcast, Pastor Rudy Swigart returns with a timely and vulnerable conversation about what’s often hidden behind the pulpit, burnout, exhaustion, and spiritual depletion in ministry. With a deep heart for both church leaders and individuals navigating addiction or mental health battles, Rudy opens the episode with a profound reminder: We bring the shadows where grace can, it’s built upon the substance of faith.

This episode is an honest look at the emotional and spiritual toll ministry can take when leadership is unsupported, overworked, and out of rhythm. Rudy speaks directly to pastors, ministry leaders, and volunteers who carry the unseen weight of shepherding others while trying to manage their own well-being. Drawing from personal experience and Barna research showing that 90% of pastors feel unequipped or overwhelmed, Rudy offers more than statistics, he offers hope.

The solution isn’t more performance. It’s more presence.

Key Takeaways:

• Burnout is no longer just a risk, it’s a trend. Leaders must stop spiritual hemorrhaging by returning to healthy rhythms.
  

• Ministry cannot flow from an empty soul. Personal devotion, prayer, and meditation are not optional extras, they’re survival tools.
  

• We lead best when we abide, not when we strive. Sustainable leadership is rooted in spiritual rhythms, not rigid routines.
  

• Soul care builds resilience. Spiritual disciplines help leaders face criticism, crisis, and conflict without becoming cynical or numb.
  

Whether you’re a pastor navigating small-church complexities, a lay leader wrestling with hidden sin, or a believer seeking emotional restoration, this episode speaks life into the tension between calling and capacity.

If you’ve been running on empty, this is your call to slow down, re-center, and let God restore your soul, one rhythm at a time.

“Ministry cannot flow from an empty soul. We must first be with Jesus before doing for Jesus.”

Learn more about Rudy Swigart by visiting the following links:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube