The Leader’s Way

Join Brandon and Hannah for a special Happy New Year Hunker. Grab a mug of candy cane green tea, because today we’re talking dogs, nativities, dogs in nativities, preaching, prayer, pizza, and more.

Becca Stevens, founder and president of Thistle Farms, joins us to reflect on her mission-driven work as a “love entrepreneur.” She shares stories from Thistle Farms, her wisdom about ministry outside of the parish, what it means that “love heals,” Thistle Farms Christmas present recommendations, and more!

Today, The Leader's Way podcast turns 10...episodes that is. Happy double digits day! To celebrate, we're sharing a much-requested, much-anticipated episode: a conversation with Professor Sophie Grace Chappell. Listen as Brandon and Hannah chat with Professor Chappell about being a transgender person in a cisgender world. She reflects on her church experiences, Harry Potter, her childhood memories, her philosophy of experience, and more.

This week, the Rev'd Dr. Angela Gorrell joins us, and we talk about public theology, hybrid ministry, the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, grief, lament, and joy.

In this episode, the Rev’d Winnie Varghese, Rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, joins us to talk about parish ministry. We chat about Mariology, in-person church in the wake of the pandemic, and joy in ministry.

In this Halloween episode, the Rev’d Dr. Gabrielle Thomas and Dr. Hannah Black talk about some of their favorite people: the fourth century Cappadocians. Thomas shares what her research has uncovered about the Cappadocians’ understanding of the devil. Spoiler: He is not a red guy with horns. Rather, our fourth-century guides view him as the enemy of salvation and the church.

In this episode, hear from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Dean of Berkeley Divinity School Andrew McGowan on the centrality of love to Christianity. This live conversation, mediated by nationally bestselling author Deborah Royce, was recorded at the Yale Club in New York City inMay 2023. It celebrates the debut of the film, A Case for Love, a Grace-Based Films documentary about Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s teachings and writings.

Dr. Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell is a research professor at Duke Global Health Institute. In this episode, she shares research findings from the Clergy Health Initiative. She talks about the differences in behaviors between flourishing and burnt-out clergy. Rae Jean shares practical strategies for clergy to guard themselves against burnout as well as her tips for seminarians.

The doctrine of the Trinity is as foundational to Christianity as it is elusive and even confounding. While the Trinity seems to many like a distant theological formulation, writer, contemplative teacher, and therapist, Dr. Robert Jonas shares insights about just how intimate, practical, and transformative the Trinity can be in daily life. Revealing Jesus as a teacher of “non-dual” and trinitarian awareness, Jonas presents fresh ways in which the liberating core of Christianity is available to us all.