The Discerning Leader Podcast

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Rowena Day

"There are so many ways that our attention is pulled, and we are divorced from our own bodies which make it really hard to notice God." – Rowena Day

Season 26 will focus on life stories that have been shaped by the presence, power and peace of God. Rowena Day was born and raised in Canada and now lives in Washington D.C with her husband Jon and their four children. She was a member of LTI's Emmaus program and has just begun the Selah-Anglican program this month! She is passionate about creative arts, spiritual formation, soul care and its intersection with neurobiology. Rowena shares with Steve how she notices the presence of God through the mighty oceans and in the minute details of our lives. Rowena encourages us with the notion that only when our mind, heart, body and spirit are fully integrated can we be receptive to what God has for us in the present.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof

"Death gives way to life. Not only lived out by Jesus but meant to be lived out by each of us." – David Vryhof, SSJE

Holy Week is considered the climax of the Christian year. The service that starts on Maundy Thursday continues all the way to the Easter Vigil and is the capstone of Holy Week. Steve Macchia and Brother David Vryhof return to the podcast to discuss how the liturgical worship of holy week very much engages our body with our mind and heart. During these days we recognize the death of Christ that leads to His rising. This process of death to new life is an ongoing conversion process that we are invited to participate in daily.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof

"We are offering ourselves in fresh new ways to God in Lent." – David Vryhof, SSJE

Holy week has the potential to invite us into intimacy sharing with Jesus not only his triumph and resurrection but his path of suffering. Commencing a two-week interlude, Steve Macchia and his spiritual director, Brother David Vryhof of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Episcopal Monastic Community based in Cambridge, MA) explore ways that we can value and participate in the work of Christ during holy week. All of us are in pursuit of a deeper affection for Christ. Times like Holy Week bring us to that deeper place of desire, longing towards Jesus.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Host: Steve Macchia

"We get into conflict related to discernment because there are those around the table of discernment who don't want to be patient with the process." – Steve Macchia

So often we are confronted with environments that are not going to be very friendly to a prayerful process of discernment. In order to find the fullness of God's design for us we may need the help of another. This ten-phase process (that has been used by the church for generations) can be your help. In this final episode of season 25, Steve shares pastoral reflections on the entire process of discernment. Drawing upon decades of ministry experience, Steve reminds us how crucial prayer is throughout the complete discernment process. Steve recounts how crucial it is we have the right people involved – those who have a heart for God and are more committed to the process of discernment than their own preconceived ideas.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott

"If we don't do deliberation well, we torpedo all the good work we've done so far" – John Pearson

During the process of discernment, we must learn how to deliberate well before finally making a decision. John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to complete this four-part series on the 10 phase process for discernment. During phase 8 we deliberate in a manner that is grace-filled, loving and prayerful. Without this way of discussion, discernment goes off the rails and the most charismatic person in the room takes over. During phase 9, a decision is finally made. John and Steve discuss the important distinction between being united in a decision versus being unanimous. How the board or groups speaks about the decision is also important. During the final phase (10) the group enters into a process of review, evaluation and if necessary, starting the discernment process again. In this, the leader is charged to celebrate what God is doing because of the decision made.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Host: Steve Macchia | Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott

"Clarity and consolation are big words in the discernment process." – Steve Macchia

God is a God of clarity and not confusion and He wants His children to experience clarity. Through these phases of discernment, we experience greater clarity. John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to continue this masterclass in group discernment. Episode three expounds upon phases four through seven of the discernment process. In these phases we assemble the facts, critique our options, consider why we should not do something and finally consider why we should do something. Throughout the process we are invited to not merely give lip service to prayer, but to pause and seek the Lord's face, bathing the entire process in prayer.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Host: Steve Macchia | Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott

"I think we shortchange the Holy Spirit by not asking, 'Lord, who do you want on this discernment team?' It makes a world of difference." – John Pearson

Who is helping you discern? How willing are you to let go of your ideas and opinions? John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to phase two and three of the discernment process. In phase two we consider who the right people are to discern a decision. Matt shares from experience the benefit of inviting those people that know us best, love us most and are going to be impacted by our decision to the discernment process. In the church and nonprofit side, John and Steve encourage us to invite a representation of all those who are a part of the organization. The third phase deals with our willingness to let go of power and choose humility by holding our ideas and opinions with an open hand and an open heart.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott

"The why question is a gutsy question. There's a lot of people who need more guts as lead ministers." – John Pearson

Every day we are confronted with decision-making. Some decisions are obvious, others require us to wait. The most difficult decision-making is deciding between multiple options. In Season 25 of The Discerning Leader podcast, we will focus on the process of discernment. Drawing material from Chapter 8 of Steve's book, The Discerning Life, John Pearson and Matt Scott join Steve Macchia for a conversation on the big question of decision making - the "why" question. John Pearson is a management and board governance consultant and author of many books, including Mastering the Management Buckets.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott

"How powerful it is for people to let each other emote and not get in the way of what the Spirit of God is doing and let God do His work" – Steve Macchia

In this concluding episode, Steve and Matt share what it means to be present to God and to one another. When we listen to one another well our goal is not to fix, judge or necessarily say something helpful. Instead, we offer our attention and our presence. We make space for the trinity to do the work of healing and restoration. Steve and Matt share what this looks like in leadership teams and in personal relationships. A practical application we can take from this week's episode is to ask the people around us "am I companioning you well?" In listening to their experience of us, we can learn a lot on how to be good spiritual companions.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott

"Leaders plant seeds of hope, even when the situation is dire." – Steve Macchia

We live in a world that is constantly disappointing us. How do we continue to have hope? Steve Macchia and Matt Scott return to the podcast to talk about this very idea. Using week five of the appendix of The Discerning Life, they echo the psalmist who points our eyes to the mountain, to the Lord the maker of heaven and earth. The temptation for leaders (especially gifted, capable leaders) is to invite people to hope in us. The best thing we can do is come alongside them and point them towards our eternal hope.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.